Case Studies in Language Learning: NFKRZ

In language learning as with many things in life, the proof is in the pudding. That’s ultimately what won me over to Krashen’s Input Hypothesis; the only second-language speakers who seem to get anywhere near native proficiency in their target languages were those who took in tons and tons of comprehensible input, whether they knew it or not. It could be English, Spanish, Japanese, or Latin, the number one predictor of language learning success is the sheer number of hours spent in meaningful contact with the target language.

A good illustration of this point is the following video about Roman Abalin, a.k.a. NFKRZ, a famous Youtuber hailing from Russia and currently based out of Tbilisi, Georgia. In the video, an English teacher discusses what elevates Roman’s English from being ‘merely’ advanced to certifiably native-like:

Ramon reacted to the video just a few days ago and briefly explained how he learned English:

Key Takeaways #

Here’s what I would like all of my students and every language learner in the world to take away from these videos:

• Ramon speaks English at an extremely high level - He doesn’t just understand what’s being said and reply with an adequate response. He speaks just like my friends and I do when we get together to play video games. He has a deep understanding of the social and cultural knowledge that underpins the speech of native English speakers.
• Ramon has never been to an English-speaking country in his life - Maybe in the past it was necessary to live in a foreign country to truly learn its language, but the internet has made this unnecessary. Likewise, simply living in a foreign country won’t guarantee that you’ll pick up the language.
• He mostly learned from “consumption” - Most of the English he learned came from playing video games and watching Youtube videos. I’m sure he took classes in school and completed grammar exercises for homework, but so did everyone else in Russia.
• He didn’t worry too much about understanding every single word - He didn’t understand most Youtube videos when he started learning English, but he didn’t worry too much about it. He just kept watching and enjoying himself. Getting anxious about not understanding every single detail won’t help you in the long run. Language learning is a marathon, not a sprint.
• Ramon has a very slight accent, but it doesn’t matter - Sure, make an effort to understand and speak the sounds of any language you’re learning, but you don’t have to completely eradicate your accent to be an articulate and confident speaker.