Learn with enthusiasm: an interview to Steve Kaufmann, CEO of LingQ
Ci hanno chiesto di inserire anche la versione inglese dell'intervista a Steve Kaufmann, pubblicata lo scorso 6 luglio. Anche se il nostro blog è rigorosamente in italiano, accogliamo questa richiesta gestendola come un'eccezione. Sappiamo con questo di fare una piccola cortesia a qualche nostro lettore non italiano che ci segue con interesse.
Buona lettura.
In one of our recent articles we spoke of language courses online and, among others, we have mentioned the website LingQ (www.lingq.com).
Today we are going to interview the founder of LingQ, Steve Kaufman. He believes very much in the value of this way of learning and has used it himself. He has , with great enthusiasm, taken on the challenge of continuous learning, since himself in the study of different languages which Russian, Spanish, Italian etc.
Steve, Canadian of Vancouver, is the father of two children and grandfather of five grandchildren. He’s a person very active; he loves the sport, and reading.
Hello Steve, your enthusiasm related to the training is so strong that even become contagious. From what was born the idea of a web site for the online training?
…It is a long story. I had an employee, a Chinese immigrant, and his English was not good enough to work as a professional in Canada. The language schools were of no use. So we created a program for him. Then I felt that we should move to a multi-language model. After all, the whole world need not speak English. I love all languages, and I think all people can learn to speak several languages.
Steve, you have experienced on yourself the theories on learning. How many languages do you study?
I have learned to speak 10 languages besides English. I have studied 4 since the age of 55 (8 years ago). Korean, Cantonese, Russian and Portuguese.
You study many languages! You are also a tutor. Do you think that this continuous exchange can facilitate the development of a culture of cooperation in learning languages?
I am only a tutor in order to keep in touch with our learners and members. I also have my wood business to run.
The idea of offering tutoring on our site is to give learners a chance to talk to native speakers and to use what they are learning. This way they can better notice where their gaps are, what they need to work on.
The tutors do not suddenly make the learners speak better. The whole process of learning a language takes time and involves a lot of listening and reading and enjoying the language.
In LingQ blog you provides tips to new students and tutors. Which concern is reported more frequently?
Learners sometimes are too concerned about getting things right. They are not used to the feeling of uncertainty that is an important part of language learning. We always forget. We always have trouble saying some things.…and there are moments we do not understand. People spend too much time asking “why?” or “is this right or that?”. The language just gradually gets clearer and we gradually bet better, although sometimes we do not think so.
Please, tells us a success story (in addition to yours)…
There are lots. We have had many learners thank us for helping them improve their scores on TOEFL or TOEIC or such tests.
But the best story is that of Humberto, a petroleum engineer from Venezuela who immigrated to Canada. He spent 14 months at a language school paid for by the Canadian government and just got frustrated trying to learn about transitive and intransitive verbs and other points of grammar.
After 4 months of just relaxing and enjoying the language at LingQ he felt better about his language skills, enrolled in a college and later on did very well, even getting higher grades than native speaking Canadians in his English Communications course.
Could you tell us one of most frequent errors of the students?
The desire for perfection, the desire to nail things down. People should find ways to enjoy the language, find things of interest to listen to and read. And they should try to notice what is happening in the language, the patterns. They do not need a lot of theory or grammar.
Steve, learning languages you allow to know the cultures of many countries. What country do you think is more “lazy” in learning languages area?
I think English speaking people are the laziest because they feel that others all can speak English. In Europe, I have heard that the southern Europeans are lazier than the Northern Europeans when it comes to language. However, on a recent business trip to Italy I was impressed with the English abilities of the Italan business people I met.
Finally, what suggestion could you give to the students that want to start learning a new language?
Just make sure you are motivated. Try to like the language and the culture that comes with it. Relax and trust that your brain can learn. Believe me it can. It cannot do otherwise than learn if you give it enough stimulus.
Thanks Steve for your suggestions and … we will join soon to LingQ: your enthusiasm has struck again!