Lydia Machova: Interpreting for Tony Robbins and Brian Tracy

Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 105 of the Actual Fluency podcast. Really excited to be bringing you guys another episode and what an episode it is. It's a great pleasure for me to be able to say that every week I'm joined by amazing language learners, industry experts, and just people who have achieved something, I would say, it's well over the extraordinary. And this week is no different. I'm joined by a person I greatly admire. Her name is Lydia Machova, and she's from Slovakia.

Thank you very much.

The, do you want to give the listeners a little introduction to yourselves, like, how did you get into languages and, you know, chose it as a career and everything, let's uh, let's go back to the beginning.

Sure. Okay. But a quick story, I suppose, because otherwise it will take ages. And with most people on your show, right? Um, well, so I, I started with uh English and and German at school, like everybody else here in Slovakia. Um, it was just normal classes at school, but I soon figured out that I liked the languages very much. So I started learning them by myself as well.

Awesome. Awesome. And what do you think were the main differences, going back to like you were saying, you said you had some success in languages and then Spanish was very different. What was, what was it that Spanish was not doing that the other languages had been doing for you at that time?

Yeah. I think, I think the, the way I was learning Spanish, uh, the official way, you know, at the, at the university, having a lesson with a teacher once a week was just so, so bad and so, inefficient that it couldn't be otherwise. I, I, if I, if I didn't, if I hadn't learned by myself, I wouldn't have spoken any Spanish at all. So I, I would have just given up on that. Whereas my English and German classes at school were quite good, and I learned quite a lot in them as well. So I guess this was the main difference.

Just the quality, teacher or syllabus or just generally.

Yes. Yeah. I mean, there were 25 people in, in the class, and we met once a week.

Wow.

So you can imagine, yeah, you can imagine how, how well we learned Spanish, right?

Yeah, I guess nobody learned Spanish that day.

No, of course not. But I, I realized that, I mean, this cannot possibly work, you know? It's just once a week, there's so many people. We do such stupid things in the lessons, like this cannot work. This cannot be, I, I will not be able to speak Spanish. So then I realized, I need to do something else. And I'm very glad for, for this experience now in retrospect.

Right.

Because it's helped me a lot in life.

Well, that's great. Yeah, that's really great. Actually, it's funny, I just listened to an episode of Tim Ferriss's podcast where he talks about how very successful people always say that a struggle was necessary or a kind of a a problem led to a solution. And if you ask those people, would you do the same again, they would all say yes. Cause

Exactly.

Whereas some other people might say, well, I would have preferred to just learn Spanish the first time, but actually, it turned out much better. And of course, you, you, you turned it into a career as well. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Exactly. Yeah. Um, so yeah, that's why I'm very grateful for, for that, uh, for this moment, for, for the bad experience with the teacher and the, and the lessons, because I realized this is not how languages can be taught. I mean, for anyone, not just for me. And then I realized, but this is how it's done, actually, you know? Everybody in the world learns the languages, more or less, in the same way. They go to a course, they do it once or twice a week, they use one single book, they do a few exercises, they act like they actually learn something, but it doesn't work at all. So I, I realized that you need to put a lot of more time into it. But how to do it?

Awesome. And we'll get back into that in, in just a moment. And, uh, of course we met at the gathering for the first time, which was actually a funny story, but the first gathering you talked about, uh, interpreting. Yeah. And I know a lot of people out there are very interested in, well, I know all these languages. I'm, I'm a language genius, like, uh, you know, people who are not me. Uh, they want to know what can they use their languages for? And, and I, I, I wondered if you just wanted to take a a minute or two to talk about, uh, being an interpreter as a career way.

Of course, of course. Well, yeah, that's, that's what I studied. I, um, I work as a professional interpreter, basically, even though I don't do that very much now anymore. I concentrate on my other project. Um, but, um, yeah, I mean, it's, um, it's a great thing to do. It's, it's an amazing job, but it's not like, okay, I'm a polyglot. Speak a lot of languages. What can I do? Ooh, okay, interpreting. I'll try it. Let's try, well, a job, you know, an assignment tomorrow. It doesn't work like that, unfortunately. Uh, you really need to train to, to be an interpreter. And I think many people under appreciate it. So they, they suppose they can, they can do it much faster.

