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Steve's YouTube Videos, The entrepreneur's guide to learning languages

The entrepreneur's guide to learning languages

Today's subject is business and language learning.

Throughout my life, I have been involved with business and I've been

involved with language learning.

And I want to talk about how those two activities compare what you need

for success in business, what you need for success in language learning.

I did a video on the subject a while ago, and I talked about entrepreneurship.

And of course the word entrepreneurship comes from the French word

entreprendre, to undertake.

And of course to start a new language is.

To take on a major undertaking.

So is starting a new business.

In my life, I have started two businesses.

One in the wood business, which I still have, that goes back to 1987.

And then of course, LingQ, which I started with my son about 20 years ago.

So how are they similar?

How are they different?

First of all, quite obviously to be successful in business or

in language learning, you need a high degree of commitment.

You need a degree of passion.

Passion, because it's not always easy.

So to stay the course, you need to have that burning desire to do something.

One of the reasons why in Canada, the level of bilingualism outside

Quebec is so low is that despite the literally billions of dollars that the

Canadian government spends, if people aren't motivated to learn French,

they're not going to learn French.

So learning a language.

Starts with motivation.

Similarly, if your approach to business is one of get rich quick and you don't have

a passion for the actual nuts and bolts of the business you want to get into, if you

are a shoemaker and you don't like making shoes, you probably won't be successful.

So that's common to both.

But there are some obvious differences right from the beginning.

When you start a new language, in a way you're starting from zero.

If it's a new language, in many cases, you know nothing about that language.

The recent languages that I started, which are very different from

languages that I knew previously, like Persian, like Arabic, like Turkish,

it's almost like starting from zero.

There's a very small number of loan words.

In business, on the other hand, if you don't have Some market

knowledge, some product knowledge.

If you don't know some people who can help you, if you're like basically

starting from zero, let's say you've got a very steep uphill climb.

So to that extent in business, that prior knowledge is very important.

Now you can argue that in language learning, if you're dealing with

some input and it's on a subject that you're familiar with, or it's a subject

that you have some prior knowledge about, you're going to do better.

So prior knowledge is always helpful, but prior knowledge is not a condition

for success in language learning.

Whereas I think in business, it is almost a condition.

And when I started my wood business, I had been working for

the Canadian embassy in Tokyo.

I had been involved with the forest industry sector.

I knew people.

People, I knew products, I had information about the market.

There was still a lot that I learned along the way, but nevertheless,

I didn't have that knowledge.

And of course I worked for, let's see, what was six years in Japan and a

longer time back here in Vancouver with major Canadian exporting companies.

So I had a lot of prior knowledge about the wood business in Japan specifically

before I started my own company.

Now, another thing that's different is language learning

to me is like atomic habits.

It's step by step, you slowly get better.

Very often you're not aware of the fact that you're getting better.

You just have to trust the process, continue to do whatever you're doing,

particularly listening and reading, I believe in input, and you will gradually

improve, even if you don't have the impression that you're improving.

If you stay with it, you're not going to get worse.

You can only get better.

That's not the case in business.

Business is much more volatile.

You can have some good luck, a good period, big demand for the product

that you're selling, for example, and then you can run into some bad luck.

A customer defaults on his payment or market prices go down, or you don't

get the big deal you're hoping to get.

So there's far more volatility in business and it does make it more challenging,

but there are moments of tremendous success, almost unexpected success.

Which don't happen so much in language learning, where we kind

of plot along and keep our nose to the grindstone, so to speak.

Another thing I find language learning is very much personal.

You learn for your own reasons, unless you have to learn for some other

purpose, which for me was the case when I was a Canadian government language

student and I had to learn Mandarin Chinese and I had to pass the British

Foreign Service exam in Mandarin.

Or when I was a student in France, I had to reach a certain level in my French.

But for the rest of the time that I've been learning on my own,

I learned for my own reasons.

I learned in ways.

that I like.

I don't worry about the mistakes I make.

I'm just learning for myself.

And it's a solitary journey and I can do it on my own.

I can have a teacher if I want, but I don't need a teacher.

In business, that's not the case.

In business, you very much rely on other people.

You rely on contacts.

You rely on suppliers.

You rely on customers.

Relationships are so important in business.

You, Don't want to burn any bridges.

You have to invest in relationships so that at a much later date, you can go

back there and perhaps reap the benefits of having provided a service to people

who are going to be helpful to you.

So business is much more dependent on interpersonal relationships,

whereas languages, not so much.

Of course, it's nice to have a good teacher.

And I've had some excellent teachers who have influenced me in French, in Mandarin.

Even now, I have an excellent tutor for Turkish.

I had an excellent Tutor for Persian.

So people can be important, but they are not as important as

is the case in business where they are absolutely essential.

So from that, if you're trying to learn a language, you can quit when you want.

You can be studying a certain bit of content or you're reading a

book and you don't like the book.

Can you just chuck the book?

You don't have to continue.

Whatever you do, you can stop at any time.

You can say, I don't like this language.

I'm not going to study this language anymore.

Or I'm now more interested in another language.

