hey what up naturals I'm Gabby Wallace
your American gal pal and I am here
today to share something incredible that
I've learned after 15 years of language
teaching experience both teaching
English as a second language and Spanish
as a foreign language that's 15 not
fifty one five years of experience and
over 15 years of experience learning
languages because I love learning
languages so what I've learned what I'm
gonna share with you today is that there
are basically five different types of
language learners I'm gonna share them
with you today you can let me know which
one you are alright number one is the
know-it-all this guy or girl things that
they know it all after reading chapter
one in their grammar textbook or maybe
they think they know it all because they
went to study abroad and they know how
to say a few words in slang and so
they're Spanish or they're English or
whatever language it is is better than
anybody else's and nobody can tell them
otherwise so this was basically me when
I was learning Spanish because I was
looking for opportunities to learn
outside the classroom and I picked up
some slang words from my Dominican
friends like Vienna and Tegan a-and I
started using these words in my
university class as a student when I was
learning Spanish and my professor was
like those aren't real words please stop
using them I was like excuse me yes they
are real words because my friends who
are native Spanish speakers unlike you
are using them so oh man I was a pain in
the butt the know-it-all is also
identified by usually not having a very
good accent not usually knowing actual
grammar rules and having a limited
vocabulary but having very high levels
of confidence so that is the know-it-all
in a nutshell
which leads us to kind of the opposite
the shy guy the shy guy is basically our
real know-it-all but doesn't share it
with other people the shy guy is really
good at taking tests so you might want
to sit by him if you're taking a test or
at least form a study group with the shy
guy the real quiet guy who never
volunteers to answer a question because
he's petrified of actually speaking the
language lest he make a mistake because
that is the last thing in the world that
the shy guy wants is to be making
mistakes they just want everything to be
perfect before they open their mouth so
they're always waiting for the perfect
opportunity to speak up to use like
exactly that phrase that they learned in
the textbook in a real-life conversation
except that perfect opportunity never
comes and they feel super shy and
they're not very self-confident so they
just keep everything inside their heads
and they don't actually let any of that
language come out of their mouths so the
shy guy is that quiet one who's hesitant
to speak up but they're actually really
smart that leads us to number three this
self-deprecating this self deprecation
who's actually pretty good at the
language they're learning but they begin
and end every conversation by saying
something bad about their language
skills like hi I'm Gabi and I'm so bad
at English I'm so sorry please excuse my
horrible accent and then we talked for a
while then the conversation ends it's
like oh my gosh I'm so sorry about my
English I'm so sorry I I'm just such a
horrible speaker I'm so bad oh my gosh
okay I get it you're trying to be modest
that's nice and everything but if you
keep saying that you're really bad at a
language after the third or fourth or
fifth time it just gets old did I say
the word I don't know what number that
was anyway after a while it gets old so
just say something like I'm learning and
you know thanks for being my friend
you're awesome I don't know but this
self-deprecating about how bad their
language skills are you know you know
that person and they're probably a
little bit of the shy guy as well like
they might be shy but they're coming out
of their shell they're not just a shy
guy anymore they're they're actually
trying to talk but the first and maybe
even the only thing they always say is
I'm so bad at whatever the language is
Spanish English Japanese whatever and
they're really good at saying that it's
like totally perfect you're like wait
but the way you're saying that is
perfect like a native so how is it that
you're so bad I just don't get it
that leads us to number four which is
totally different than the first three
this is the beastmode language skills
which is actually not what you'd think
it is because beastmode is a good thing
beast mode is that guy or girl who's
just in class they don't get fined
there's this catch phrase I'm just here
so I don't get fun which Marshawn Lynch
made popular in 2015 during Superbowl
when he had to go to a press conference
he wasn't very happy about it and if he
wasn't there he was gonna get fine so he
just showed up and in response to every
single question he kept saying I'm just
here so I won't get fine I'm here so I
won't get fined and basically this guy
in language class would just be in class
so that his grade doesn't get lowered
for not showing up not being present in
class so as a language teacher I've
definitely dealt with a lot of beastmode
language learners there's like I'm just
here so I don't get fined so I get my
participation grade but I'm not actually
learning anything I actually don't care
I don't want to speak this language
it's just required so a lot of students
in high school or college they're like
this but then a few years later when
they're in the real world they regret
being like this that I'm just here so I
don't get fine guy they regret it
because then they're like man it would
have been great to know Spanish now that
I'm you know in Mexico or whatever right
learning a language is really useful
that leads us to
number five finally number five is the
obsessive language learner this is me
all the way I am totally all-in when I
learn a language I look for every single
opportunity to learn a language outside
of class even when it gets creepy like I
would go hang out in Bodega which is
like a Spanish grocery store or a latin
grocery store just to listen to other
people talking because I wanted to hear
native speakers the obsessed language
learner looks for any opportunity and
every opportunity to be immersed in the
language so when I was learning Spanish
I was always listening to men and gay
bachata salsa and when I was working at
the time as a waitress when I was
cleaning the tables
I'd be like cleaning the tables and like
dancing a little bit and singing
suavemente besame oh yeah I was all and
you guys I'm probably really annoying
because you know my accents not perfect
it's kind of weird to see a gringa like
dancing around and singing merengue
people are like that's a crazy gringo
right there but you know what it helped
my Spanish because I was practicing even
though I was on my own I was getting
more time in the language so it actually
does help for real so you usually also
see the obsessed language learner is the
one who always is dating a native
speaker of the language they're learning
so it could be like that Latin
girlfriend or boyfriend if they're
learning Spanish that Japanese
girlfriend a boyfriend if they're
learning Japanese and it's like they
believe that the best way to learn a
language is through immersion and so no
comment on my dating life but I'm just
gonna say that the obsessed language
learner often looks for every
opportunity so one thing that I did
actually when I was really focused on
learning Spanish several years ago was I
started going to church just to go to
the Spanish Mass I wasn't going to
church at the time and I saw that there
was the Spanish mass now it's like oh my
gosh it's a great way to get immersed in
the language and so I went a few times
and you know that was another couple
hours of my week where I could be
immersed in the language I was so
obsessed with learning but the thing is
the father in the church was also a
gringo and his accent was like painfully
bad although he was pretty fluent so I
learned some vocabulary basically my
vocabulary in Spanish is a weird mix of
like Catholic Mass and merengue lyrics
imagine that so anyway the obsessive
language learner is what I would
categorize myself as how about you do
you identify with any of these tell me
in the comments now this is not made to
make fun of anyone but it's just for
entertainment so I hope you enjoyed this
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