All right. Well, that's cool. And I, I want to get back into the levels in a second as well. But you said something interesting, and that was the idea that we can't just equate language skill with interpreting skill. And I, I, I think it was Emir. I don't, I don't know if you know him, uh, from Kazakhstan, who told me that, if you want to see how good or bad you can be at interpreting, try to read the news, uh, or basically repeat what the guy in the news saying in the language he's speaking. So just from English to English. And he's,

Yeah, shadow exercise. Yeah.

And I was like, yeah, that's pretty difficult. So I can only imagine, you know, how hard it must be without training to just go in and expect to speak English after somebody speaking Slovak or Spanish or Czech or whatever, you know.

Yeah. Exactly. But, of course, because it's a very good exercise though. I mean, shadowing is perfect. I, I think both for language learning and for interpreters. Uh, I often did it with my students, and we started with Slovak into Slovak, right? So the same language. And then I let them do it with English or another foreign language. It was like, oh, this is difficult.

Yeah.

And even a better one is where you paraphrase it. So you have to change every single part of the sentence to have the same meaning, but say it in different words, because this is what interpreting is really about, you know? Yeah. You don't work with words. It's not like many people, you know, many people imagine that interpreters are these automatic Google translators, which just switch on and they go word after word, and they translate it, but it doesn't work like that. You always work with ideas, and then you say it in different words. So for that, you need a really big vocabulary in your working languages.

Yeah, and also there are some structural problems in some languages that just make that almost impossible, I guess. I mean, if you're interpreting from German into English, and, and the German person is speaking like a huge sentence, it's impossible to translate on a word-by-word basis, because you're going to have to wait for the verb for 10 years.

Exactly. Yeah, it simultaneous interpreting from Germany is quite tricky sometimes. But there are, there are strategies that you can, how you can go around it, but you need to learn them and practice them actively.

Right.

Consciously.

Well, great. I hope that, uh, we inspired some, uh, some people out there to, to go down that route, because it's, I, I definitely see from, from your experience that it can really open up some doors that you didn't, didn't expect and, uh.

Exactly. It's awesome. Yeah.

It's an awesome job. So if you, if anyone is interested, I really suggest that you look at, uh, the university courses that are offered nearby. And then, you know, apply yourself to the studies for one or two years, preferably. And then, well, you know, I mean, the, the job is the job is really interesting because you get to meet a lot of interesting people. Sometimes you get to meet really, really interesting speakers, you know, like Tony Robbins or some, something like that. That's, that's one of the moments where you think, oh my God, I'm so blessed with this job, because I wouldn't possibly meet this person ever. So.

Yeah, Tony Robbins seminar, I guess, starts at something like $5 to $10,000 a a person. So if you get the chance to actually come and meet him, that's, uh, that's huge. Um, going back into like, uh, just general language learning, um, and I, I guess we can, we can talk about language mentoring as well. But one of the interesting things for me isn't, is looking at how to get from intermediate or at least upper beginner into the really good levels, like the interpreting, uh, you know, the C1, C2s. And as a sort of beginner to the whole thing, it seems like there's a lot of material from how to say, you know, the weather is nice and the beginner levels, but it seems that the materials get less and less as you progress. Um, do you have any sort of general strategies and ideas on, on how to go over that hump? Because I think a lot of people can get to the touristy level, the order at the restaurant, or, you know, there's enough help out there, but then they hit that intermediate wall. How do we, how do we get really good at a language? Because as a, as somebody with a a history in interpreting and still doing it, then you must be one of the best to ask this question.

Yeah, I think, um, I'm also, I also deal with this question quite a lot, uh, when I'm trying to help people how to learn languages. And this is, um, I think this is exactly the point where you don't really need a teacher anymore.

Right.

Um, many people do need a teacher at the beginning because they don't have the motivation, the perseverance, et cetera. But once that you're able to read most of the text, you know, you understand 80% of what's written in any text, then you're good to go.

Right.

The second thing is, you need to do a lot of it. And I think this is the crucial point, because many people think that they can just, you know, read a few texts in the textbook, and then they will, you know, be on the B, B2 level. But I think the good knowledge of a language comes from vast materials. So you need to read a lot of books, listen to a lot of recordings, a lot of them, and speak a lot of lessons, well, or spend a lot of hours speaking with people, practicing, you know, like with tutors, et cetera. And not only you need, do you need to do a lot of it, but also very frequently. So it doesn't help if you, if you do it once a week, and you spend eight hours with it, because your brain needs time to process it and to sleep on it, et cetera. So what I suggest to do is to do it everyday in little bits and pieces. So that gives us, um, fun, quantity, frequency, and then the last one is a system.