So therefore, while I still like that language, I might go back to it.

But now I'm going to do this other language.

So you're entirely on your own.

You're a vagabond.

Not so in business.

If you undertake to do something, you have to deliver.

If you promise something and you don't deliver, your name will be mud.

As they say, and in business, it takes a long time to build up a reputation.

It's easy to ruin your reputation and your credibility.

And similarly, language learning is personal.

I can make mistakes.

Somebody might criticize me for mistakes.

I don't care.

Those are my mistakes.

In business, your mistakes are not just your mistakes.

Your mistakes can cost your company, can cost your employees, can cost

your your customer or your supplier or whatever the nature of your business is.

Maybe you have to be much, much more careful not to make mistakes,

and it's much more costly to recover from mistakes in business.

However, there is a lot of similarity.

And I think that in the end, the biggest similarity is you have to stay with it.

I've learned that in business, where starting two businesses,

I went through long periods where it was very unprofitable.

I had very little, if any, money coming in.

I had only expenses, but I stuck with it because I believed in it.

I had that commitment, that passion, I'm going to stay with this thing.

And it's a good thing in both cases that I persevered.

Because even though there were lots of difficulties, some difficulties that I

didn't even anticipate, and maybe if I had anticipated those difficulties, I would

not have undertaken to do what I did.

But in the end, it turned out successful.

So languages are not quite like that.

You can stay with it and not feel that you're making any progress, but

you're not going to lose anything.

It's not like I'm investing a lot of money into a particular language

so that if I never get anywhere, I'll have lost all of that money.

As is the case in business, if you spend two, three, four years without

making any money, that's expensive.

That's coming out of your savings.

It's coming out of somewhere.

But in language learning, that's not the case.

You're just spending your time.

And The point is in language learning, however much time you put in and whatever

level you get to, it's all benefit.

It's all rewarding.

So even languages that I have left and would struggle to speak today, I

derived so much pleasure from getting to that level in the language, and

I know I can go back there, those languages aren't going anywhere.

There's still a part of me and I will quickly be able to refresh and get back to

the level where I was and improve on that.

In business, it's not the same.

If you spend three, four years and eventually get to a level where you

feel you cannot sustain your activity, there's just a not enough investment

capital available, you can't stay the course, you're going to have to drop it.

Everything you've invested is to some extent lost.

Now you have gained a lot of experience and there's a lot of people who have,

gone bankrupt two or three times.

lost a lot of money, but with everything that they have learned and

the experience that they have gained, then when they go and start another

venture, they're able to succeed.

So I think in both cases, if we look at the beginning and the end, you have to

have passion, commit the time and effort.

And at the other end of it, you have to stay the course, you have to persevere.

And if you do those two things, I think you have a high probability of

success, both in language learning.

I would say in language learning for sure.

And in business, More likely than not, but the big thing in

business is you're relying on luck.

Language learning is not about luck.

Language learning is about putting in the time and persevering only.

But business, there's a major element of luck and opportunity.

So I just thought I would compare those two and leave you with the

video that I did on a similar subject, entrepreneurship and language

learning quite a few years ago.

Thank you for listening.

Bye for now.

Learn languages from TV shows, movies, news, articles and more! Try LingQ for FREE

The entrepreneur's guide to learning languages the|entrepreneur|guide|to|studying|languages |do empreendedor|||| |創業者的|||| |imprenditore|||| |رائد الأعمال||||اللغات |||a||idiomas |підприємця|||| |podnikatelova|||| |起業家の|||| |przedsiębiorcy|||| Guía del empresario para aprender idiomas Le guide de l'entrepreneur pour l'apprentissage des langues La guida dell'imprenditore all'apprendimento delle lingue 기업가를 위한 언어 학습 가이드 O guia do empresário para aprender línguas Girişimcinin dil öğrenme rehberi Посібник підприємця з вивчення мов 企业家学习语言的指南

Today's subject is business and language learning. امروز|||||| this day's|business and language|is|commerce|and|language| |||||言語| موضوع اليوم هو الأعمال وتعلم اللغة.

Throughout my life, I have been involved with business and I've been ||||||impliqué dans||||| Throughout|my|life|I|have|existed|engaged in|associated with|||I have| در طول|||من|داشته‌ام|بوده‌ام|درگیر|با|کسب و کار|و|من|بوده‌ام طوال||||||||||| Протягом||||||||||| Przez całe||||||zaangażowany||||| طوال حياتي، كنت منخرطًا في مجال الأعمال وكنت

involved with language learning. 関与している|||

And I want to talk about how those two activities compare what you need ||||||||||||tú necesitas| ||||||||zwei||||| |||||||تلك|||||| |||||||それら|二つ||||| |||||||||działania|porównać||| وأريد أن أتحدث عن كيفية مقارنة هذين النشاطين بما تحتاجه

for success in business, what you need for success in language learning. ||||||brauchen||||| ||||||||||idioma|

I did a video on the subject a while ago, and I talked about entrepreneurship. ||||||||||||||entrepreneurial activity |||||o|tema|||há um tempo||||| ||||||||||||||Unternehmertum ||||||||||||||ريادة الأعمال ||||||||||||||przedsiębiorczość ||||||||||||||podjetništvo ||||||||||||||起業家精神 ||||||||||||||emprendimiento

