Read/write, listen/speak.
How did our priorities change?
We spent decades learning languages the way we consumed information: through printed pages. I grew up when newspapers arrived at breakfast and books lined the shelves. If you wanted to learn a language, you read. You wrote. You built vocabulary lists. That’s how we passed tests. Built fluency in class with the better English teachers.
New technologies changed that. In 1972, I knew high school English for 3 years. The third German TV channel started broadcasting “Sesame Street”, the original version. In English. This was kid’s stuff, yet I was shocked at how little I could understand. The Muppets spoke simple stuff, but so fast. I watched as many episodes as I could. Months later I noticed progress, could understand better. So I kept watching, learning, and got better. Until they changed to dubbed German.
In 1976, first time to meet a native English speaker. I was so nervous. This was not school, it was a real test. Turned out he understood what I said. Errors? Didn’t matter. I understood him, too. Relief. Success.
Newer technologies again changed my priorities. In 2010 when Skype arrived, I had 8 years of on-and-off experience with video conferencing between Japan and Germany over ISDN, the first digital lines. The most valuable communication to build trust was face-to face. After a first meeting, working together by phone felt a little easier. Working together by video felt much easier. In German. In English it felt more difficult to speak to the camera, trust built more slowly but faster than by phone alone. I realized I had learned business English to write emails I’d never send.
And yet even a few years ago, I still measured my language progress by how well I could craft sentences and structures on a page. In 2023, started using AI to improve my writing. Video conferencing and coaching became routine. Now, on many days I speak more than I type. I listen more than I read.
Speaking isn’t just faster than writing. It’s riskier. I can’t edit my accent. I can’t delete what I just said. I can’t pause mid-conversation to look up a new word. That’s why speaking live [rhymes with naïve] matters more, builds trust more easily.
If I’m still learning a language the way information used to move decades ago, I’m preparing for a world that’s already shifted. Learning by speaking helped me to speak Japanese within months. Finally, after 39 years of living here mostly in English. Watch the [interview with Terumi Kai] from Japan Language Factory showing my progress with her method. We discuss hobbies and how I came to found German Language Factory.
To be continued.
What part of your language learning assumes you’ll mostly read and write? What part benefits from listen and speak?
Thank you.
Bernd from German Language Factory