Right.

I think that if you have a system, if you have a plan, if you know how to do things, if you know why you're doing this and how you're going to achieve your goals, then you're good to go, you know? All you need to do is to spend the time with it, with the activities that you enjoy doing, so it's not, it's not a nuisance, you just enjoy it, and then you can really very easily get into the level where you're comfortable with the language.

Right. I think that's good. And the systemizing obviously is a, I guess, is a protection against our own overwhelmedness, you know? If you have a system, then you don't need to worry about self-discipline, because you just kind of do it.

Exactly.

And, um, I, I think another problem is that it's, it's not easy, but it's, it's, you know, going from, let's say, A0 to A2 is, you know, uh, quite a lot less effort compared to going from just, you know, B1 to B2.

Exactly.

And it just gets harder and harder, or the material you need is, is vaster and vaster and I don't know if that's a word, but now it is.

It also gets more interesting, because you don't need to work with the simplified text anymore. You can just use anything, you know? And this is, this is something that I, and there was another, another breakthrough moment for me when I realized that if you don't understand something at the beginning, just give it time and keep doing it for a longer time, and then it will just come. This is how I started watching, for example, Sex and the City in French, you know? Not in French. And I, I watched it all like, all the series before in English, so I know more or less what it would be about. But after the first episode, I didn't understand anything. I was just like, oh, no. Like, I thought I, I spoke a little bit French, but after half a year or so. And I didn't understand almost anything. But I said, okay, I'll, I'll just give it more time and frequency, you know, every day I'll watch an episode. And then after, I don't know, seven, eight, 10 episodes, suddenly, things started to make sense. So what this is what I always, uh, always, um, recommend to everyone, work with material you like, something you're interested in, and then do it every day, and don't, don't get discouraged if it doesn't work, uh, because it, it never works, because you don't have the vocabulary, you're not used to the, uh, the voices of the actors, you're not used to the, uh, you know, you don't know what they will mention. Uh, but once you get the idea, then that helps you a lot.

Yeah, and they don't use the annoying dubbing system, do they? They use the straight dubbing. So there's yeah. Not like Polish or Russian. Yeah. It's like, you, it's so confusing. I I'm watching House with Russian dubbing, and it's just, I mean, it's just so difficult.

Yeah, but you get used to it, right? I did it with

You get, you get used to it where it's not annoying, but I still, the problem is, my brain will, I guess, forever, uh, kind of prefer English. So it's listening out for the English instead of paying attention to the Russian.

Right.

And it's like, it's really tricky to, because when you watch TV, you just kind of zone out, right? You don't really, you don't watch TV actively. Um, so I feel like I need to do that, and it can be quite exhausting, actually. Whereas if I'm watching something, you know, with Hungarian dubs, the, the ones I've seen, they, they were dubbed like the French one. And there's no thinking, because you don't have a choice. There's no subtle English in the background.

Right. I agree. It's easier for sure.

So I don't understand who came up with that. Uh, Russian people must be geniuses, because they can just zone that other thing out. Uh, but, um, yeah, definitely actually knowing the story and knowing some of the lines that the, the actors would be saying is very helpful, I think. Um, but of course, I also watch, I also try to watch a, a comedy show I also like, uh, Bazelini is Magica. I don't know if you've seen any of it. It's, it's hilarious. Um, and it's actually.

Well, I, I recommend Kukhnya.

Yeah, yeah. Some people have said that to me and I, and I didn't, I, I didn't get a chance to check it out yet, but maybe when I reached the next season of one of the other shows, I'll, I'll swap it in and see what happens. Because there's no dubbing there, so that's, that's good.

Sure. No, no, no, it's an original series, and it shows you a part of the Russian culture as well. It's really well done. Kukhnya is my favorite Russian series for sure.

Well, you've sold me out. I'm going to have to give it a try. But One thing I wanted to add, yeah, just to add, like, if you, if some people have a problem understanding the first episodes because they have no idea what the series is about or something, what I recommend doing is just check the short description of that episode on, on Wikipedia.

Mhm.

Because if you just go list of, the name of the series, episodes, you're going to find it for sure, you know, like list of Friends episodes, for example.

Yeah.