And of course the word entrepreneurship comes from the French word |||||Unternehmertum||||| |of||||||||| |||||підприємництво||||| |||||przedsiębiorczość|||||

entreprendre, to undertake. предпринимать|| to undertake||take on ondernemen|ondernemen| empreender||empreender 進行|| unternehmen||unternehmen üstlenmek|| intraprendere|| 承担|| ||يتعهد |a|emprender підприємство||підприємство 取り組む||取り組む podjąć||podjąć

And of course to start a new language is. ||of course|||||| |の||新しい言語を||||| |||a||||idioma nuevo|

To take on a major undertaking. |||||project |assumir||||empreendimento |||||Unterfangen |||||impegno |||||مهمة كبيرة |||||empresa importante |||||зобов'язання |||||podvig |||||事業 |||||przedsięwzięcie القيام بمهمة كبيرة.

So is starting a new business.

In my life, I have started two businesses. |||||||ビジネス |||||||firmy

One in the wood business, which I still have, that goes back to 1987. ||||||||||remonta|| |||drewno||||||||| ||||||||||||に واحدة في مجال الأعمال الخشبية، والتي أمتلكها حتى الآن، والتي يعود تاريخها إلى عام 1987.

And then of course, LingQ, which I started with my son about 20 years ago.

So how are they similar?

How are they different?

First of all, quite obviously to be successful in business or ||||بوضوح|||||| ||まず第一に||明らかに|||||| ||||oczywiście|||||| أولاً وقبل كل شيء، من الواضح تمامًا أن النجاح في مجال الأعمال أو

in language learning, you need a high degree of commitment. |||||||||dedication |||||||||Engagement |||||||||impegno |||||||درجة عالية||التزام |||||||stopień||zaangażowanie |||||||||зобов'язання ||||||高い|程度|の|コミットメント |||||||alto grado||compromiso

You need a degree of passion. |||程度|| tú necesitas||||| تحتاج إلى قدر من العاطفة.

Passion, because it's not always easy. 情熱||||| Pasja|||||

So to stay the course, you need to have that burning desire to do something. ||||المسار||||||ملتهب|||| ||||||||||intense|||| ||||||||||燃えるような|||| ||||o curso|||||||||| ||||||||||płonące|płonące pragnienie||| ولكي تتمكن من الاستمرار في المسار، عليك أن تكون لديك تلك الرغبة الملحة في القيام بشيء ما. 所以,为了坚持下去,你需要有做某事的强烈愿望。

One of the reasons why in Canada, the level of bilingualism outside |||||||the|||two languages|not inside ||||||||||bilinguismo| ||||||||||bilingüismo| ||||||||||білінгвізм| |||理由|||||||バイリンガリ|外部で ||||||||||bilingwizm|na zewnątrz أحد الأسباب وراء انخفاض مستوى الثنائية اللغوية في كندا خارج 加拿大的双语水平之所以

Quebec is so low is that despite the literally billions of dollars that the ||||||trotz||||||| كيبيك||||||رغم||||||| Quebec||||||||||||| ケベック州||||||||||||| Quebec||||||pomimo||dosłownie|miliardy|||| إن كيبيك منخفضة للغاية على الرغم من مليارات الدولارات التي 魁北克的低水平在于,尽管

Canadian government spends, if people aren't motivated to learn French, ||||||やる気のある||| ||||||zmotywowani|||

they're not going to learn French. لن يتعلموا اللغة الفرنسية

So learning a language.

Starts with motivation. 从动机开始。

Similarly, if your approach to business is one of get rich quick and you don't have Likewise|||method||business|||||||||| |||abordagem|||||||||||| |||نهج|||||||||||| |||||||||||||tu|| |||підхід|||||||||||| |||||||一つ||金持ちになる|||||| Podobnie|||podejście|||||||||||| وبالمثل، إذا كان نهجك في العمل هو الثراء السريع وليس لديك

a passion for the actual nuts and bolts of the business you want to get into, if you |||||nuts and bolts|and|components|||||||||| |passie|||||||||||||||| ||||realidade|os detalhes||os detalhes|||||||||| ||||tatsächlichen|Details||Details|||||||||| |||||实际业务细节|||||||||||| |||||المكسرات||المكونات الأساسية|||||||||| |||||detalles técnicos||los detalles|||||||||| 一つの||||実際の詳細|ナット||ボルト|||||||||| ||||faktycznych szczegółach|orzechy|||||||||||| الشغف بالتفاصيل الدقيقة للعمل الذي ترغب في دخوله، إذا كنت 对你想从事的业务的具体细节充满热情,如果你

are a shoemaker and you don't like making shoes, you probably won't be successful. ||cobbler||||||||||| ||sapateiro||||||||||| ||鞋匠||||||||||| ||Schuhmacher||||||||||| ||calzolaio||||||||||| ||صانع أحذية||||||||||| ||szewc||||||||||| ||шевці||||||||||| ||靴職人||||||||||| ||zapatero||tú|||||tú||||

So that's common to both. ||wspólny|| 所以这对两者来说都是共同的。

But there are some obvious differences right from the beginning. ||||واضحة||||| |||||違い|よね||| ||||oczywiste|||od początku|| ولكن هناك بعض الاختلافات الواضحة منذ البداية. Są jednak pewne oczywiste różnice od samego początku. 但从一开始就存在一些明显的差异。

When you start a new language, in a way you're starting from zero. ||||||||||começando|| |tú||||idioma nuevo||||||| عندما تبدأ لغة جديدة، فأنت بطريقة ما تبدأ من الصفر.

