Matt vs. Japan gets deep into his own drive and the role that meditation played in his Japanese journey. We discuss whether Asian languages really are harder than European languages, and exactly what it takes to become fully fluent.
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Matt vs. Japan and the Mass Immersion Approach have grabbed people’s attention due to the high degree of fluency Matt has reached in Japanese and his no bull guide to language learning. But in this interview we go a bit deeper into what kind of a psyche Matt possessed while he was learning Japanese and whether that was really healthy. I (Lamont) who have learnt French and Swedish to a lower level than Matt’s near native Japanese, was curious to know how someone could remain so dedicated to one language for so long, especially being so young. Then we talk about the role of meditation in Matt’s road to reconciliation with the Japanese language and Japan, which he felt had betrayed him. Now learning Chinese, Matt now finds meditation beneficial because of how it has helped him to control his attention. Seeming to give you something like language learning super powers, meditation sounds like some every language learner should try.
We also talk about the role of Anki and SRS (or flashcards) in European languages versus in Asian languages. The opinions about the different approach to learning required for German or Spanish as opposed to Japanese or Chinese are quite interesting because both of us at one point take both sides of the argument.
Matt does most of the talking here which is great because he’s probably the most articulate language learner and language learning theorist that I’ve come across.
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