And then you just look, I do it, for example, okay, I watch an episode in French, let's say, um, um, a series that I, I didn't really understand it. And, uh, right after that, it was like, what were they talking about? What was this all about? I mean, you understand from the reactions, she was happy about it, he was not, he was angry, et cetera. But then you look at it like, oh, he was breaking up with her. Oh my God, that makes so much sense now. And sometimes I watch back part of the episode, and it's, it suddenly falls into place. It's, it's amazing.

Yeah, that's a good tip. Sometimes you can get completely lost and be like, what is this about? I don't get it.

Yeah, exactly. I did it with my Russian tutor, actually. Uh, it was a recommended activity as well where she said, go and watch 10 minutes of this show. It was something about a ship. I think it was called The Ship, actually. Uh, well, how can it be called The Ship if it's in Russian? Hmm. It probably wasn't called The Ship. I'm probably thinking of something else. But it was like people on a ship, and it's like doomsday and, and, um, and when I went over the episode with her, I would have an idea of what it was based mostly on what I saw, and then she would tell me, but, Kris, this is what happened, and I was like, ah, interesting. I didn't really get that. But yeah, now that you say.

Did that mean I watched the correct one? Yeah. Is it, you mean this episode?

That's, that's pretty funny. But I, I think one of the most important things that you said also was just, you have to spend the time. Like, you can get to a touristy level in three months and, you know, you can be do that well and, and, and understand a lot for for your level. But if you want mastery in a language, which I think C1, C2 would be considered as, it there's no substitute for hard work, you know?

There is no shortcut, yeah.

No, you just have to put the work in. I also, I also think it's, it's very rewarding to spend the time, because otherwise, you lose it.

Yeah.

If you just spend two or three months with a language, uh, I saw some people do it for at the polyglot conference, for example, you know, they learn some Greek, and now they're excited to learn some Icelandic, which is nice. But I think they're honestly losing that time, because in the long run, you're not going to remember anything from that language if you don't use it anymore.

Yeah.

But I believe there is, there is a point where you get, uh, when you, when you learn, learn, learn a lot, and then you get, and I, for me personally, I think it's a a comfortable B2 level. Once you get on that level, you're not going to lose it. I mean, of course, you're going to get a little bit, it's going to get a little bit rusty, and you need to refresh up on it, et cetera, but you're not going to completely lose the language. Whereas if you don't get to that comfortable point, then, I mean, too bad. I mean, good that you enjoyed the activity of learning the language, but you're not going to be able to use it in two years, for sure.

Right.

And I think the activity itself is just very rewarding. It's a brain activity, you know, it's good to keep you your brain active and, and

Yeah. And a lot to you.

see your improvement and if you go to all these polyglot events, you also meet people who are doing the same thing. You can exchange notes, you can even speak to them a little bit and, I, I, I, I did that, I think that was one of the first time I did that recently, um, and I, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a beginner for most of this, uh, but, uh, I, I see a lot of people who go to somewhere like the gathering or the conference and they practice their languages. And I know that I, I don't do that very much at all. Like, I speak a bit of German, but since we're usually in Berlin, it's like people are like, yeah, of course, everybody speaks German, you know. So, uh, I spoke some Russian, uh, here in, in, uh, Greece, in Thessaloniki, with a, uh, Greek guy. And so that was very exciting to kind of be two people who weren't very good at it. Like, he was better than me, but we were both pretty bad. Um, so that was kind of supportive, you know? We could, because when you, when you're speaking to a native speaker, it can get very daunting, because you feel like if you're, if you're not good enough, you feel like you're kind of wasting their time a little bit or testing their patience or, and, um, if you're, you know, good enough you get to a point, of course, where it's a natural conversation, but then again, you need to be ridiculously high level to have a a meaningful conversation as you would have in English. So, there's a little sweet spot, I guess, where you need to be good enough to keep the conversation going, but if you're not, unless you're really good, then you might as well speak English. So,

Yeah. Well, it depends. I mean, I'm, I'm either in this practice mode or use the language mode. So, I, I, I prefer myself to get into the level where I can use it more or less comfortably. It can be a B1. I mean, I'm able to say things in very, very simple terms, and then, uh, have the conversation, but fluency is very important to me. Because if you, if you have a conversation with a native speaker, or someone who speaks the language well, and it's painful for them to wait for you to finish the sentences, and, and you misunderstand each other half of the time, that's not really a conversation, is it?

Yeah.