If it's a new language, in many cases, you know nothing about that language. ||||||||||何も||| ||||idioma nuevo||||tú|||||idioma nuevo إذا كانت لغة جديدة، ففي كثير من الحالات، لن تعرف شيئًا عن تلك اللغة.

The recent languages that I started, which are very different from the|||||||||| |最近の||||||||| |najnowsze||||||||| |недавні|||||||||

languages that I knew previously, like Persian, like Arabic, like Turkish, ||||以前|||||| ||||||perski||arabski||turecki ||||prej||||||

it's almost like starting from zero. |||começando|| إنه مثل البدء من الصفر تقريبًا.

There's a very small number of loan words. ||||||loan| ||||||palavras emprestadas| ||||||Lehnwörter| ||||||كلمات مستعارة| ||||||wyrazów zapożyczonych| ||||||позика| ||||||posojil| ||||||借用語| ||||||palabras prestadas| هناك عدد قليل جدًا من الكلمات المستعارة. Liczba zapożyczonych słów jest bardzo mała. 借词的数量非常少。

In business, on the other hand, if you don't have Some market ||に対して||||||||| |biznes|||||||||pewien rynek|rynek من ناحية أخرى، في مجال الأعمال، إذا لم يكن لديك بعض السوق Z drugiej strony, w biznesie, jeśli nie masz jakiegoś rynku

knowledge, some product knowledge. wiedza, pewna wiedza o produkcie.

If you don't know some people who can help you, if you're like basically |||||||||||||w zasadzie |||||||pueden ayudar|||||| 如果你不认识能帮助你的人,如果你基本上

starting from zero, let's say you've got a very steep uphill climb. |||||||||sharp|| começando|||||||||íngreme|subida íngreme| ||||||||||上坡| ||||||||||steile Steigung| |||||||||ripida|salita| |||||||||شاق جداً|صعود| |||||||||strome|strome wzniesienie|wspinaczka |||||||||急な|上り| |||||||||muy empinada|cuesta arriba|subida empinada 从零开始,假设你要爬一段非常陡峭的上坡路。

So to that extent in business, that prior knowledge is very important. |||||||prévia|||| |||程度|||||||| |||إلى تلك الدرجة|||||||| |||ступінь||||попереднє|||| |||程度|||その|以前の|||| |||zakres||biznes||wcześniejsza wiedza|||| لذلك، إلى هذا الحد في مجال الأعمال، تعتبر هذه المعرفة المسبقة مهمة جدًا. Do tego stopnia w biznesie ta wcześniejsza wiedza jest bardzo ważna.

Now you can argue that in language learning, if you're dealing with ||||||||||ti occupi| ||可以||||||||| |||twierdzić|||||||zajmując się| |tú|puedes|argumentar|||el lenguaje||||| |||主張する|||||||| الآن يمكنك أن تزعم أنه في تعلم اللغة، إذا كنت تتعامل مع Można argumentować, że w nauce języków, jeśli mamy do czynienia z

some input and it's on a subject that you're familiar with, or it's a subject بعض|||||||||||||| |введення||||||||||||| niektóre||||||temat|||znajomy||||| بعض المدخلات وهي حول موضوع أنت على دراية به، أو أنه موضوع

that you have some prior knowledge about, you're going to do better. ||||vorherige|||||||

So prior knowledge is always helpful, but prior knowledge is not a condition |先前||||||||||| ||||||||||||pogoj ||||||||||||warunek |||||||先前|||||

for success in language learning. para el éxito|||idioma| لتحقيق النجاح في تعلم اللغة.

Whereas I think in business, it is almost a condition. بينما||||||||| Оскільки||||||||| podczas gdy|||||||prawie|| Natomiast myślę, że w biznesie jest to niemal warunek.

And when I started my wood business, I had been working for ||||||||曾|||

the Canadian embassy in Tokyo. ||||東京 ||Botschaft|| ||カナダ大使|| ||ambasada||Tokio ||embaixada canadense||

I had been involved with the forest industry sector. ||||||||業界 ||||||||sektor لقد كنت مشاركًا في قطاع صناعة الغابات.

I knew people.

People, I knew products, I had information about the market. |||||||||rynek Znałem ludzi, znałem produkty, miałem informacje o rynku.

