if you learn 'Apfel' to mean 'apple' as an adult

you're essentially creating a detour in your brain

because the impulse then has to travel through your native language first

you're forcing the impulse through the language centre of your native language

before it's allowed into German

this takes time and leads to that typical stuttering

principle four is the sheer amount of repetition through complete immersion

and the fifth is the strongest neurological principle: the emotional connection

do you have an example from the sources?

take the word 'hot'; a child doesn't learn that from a book

she learns it the moment they accidentally touch a hot cup

... gets extremely frightened, and her mother shouts 'HOT!'

I assume that adrenaline is released then

and this neurochemical reaction literally burns the word indelibly into the synapses

if you break it down like that, the thought naturally arises …

we don't stand a chance as adults anyway

how did you come to that conclusion?

we don't have parents to look after us all the time

we have to work

and we're no longer discovering the world for the first time

we might as well just give up

that's the fundamental misconception that holds so many people back

the research in our sources clearly shows

that adults theoretically learn significantly faster than children

we have a head start — a huge one, in fact!

we already possess a complete understanding of the world

we already know all the concepts

a child first has to grasp the abstract concept of time —

of future and past — before they can even apply the grammar to it

as an adult, I already know what the past is

I know what taxes are, what melancholy means

you don't have to learn new concepts

you just have to put new labels on existing ones

so we're using our tools incorrectly

if we combine our capacity for conscious learning with the childlike principles of immersion ...

we have a tremendous neurological advantage

we only get in our own way because of our adult mental blocks

now, I have to play devil's advocate for a moment

in theory, that sounds incredibly liberating

just let go of your ego and make mistakes

but let's look at the reality of our listeners

imagine you're a project manager or a doctor

you're sitting in a meeting and being judged on your competence

this is an extremely typical situation

if you start spouting off incomplete sentences like a three-year-old …

you’ll come across as unprofessional

for adults, deliberately being imperfect is a real threat

and that's the crux of the problem

perfectionism is the absolute archenemy of the adult language learner

because it blocks progress in these stressful situations

something very physical happens

our brain releases cortisol — the stress hormone —

and cortisol has been proven to block the hippocampus

which is responsible for memory

it's what retrieves vocabulary

your fear of appearing stupid literally prevents you from remembering the words

in other words, the fear creates the very problem you're afraid of