But you see, I think this is actually one of the keys to learning a language. And I'm now trying to figure out a way how to help my, my students and my clients understand this, because like, when I was learning Spanish, for example, we were, we were out with some Spanish friends, I met a lot of, uh, Spanish Erasmus students. And I wanted to tell them, because they, they, they were a little hungry, and I wanted to suggest that we go into, into a place which was nearby, a shopping center, and they had a lot of restaurants, and you know, like a restaurant corner, you know, and I wanted to suggest we go there and we pick some food. And the only thing I was able to say, to suggest this was, en esa casa hay mucha comida. It's like, in that house, there is a lot of food. You know, which is a very, very simple Spanish, but it, it worked, because yeah, it worked, it, it, it served the purpose. The girls started to laugh, but they understood the gist, and we went there and we picked some food, you know? And this is how I was communicating at that time. My Spanish was not good enough. I was not able to say it in a better way. So you need to, you need to make it as simple as possible, but keep the fluency, and this is what I, what I try to do.

And that's also using what you have, instead of waiting until much later and just delaying. But it's very tough. I mean, for me, definitely, doing that, what you just did there, is, it's really tough for me. I, I always run through the sentence five times in my head and if I don't really like it, I don't say it, and, um, so that's, that's my, uh, sort of perfectionist problem there, but I think in general.

Standing away.

Yeah. Yeah, you have to make more mistakes. I guess it's a good tip. Um, Yeah.

But branching into the idea of language mentoring, uh, do you want to just, you know, tell us the elevator pitch for, for, for your, your, your activity and, and, and sort of, yeah, how did you, what did you consider to turn it into a more serious practice?

Yeah. Well, it's, it's something that I've been, I've been doing for quite a long time, trying to help people learn languages, because they started to ask me, you know? Of course, someone speaks more languages, like, oh, how do you do it? Tell me more about it. And I realized people don't really understand that, like, they really need to spend time learning the language. So this is basically my mission, trying to help people learn languages by themselves. This is what language mentoring is about. And it's not done in the way that languages are taught in schools and language schools, but rather the way that polyglots learn languages.

Right.

So, I mean, we actually have a very similar job in this sense, because you also try to figure out what, how polyglots learn languages.

Sure.

And your podcast, by the way, helped me a lot to understand that as well. So thank you very much for that.

Oh, thank you. That's nice to hear.

And, yeah. And I also recommend it to, to anyone, so I hope you have a lot of new listeners because of that. And anyway, so, uh, try to take, uh, the, the best out of what polyglots do, because polyglots are not so special people, you know? They just do things differently. And I think anyone can apply those principles. And the, the four pillars that I've mentioned already, it's, it's something that is, I think, the core of the way polyglots learn languages. I believe that.

Yeah, I think, I, I think I agree with that. Yeah. Um.

So this is what I try to do. I help people do that, and then I motivate them to, to stick with it, stick with the plan, like, to create a learning plan, uh, which is totally individual for themselves, for their own needs. So, for example, I believe if someone wants to be able, uh, be able to speak the language, they don't necessarily need to be able to write it.

No.

I don't, I don't think people should practice all the skills at the same time. I think they should pick some priorities and concentrate on them, you know? And then, and then you see a lot of improvement in that area in a short period of time. And that motivates you to, uh, to continue and to, uh, continue learning. Because, um, I think one of the most important things that, uh, supports success, success, uh.

So once you see success in little periods, and you want to continue with the, for sure.

with bigger ones. And, and that's, I mean, we could get into a whole, uh, range of ideas for in terms of increasing motivation, but I guess having a person that you're kind of accountable to is, is a good first step, and that's what you provide to your students. And people could do this for themselves as well. They can have, they can find partners in crime who are both learning Russian or maybe they have, uh, I don't know, some pen pal or international friend or or something that you can just say. For instance, I, I Skype every week with my friend Tom from, uh, from France, and, you know, we're not learning the same languages, and we're not the same, we don't have the same strategies, we don't use the same materials, but we just kind of meet up every week and just say, last week I did this, and this week I plan to do this.

Awesome.

And that's just basic accountability, and I think, uh, perfect. and, uh, I think that's the biggest change, actually. Uh, because people don't need to learn languages, at least most people don't. Most people are inspired to learn languages on, I think, on a bit of a whim, you know, where it's just, oh, it could be fun to try. And then,

No, you think so?

Yeah, I think that, um, well, certainly speaking of numbers, but the people who are successful, obviously, people who are very interested, are very obsessed.