There was still a lot that I learned along the way, but nevertheless, ||||||||||||não obstante |||||||||||aber dennoch|dennoch ||||||||||||tuttavia ||||||||||||然而 ||||||||||||ومع ذلك ||||||||||||niemniej jednak ||||||||||||тим не менше ||||||||道中||||それでも ||||||||||||sin embargo لا يزال هناك الكثير الذي تعلمته على طول الطريق، ولكن مع ذلك، Po drodze wiele się jeszcze nauczyłem, ale mimo wszystko,

I didn't have that knowledge. Nie miałem takiej wiedzy.

And of course I worked for, let's see, what was six years in Japan and a |||||||||||||Japonia|| ||||||||何||||||| |||||||vamos ver|o que||||||| I oczywiście pracowałem przez, zobaczmy, sześć lat w Japonii i jeden rok w Japonii.

longer time back here in Vancouver with major Canadian exporting companies. |||||||||eksportujących|firmy ||前|||||||| |tempo mais longo|atrás|||||||| dłuższy czas tutaj w Vancouver z głównymi kanadyjskimi firmami eksportowymi.

So I had a lot of prior knowledge about the wood business in Japan specifically ||||||||||||||konkretnie

before I started my own company. zanim założyłem własną firmę.

Now, another thing that's different is language learning ||||||el lenguaje|

to me is like atomic habits. ||||fundamental| ||||原子の| dla mnie jest jak nawyki atomowe. 对我来说就像原子习惯。

It's step by step, you slowly get better. |段階|||||上達する| |||||lentamente|| Krok po kroku, powoli stajesz się lepszy.

Very often you're not aware of the fact that you're getting better. ||||świadomy||||||| في كثير من الأحيان، لا تكون على علم بحقيقة أنك تتحسن. Bardzo często nie jesteśmy świadomi tego, że stajemy się lepsi.

You just have to trust the process, continue to do whatever you're doing, ||||||||||何でも|| ||||confía en|||||||| كل ما عليك فعله هو أن تثق في العملية، وتستمر في فعل ما تفعله، Musisz po prostu zaufać procesowi i kontynuować to, co robisz,

particularly listening and reading, I believe in input, and you will gradually szczególnie||||||||||| szczególnie słuchanie i czytanie, wierzę w wkład, a będziesz stopniowo

improve, even if you don't have the impression that you're improving. |||||||vtis||| |||||||belief||| |||||||印象||| |||tú||||||| |||||||wrażenie||| poprawiaj się, nawet jeśli nie masz wrażenia, że się poprawiasz.

If you stay with it, you're not going to get worse. Jeśli pozostaniesz przy tym, nie będzie gorzej.

You can only get better. ||只|得到| Możesz być tylko lepszy.

That's not the case in business. それは|ではない|その||| W biznesie tak nie jest.

Business is much more volatile. ||||unstable ||||schwankender ||||volubile ||||неспокійний ||||変動が大き ||||zmienny أصبحت الأعمال أكثر تقلبًا. Biznes jest znacznie bardziej niestabilny. 业务变得更加不稳定。

You can have some good luck, a good period, big demand for the product ||||||||||popyt|||produkt Można mieć trochę szczęścia, dobry okres, duży popyt na produkt

that you're selling, for example, and then you can run into some bad luck. |||por ejemplo|||||||||| ||vendendo|||||||ter|||| |||||||||遭遇する|||| które na przykład sprzedajesz, a wtedy możesz napotkać pecha.

A customer defaults on his payment or market prices go down, or you don't ||не выполняет обязательства||||||||||| ||fails to pay||||||||||| ||não paga||||||||||| ||manca||||||||||| ||违约||||||||||| ||incumple||||||||||| ||не виконує зобов'язання||||||||||| ||デフォルト|||支払い||市場|||||| ||domyślnie|||płatności|||||||| يتخلف العميل عن سداد دفعاته أو تنخفض أسعار السوق، أو لا يمكنك

get the big deal you're hoping to get. uzyskać dużą ofertę, na którą liczysz.

So there's far more volatility in business and it does make it more challenging, ||||волатильность||||||||| ||||uncertainty and fluctuation||||||||| ||||volatilidade||||||||| ||||volatilità||||||||| ||||تقلب||||||||| ||||volatilidad||||||||| ||||волатильність||||||||| ||||spremembnost||||||||| ||||変動性||||||作る||| ||dużo więcej|więcej|zmienność|||||||||wyzwaniowe لذا هناك تقلبات أكبر بكثير في الأعمال التجارية، وهذا يجعل الأمر أكثر تحديًا، Tak więc w biznesie jest znacznie więcej zmienności, co czyni go trudniejszym,

but there are moments of tremendous success, almost unexpected success. ||||||||予想外の| |||||great significant|||| |||||величезного успіху|||| |há|||||||| |||||ogromny|||nieoczekiwany| Ale są też momenty ogromnego sukcesu, niemal nieoczekiwanego sukcesu.

