Learning a Second Language | Shinyoung Grace Kim | TEDxYouth@AISR

Anyounghaseyo. Marhaba. Hello.

I am living in a multicultural life. I'm from a

Korean family but I was born in the States

and lived there until I was five. Then, I

moved to Saudi which was a totally new

environment to me. Flowing around these

various cultures, I got interested in

languages. Currently, I'm learning Arabic.

It is fascinating but hard at the same time.

Arabic is nothing like the languages I’ve

been speaking with. But, I found out that

my struggle is not only because of the

difference between them. It’s also because

I want to speak it fluently. In summary,

I want to be fantastic though I have no idea

of it. So, how can you speak a really

different languages but still be good?

Thinking of my own experience, I found

three steps. But before I dig into the steps,

I want to ask you a question. Learning a

foreign language is hard. Right?

But, why is that? Yes, it could be

because of the different sounds,

different letters, a different grammar

structure. But, is that all? In my opinion,

the biggest reason is because, people are

afraid to be wrong. And that is the first

step. Not to be afraid of failure. Be wrong.

Make mistakes. Fail. You should not be

ashamed of those. This is an important

step. Because by failing you can make

great progress. Don't believe me? Then,

listen to my story. Once, I had to write a

word in Arabic, meaning achievement. But I

accidentally wrote a word that meant

excretion. Eventually, I failed writing

that word. But, you know what? I never

forgot those words. It's just stuck in my

head and this is how I realized that learning

from failure is much more efficient than

just mechanical memorization. Also, it's

not only me that saying this. Experts,

also, proved this too. According to

Harvard Business Review, managers in the

vast majority of enterprises such as

financial services, product design,

hospitals and even NASA's Space Shuttle

program genuinely wanted their

organizations learn from failure to improve

future performance. Never forget that failure

is nothing to be ashamed of. You learn from

it. The second step is to find a guide.

Failure helps you learn but you do need

someone to help you out with their

mistakes. My guide is my Arabic teacher.

She helps me through my learning process.

But, of course, it is definitely okay though

you don't have a language teacher. Look

around. People would love to teach you

their native languages. For example, like

me. If any of you wants to learn Korean, I

would be more than glad to help you. To

people the fact itself that a foreigner

is trying to learn their language makes

them delighted. So look around and find a

guide. Finally, last step is to be

passionate. Passion is powerful.

Sometimes, you might get down. When you

find something challenging. For example, I

found it really tough to learn the two

forms of words in Arabic. Feminine and

masculine. It was also hard to understand.

Why? They divided words into two groups.

Why couldn't they just keep

the same for everyone? Like other

languages. But, as I got to know Arabic

better, some part of it just helped me

understand. To me, Arabic is like a bridge

that connects me with a really different

culture. And I guess, that is why I'm

passionate about it. Just remember, when

you're full of passion, there is nothing

that can stop you from meeting your goal.

Learning a language is difficult. But,

when you're not afraid to fail, find

someone to help you out, and be

passionate, you will be more than ready

to learn or speak a foreign language

Shukraan, thank you, gomabseubnida.

[Applause]