Yeah, I mean, polyglots are a special group, right?

Exactly.

Yeah.

But I'm thinking of people who, who like, just one day, they're like, oh, it could be, it could be nice, which is a common sentence by, by the outsiders, uh. Um, and I just think that they do it on a sort of a whim, and they don't realize that if there are no consequences to not doing it, then it's very hard to do it.

Yeah.

I think this is maybe more typical of the community of people really interested in languages, but my goal is to help people who are not that crazy about languages, or not that interested in them, but they need them for some reason. Most

Like one language or many languages.

Uh, to differen- I, I usually, yeah, I usually work with people who, who need one or two languages. So in Slovakia, everybody wants to speak English, of course. Which is still a big issue. Like people are not that good at it. They don't, they cannot use it professionally. So they want to improve, but they're not necessarily very interested in the language itself. So what I'm trying to do is to help them find the little things they could get interested in, and then work on them. So, for example, I realized that some people just love working with apps, and they are, you know, they're just crazy about it. So I, I help them work with Anki or another app, you know, to learn vocabulary. But then some people, you, you show them the app, and they go like, nah, this is not really my thing. I mean, looking at the screen again, no. So I tell them about the Gold List method, for example, you know, okay, you can write it in person, I mean, you can write it in, in hand. So that, that's, uh, I think this is what everybody needs, like an individual approach, like kind of find the best, the best pieces of all the methods that are available out there.

Right.

And, and then if, if someone is not that crazy about languages, what they need is a system and a plan. So once you create a habit, I mean, you know it very well yourself, habits are really powerful. Once you have it, you just stick to it. And once you have a plan, like, okay, I'm just going to do this for two months, and then at the end of the two months, I'm going to decide what to do. That's, you know, that's doable. Whereas if someone decides, okay, I'm going to learn French now. Oh my God, that's a long way, you know? That's just too much work. And after the first month, they usually quit. So I think this is what helps, you know, to have a system and to realize, okay, this I'm just going to do this for two months, then I'll see what I, what I do next.

Right. And what would you say are the kind of, um, do you need a teacher and a mentor, or can the mentor sometimes be the teacher?

Yeah, I don't, I don't think people really need teachers, uh, most people.

Right.

Um, at the beginning, it can be useful, but the problem is, I mean, a teacher, you know, how do we define a teacher? This is the question. Because I think a good teacher is more of a, a tutor, a guide, you know, a mentor, you can actually call it in any way, a coach, any way you like, but I don't think the teacher should teach the stuff. They shouldn't spoon feed you, and most of all, they shouldn't explain stuff to you which you're not really interested in.

Right.

So this is, I think, this is one of the main mistakes that we do in, in our language teaching, that we tell people about grammar, which their brain hasn't even, you know, figured out that exists.

Yeah.

And this is what, for example, Assimil and similar courses are based on. First you notice stuff, and then when you're curious about it, then they tell you about it.

Yes.

But not really, like, okay, this is the future tense. We do the, you know, all the declination forms. They tell you, hey, look, this is the, like, this is the future tense. So just, you know, just notice it. And when you, when you go like, okay, tell me, you know, you can work with a teacher, teacher, whatever, and you say, okay, tell me how, how do I say this in the future tense?

Uh-huh.

And how do I say it for the second person, et cetera? And this is when you can actually learn to use the language, because you are already curious.

Yeah. Yeah, I totally agree, and curiosity is one of my defining characteristics of successful polyglots, I think, that people who are learning a lot of languages are naturally curious. They want to know what is that word mean? What does that ending mean? What does that, you know, grammar, uh, define? And I think,

Exactly.

I would like to transform, well, I mean, that's a bit of an ambitious plan, but I'd like to make language teaching better, because I think we need language teaching in school in some form or another. You, I mean, I'd like it to be more, um, autonomous as well, but I think that for people, let's say, kids, kids who are, maybe, age 10, eight, or something, I don't know when, when the most of the world starts a second language, but it's probably around there. And I just think that they need to be guided more than, say, adults. Uh. But it would be nice still to try and, and make some improvements to the, the old way of doing it, because I think we, the old way is kind of a linear progression. You're kind of learning from zero, and you add step one, step two, step three, step four. Whereas I, I think speech is more of a puzzle where you kind of, you connect the dots in a way. And sometimes you use this area of the puzzle a lot, and sometimes you use something over here. Um, but you can do a lot, which Benny Lewis, for instance, has exemplified, like, you can do a lot with very few words, and you can do a lot with very few, very little study. And likewise, you can spend, let's say, four years on a university degree and speak nothing, you know, just maybe you can read a poem or something, but you, if somebody says, how are you, they're like, uh, I don't know. You know, four years later. And, um, it would be nice if the, if the teaching was more relevant. But I, I suppose, speaking of, speaking of relevance, that's not so relevant to mentoring, but, um.