Which don't happen so much in language learning, where we kind ||||||idioma 1|||| Co nie zdarza się tak często w nauce języków, gdzie w pewnym sensie

of plot along and keep our nose to the grindstone, so to speak. |||||||||точило||| |the plot||||||||work hard||| |enredo||||||||mola||| |||||||||mola||| |||||||||磨刀石||| |حبكة||||||||||| |trama||||||||muelas de afilar||| |сюжет|вдоль|||||до||крутий камінь||| |||||||||delovna miza||| |プロット|||||鼻|||作業に集中|いわば|| |fabuła|||||nos|||kamień szlifierski||| من المؤامرة على طول الطريق ونبقي أنفنا على حجر الطحن، إذا جاز التعبير. i trzymać nos przy kamieniu szlifierskim, że tak powiem. 可以这么说,我们要埋头苦干。

Another thing I find language learning is very much personal. ||||el lenguaje||||| |||uważam||||||osobisty

You learn for your own reasons, unless you have to learn for some other ||||własne||chyba że|||||||

purpose, which for me was the case when I was a Canadian government language |||||その|||||||| |||||||||||||idioma

student and I had to learn Mandarin Chinese and I had to pass the British ||||||mandaryński|chiński||||||| كان عليّ أنا والطالب أن نتعلم اللغة الصينية المندرينية وكان عليّ أن أجتاز الاختبار البريطاني

Foreign Service exam in Mandarin. zagraniczny|służba||| امتحان الخدمة الخارجية باللغة المندرينية.

Or when I was a student in France, I had to reach a certain level in my French. أو عندما كنت طالبًا في فرنسا، كان عليّ أن أصل إلى مستوى معين في اللغة الفرنسية.

But for the rest of the time that I've been learning on my own, ||その||||||||||| ولكن بالنسبة لبقية الوقت الذي كنت أتعلم فيه بمفردي،

I learned for my own reasons. لقد تعلمت لأسباب خاصة بي.

I learned in ways. ||方法で| ja|||sposobach

that I like.

I don't worry about the mistakes I make.

I'm just learning for myself.

And it's a solitary journey and I can do it on my own. |||einsame||||||||| |||alone||||||||| |||孤独な|||||||自分で|| |||samotna||||||||| |||||||||||minha|

I can have a teacher if I want, but I don't need a teacher.

In business, that's not the case.

In business, you very much rely on other people. |||||dependes de||| |||||polegać na||| ||||muito||||

You rely on contacts. |||contactos personales |||kontakty towarzyskie 您依赖联系人。

You rely on suppliers. |verlassen auf||Lieferanten |||proveedores |||fornecedores |||dostawcy

You rely on customers. |||Kunden

Relationships are so important in business.

You, Don't want to burn any bridges. ||||||人間関係 ||||||mosty

You have to invest in relationships so that at a much later date, you can go |||投資する|||||||ずっと|後の日時|||| |||inwestować||relacje||||||później|w późniejszym czasie||| عليك أن تستثمر في العلاقات حتى تتمكن في وقت لاحق من الذهاب

back there and perhaps reap the benefits of having provided a service to people ||||gather or receive||||||||| |ali|||colher||||||||| ||||獲得好處||||||||| ||||die Vorteile ernten||||||||| ||||cosechar||||||||| ||||збирати плоди||||||||| ||||uživati v||||||||| ||||享受する|||の|提供した|提供した|||| ||||zbierać korzyści|||||zapewnił usługę|||| العودة إلى هناك وربما جني الفوائد من تقديم الخدمة للناس 回到那里,也许能从为人们提供服务中获益

who are going to be helpful to you.

So business is much more dependent on interpersonal relationships, |||||||interpessoais| |||||||interpersonali| |||||||interpersonales| |||||||міжособистісний| |||||odvisna||| |||||||対人関係| |||||zależny od||międzyludzkich|relacje

whereas languages, not so much. тоді як|||| medtem ko||||

Of course, it's nice to have a good teacher.

And I've had some excellent teachers who have influenced me in French, in Mandarin. ||||||||вплинули на мене||||| ||||||||wpłynęli||||| |||||||||||||中国語

Even now, I have an excellent tutor for Turkish. ||||||nauczyciel||turecki até mesmo|agora|||||||

I had an excellent Tutor for Persian. ||||||perski język

So people can be important, but they are not as important as

is the case in business where they are absolutely essential. |||||||||необхідні ||||||||absolutnie|niezbędne |||||||||nujni

So from that, if you're trying to learn a language, you can quit when you want. |||||||||idioma||puedes|||| ||||||||||||zrezygnować||| |それから|||||||||||||| ||isso||||||||||||| ومن هنا، إذا كنت تحاول تعلم لغة ما، يمكنك التوقف عندما تريد.

You can be studying a certain bit of content or you're reading a tú|puedes estar||||||||||| يمكنك دراسة جزء معين من المحتوى أو قراءة جزء معين من المحتوى.

book and you don't like the book.

Can you just chuck the book? |||gooien|| ||||o|o livro ||einfach|werfen||das Buch |||扔掉|| |||ارمِ|| puedes|tú||echar|| |||кинути|| |||投げて|| |||rzucić|| هل يمكنك التخلص من الكتاب؟ 你能把这本书扔掉吗?

You don't have to continue.

Whatever you do, you can stop at any time. ||||||||czas 何でも||||||で|| |||||||a qualquer|a qualquer momento

You can say, I don't like this language.

I'm not going to study this language anymore. |||||||już więcej ||||estudar|||

Or I'm now more interested in another language.

So therefore, while I still like that language, I might go back to it. |por lo tanto||||||idioma|||||| |portanto||||||||posso voltar|voltar||| |тому|||||||||||| |dlatego więc|choć||||||||||| |したがって||||||||||||

But now I'm going to do this other language. |||||verbo auxiliar|||

So you're entirely on your own. ||całkowicie||| ||popolnoma||| لذا فأنت وحدك تمامًا.

You're a vagabond. ||бездомный странник ||wanderer drifter ||um vagabundo ||Vagabund ||流浪者 ||блукач ||potepuh ||放浪者 ||włóczęga أنت متشرد. 你是一个流浪汉。

Not so in business. |tão pouco||

If you undertake to do something, you have to deliver. ||commit yourself||||||| ||comprometer-se a|||||||cumprir ||te comprometes||||||| ||берете на себе||||||| |||||||||実行する ||podjąć|||||||dostarczyć إذا تعهدت بفعل شيء ما، فيجب عليك الوفاء بوعدك.

If you promise something and you don't deliver, your name will be mud. ||||||||||||disgraced ||||||||jouw|||| ||||||||||||vergonha ||||||||||||Schmutz ||||||||||||泥 ||||||||||||będzie źle widziane ||||||||||||бруд |||||||約束を守る|||||悪名 ||||||||||||serás despreciado إذا وعدت بشيء ولم تفي به، فسوف يصبح اسمك طينا.

As they say, and in business, it takes a long time to build up a reputation. |||||||||||||||Ruf |||||||||||||||評判 |eles dizem|dizem||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||reputację كما يقولون، وفي مجال الأعمال التجارية، يستغرق الأمر وقتًا طويلاً لبناء السمعة.

It's easy to ruin your reputation and your credibility. ||||||||Glaubwürdigkeit ||||||||достовірність |||zrujnować|||||wiarygodność ||||||||信頼性

And similarly, language learning is personal. |||||個人的な

I can make mistakes.

Somebody might criticize me for mistakes. ||批判する||| ||krytykować|||

I don't care.

Those are my mistakes. Te|||

In business, your mistakes are not just your mistakes.

Your mistakes can cost your company, can cost your employees, can cost |||費用がかか|||||||| |||kosztować||||||pracowników|| |||||||||працівники|| أخطائك قد تكلف شركتك، وقد تكلف موظفيك، وقد تكلف

your your customer or your supplier or whatever the nature of your business is. |||||供給者||その他|||||| |||||dostawca|||||||| Twój klient lub dostawca lub jakikolwiek inny charakter Twojej działalności.

Maybe you have to be much, much more careful not to make mistakes,

and it's much more costly to recover from mistakes in business. |||||um|sich erholen|||| ||||高くつく||回復する|||| ||||kosztowny||odzyskać||||

However, there is a lot of similarity. ||||||podobieństwa no entanto||||||

And I think that in the end, the biggest similarity is you have to stay with it.

I've learned that in business, where starting two businesses, لقد تعلمت أنه في مجال الأعمال، حيث تبدأ شركتين،

I went through long periods where it was very unprofitable. |||||||||неприбыльный |||||||||não rentável |||||||||unprofitabel |||||||||non redditizio |||||||||nieopłacalny |||||||||利益が出ない |||||||||no rentable لقد مررت بفترات طويلة حيث كان الأمر غير مربح للغاية.

I had very little, if any, money coming in. ||sehr||||Geld|| كان لدي القليل جدًا من المال، إن وجد، القادم.

I had only expenses, but I stuck with it because I believed in it. |||Ausgaben|||||||||| |||||Ik|bleef volhouden||||||| |||gastos|||||||||| |||wydatki|||utknąłem||||||| |||支出||||||||||

I had that commitment, that passion, I'm going to stay with this thing. |||zaangażowanie||||||||| |持っていた||||||||||| |||зобов'язання|||||||||

And it's a good thing in both cases that I persevered. ||||||||||perseverei ||||||||||perseveré ||||||||||наполегливо продовжував ||||||||||vztrajal ||||こと||||||忍耐した ||||||||||wytrwałem

Because even though there were lots of difficulties, some difficulties that I |||||||trudności||||

didn't even anticipate, and maybe if I had anticipated those difficulties, I would ||spodziewać się|||||||||| ||predvidel|||||||||| لم أتوقع ذلك حتى، وربما لو كنت قد توقعت تلك الصعوبات، لكنت

not have undertaken to do what I did. ||引き受けた||||| ||assumido fazer||||| لم أتعهد بفعل ما فعلته.

But in the end, it turned out successful. |||||||成功した ولكن في النهاية، اتضح أن الأمر ناجح. 但最终,还是成功了。

So languages are not quite like that. ||są||dość|| لذا فإن اللغات ليست كذلك تمامًا. Tak więc języki nie są do końca takie.

You can stay with it and not feel that you're making any progress, but

you're not going to lose anything. ||||stracić| nic nie stracisz.