Well, it is actually. It is actually. This is one of my, one of my missions as well. I, I would like to change the way languages are, are taught in schools and in general. And this is actually what is almost, uh, it's already happening in Slovakia in, in little ways, because, uh, in the summer, I worked with English teachers, and I wanted to introduce the, the whole idea of language mentoring to them, but I didn't do it like, okay, this is a course how you, you can help your students learn, but this is a course for you yourselves, how you can improve your English, how you can work on your language. And they got so passionate about it, you know? They were really eager. They spent a lot of time working on their English. They loved it, and now they're passing it on to their students. And I have a few teachers in, in the group who actually tried it with, even with students of 10, 11 years old, you know? And, and it, and it works really well, because you motivate people to, uh, to learn by themselves, to not just wait what happens in the lessons. And then these people notice that they are getting better, you know? And the teacher said, well, the, the results were great. The students have spent a lot of time learning English outside of the lessons, like watching Peppa Pig or whatever, you know?

Yes.

Cartoons and on YouTube, they were a lot better in two months than the students who just came to the lessons and did the homework.

Of course.

So, it's, it's definitely something that can be done, and this is exactly my, my goal and my mission to explore it and to find the best ways that people, people can learn languages by themselves. I believe in the power of that so much.

Me too. Well, in fact, I believe people can learn anything they want. Uh.

Yes.

They, it's very tough to become like the best in the world at anything, let's say, speaking Russian or playing the violin, but I think anyone can get in the top, you know, 1% or 0.1% or whatever and really enjoy most of the benefits.

Yes.

Um, but we should do a nonprofit. We should create a nonprofit for how to, uh, improve school learning across the world. That would be fun.

Yeah. That sounds interesting. That's our, our little charity. That's a huge project, though.

Well, I mean, we don't have to do it tomorrow. All right. We can work on it slowly. But it's interesting for me because I think that the early experiences with language really define your future. So if you get a bad language experience, let's say, at English in grade, uh, two or three or four, I think it's very hard for you as an adult to come back and try it again, or even as a young adult. And so I think we would improve into, um, the interconnection between countries and cultures greatly, if we just opened people's eyes to different languages at a earlier age than is, is currently happening, because like, if you're in, let's say, you're in, uh, Russia or Hungary, maybe, everything is dubbed, you know, you don't need foreign languages. And maybe that foreign language in school is totally boring. It's a teacher with like a super local accent. Uh, so it doesn't really feel that exciting and you just want to skip every class and, you know, you have the outliners once in a while, right? But

Yeah.

Generally, I think if we can improve that foundation, then we can improve the whole puzzle. Hopefully, who knows?

Yeah, sure. I mean, this is, this is also one thing I like to stress to people, learning a way which they can use in practice, which is interesting, which is relevant to them, right? And this is why I don't think working with one book for every, every student, you know, reading the same text that someone wrote, a teacher who has no idea about these kids, you know? Uh, reading it doesn't make much sense. So that's why I think people should read stuff that interests them in person.

Yeah.

And these are amazing, amazing examples of people who, who, let's say, their English is not on a very good level, but they're really interested in, I don't know, photography. And they can read really complex texts about photography, and they understand it.

Yeah.

Where I, I wouldn't understand it, you know? So, this is because they're interested in, and, and that's why I, that's what I support, supporting people, try to find the materials you're interested in, and you'll understand so much more, so much better.

Yeah.

And this, this could, of course, apply, uh, be applied to kids as well. I mean, trying to give them texts that are interesting for them, and then make them learn it and, and read it at, in their free time.

Sure. Yeah, and of course, now we have the internet, in the digital world where we can update books all the time. So, for instance, if, if I wrote a book for a new English student who's maybe 10 years old, maybe I'd write about Pokémon Go or something, which is a huge hit. And then, 10 years from now, we could update it to talk about whatever the latest craze is, you know? Um, so just having those connections would, would be very beneficial. So,