It's not like I'm investing a lot of money into a particular language ||||inwestuję||||||||

so that if I never get anywhere, I'll have lost all of that money. |||||chegar a||||||||

As is the case in business, if you spend two, three, four years without

making any money, that's expensive.

That's coming out of your savings. |||||ahorros それは|出ている|||あなたの|貯金 |||||oszczędności |||||risparmi هذا يأتي من مدخراتك. To pochodzi z twoich oszczędności.

It's coming out of somewhere. ||||gdzieś |saindo|||de algum lugar Skądś to się bierze.

But in language learning, that's not the case. ||el lenguaje|||||

You're just spending your time.

And The point is in language learning, however much time you put in and whatever |||||||しかし||||||| |o|||||||||||||

level you get to, it's all benefit. ||||||korzyść

It's all rewarding. ||gratificante ||gratificante ||satysfakcjonujące ||やりがいが كل هذا مجزٍ.

So even languages that I have left and would struggle to speak today, I |||||tenho|||||||| لذا حتى اللغات التي تركتها والتي كنت أجد صعوبة في التحدث بها اليوم،

derived so much pleasure from getting to that level in the language, and |||plezier||||||||| مشتق|||||||||||| gained|||||||||||| derivada|||||||||||| pochodził|||przyjemność||||||||| لقد استمتعت كثيرًا بالوصول إلى هذا المستوى في اللغة، و

I know I can go back there, those languages aren't going anywhere.

There's still a part of me and I will quickly be able to refresh and get back to |||||||||||||renovar|||| |||||||||||||odświeżyć|||| |||||||||||||リフレッシュ||戻る||

the level where I was and improve on that. ||||||向上させる||

In business, it's not the same.

If you spend three, four years and eventually get to a level where you |||||||врешті-реш|||||| |||||||w końcu||||||

feel you cannot sustain your activity, there's just a not enough investment |||تحافظ على|||||||| |||підтримувати|||||||| |||utrzymać||||||||inwestycja |||持続する|||||||| تشعر أنك لا تستطيع مواصلة نشاطك، فالاستثمار غير كافٍ

capital available, you can't stay the course, you're going to have to drop it. ||||||||||terá que|||isso ||je||||||||||| |||||その|||||||| kapitał||||||||||||| 如果没有可用的资本,你就无法坚持下去,你必须放弃。

Everything you've invested is to some extent lost. |||||ある程度||失われている ||||||w pewnym stopniu|stracone كل ما استثمرته قد ضاع إلى حد ما. Wszystko, co zainwestowałeś, jest w pewnym stopniu stracone.

Now you have gained a lot of experience and there's a lot of people who have, |||набрали|||||||||||| |||zdobyłeś||||||||||||

gone bankrupt two or three times. |en bancarrota|||| |falido|||| |bankrut|||| |破産した|||| أفلس مرتين أو ثلاث مرات.

lost a lot of money, but with everything that they have learned and

the experience that they have gained, then when they go and start another |||||zdobyta|||||||

venture, they're able to succeed. arriesgan|||| przedsięwzięcie|||| підприємство|||| empreender|||| 冒険する|彼らは|||成功する

So I think in both cases, if we look at the beginning and the end, you have to Myślę więc, że w obu przypadkach, jeśli spojrzymy na początek i koniec, musisz

have passion, commit the time and effort. ||||||esforço ||zaangażować||||wysiłek كن شغوفًا، والتزم بالوقت والجهد. mieć pasję, poświęcić czas i wysiłek.

And at the other end of it, you have to stay the course, you have to persevere. Z drugiej strony, trzeba trzymać się obranego kursu, trzeba wytrwać.

And if you do those two things, I think you have a high probability of |||||||||||||prawdopodobieństwo|

success, both in language learning. |両方||| |||idioma|

I would say in language learning for sure. ||||||において| ||||idioma|||

And in business, More likely than not, but the big thing in ||||provavelmente|do que|não é||||| ||||おそらく||||||| ||||prawdopodobnie||||||| وفي مجال الأعمال، على الأرجح، ولكن الشيء الكبير في

business is you're relying on luck. |||dependendo|| |||dependiendo||

Language learning is not about luck. |||||suerte

Language learning is about putting in the time and persevering only. |||||||||perseverar| |||||||||坚持不懈| |||||||||perseverante| |||||||||постійність| |||||||||忍耐する| |||||||||wytrwały| تعلم اللغة يتعلق فقط بتخصيص الوقت والمثابرة.

But business, there's a major element of luck and opportunity. |||||||||機会 |||||||||okazja Ale w biznesie ważny jest element szczęścia i okazji.

So I just thought I would compare those two and leave you with the ||||||porównać||||||| Więc pomyślałem, że porównam te dwa i zostawię cię z

video that I did on a similar subject, entrepreneurship and language video|||||||||| ||||||||emprendimiento|| ||||||||przedsiębiorczość||

learning quite a few years ago. |bastante|||| |dość sporo||kilka|lat| التعلم منذ عدة سنوات.

Thank you for listening. |tú||

Bye for now.