What Are “Language Parents” and Do You Need One?

If you have been trying to learn a language you may have heard that you should “adopt a language parent” and while this is a good idea …it can be a little confusing to know what this actual means, so let’s go through what it is all about and if you need one …and the short answer is your probably do!

What Is A Language Parent?

A language parent is really just learning a language from one or two people. It is basically like how a baby learns.

If you think about it, a baby really only hears the voices of their parents and close family when they are young and this is where they get the bulk of their language input from.

The whole concept of “adopting a language parent” is really just taking immersion to the next level.

Immersion is already trying to learn like a baby, by just listening to a lot, and a language parent just makes this even more like a babies experience by only getting a lot of input from one person.    

Where Do You Find A Language Parent?

The reality is that you are going to find your language parent online. I think it is important to note that these people you “adopt” …they don’t need to know about it.

All you need to do is find a youtube creator who speaks the language you are trying to learn and immerse yourself with only their videos.

It is of course going to be very helpful if this person has a lot of videos, so you can get a lot of input, but this is usually something you can easily find.

You can also do this is real life, but it will be harder. You are going to have to spend a lot of time with this person learning only from them. This could work with a teacher, but realistically it would be easier if you where in relationship with the person as then it would be less strange to be with them all day and listening to them talk …this is why just finding some videos online is going to be better option. 

Why Does It Work?

Having a language parent works for a few different reasons, the main one simply being the fact that you are getting a lot of input. It is a form of immersion, and as I have mentioned a million times on this site …immersion is the secret to learning a language. 

However, a language parent has a few differences, which can be more helpful, which all really boil down to the fact that you are only listening to one person. You are only hearing their accent and their pronunciation of things as well as their use of the grammar and general vocabulary, slang, tone and speed of speech.

This doesn’t really sound important, but it can be. Being exposed to a new language can be extremely overwhelming and hearing many different people speaking can be too much at times.

Just watch any video where they are interviewing people on the street. These videos are great, but the variation in the voices you are hearing can be difficult and so by only focusing on one person (your language parent) you can remove this problem and you will find that become very comfortable with the way they talk a lot quicker.

You Will Comprehend Things Faster

When you look at how people talk, they generally use a lot a of the same vocabulary from day to day and this can be very helpful for us as learners.

If you find a channels that generally talks about the same topic, you are going to find the person speaking will have a lot of repetition from video to video, and this is perfect for us. We can very quickly learn a lot of the words they are using and very quickly we will be able to comprehend the vast majority of their videos.

This is going to allow us to have a lot of repeated comprehensible exposure, from the same person, while also not having to just repeat the same videos over and over again. Each new video will have a lot of the same words, but in a slightly different order.

This is all extremely beneficial for us as language learners.    

(You can read more about – What Is Comprehensible Input In Language Learning?)

You Might Have Already Experienced Something Similar

If you have ever known someone who has a different accent than you, either a fellow native speaker or even a foreigner, their accent can be hard to grasp at first and it gets in the way of understanding them.

Even if they are speaking the same language as you, your understanding is kind of blocked. However, the more that you talk to the person the more you get use to how they speak and after a few weeks you don’t even notice it and you can understand them with no issues.

This happens very quickly as they are speaking the same language, but the concept is the same for a language parent, you will get used to how they sound and their little nuances and you quickly learn their patterns and flows.

You will find that you get used to their voice a lot quicker simply because you listen to them a lot. This can then allow you to focus on the language and what is actually being said, rather than the accent or pronunciation of things.

Is A Language Parent The Same As Narrow Listening

There is often confusion between a language parent and narrow listening. They are sort of similar; I guess there can be some overlap too.

Narrow listening is when you take a small piece of audio and listen to it over and over again until you are comfortable with it …where as a language parent just listening to one person a lot.

I would say that combing these two would be effective. Find a language parent and then listen to one of their videos many times until you are comfortable before moving on to one of their other videos and repeating.

You would be getting the best of both worlds here …although many people may find this very repetitive and boring.   

(You can read more about – What Is Narrow Listening In Language Learning?) 

Do You Actually Need A Language Parent?

This really comes down to personal choice. I think it can certainly be beneficial, but if you didn’t do this, you will still get results.

Actually measuring what approach is most optional for language learning is going to be impossible to measure due to the millions of different factors involved, but I do think focusing your listening down like this and only really listening to a few people is really going to help you, especially at the start.  

I think it will be more beneficial than not. 

(You can read more about – How Do You Maximise Your Language Learning Immersion Experience?)

Is There Any Issues With Doing This?

As with everything, nothing is perfect and using a language parent does have its downfalls.

Really you are at the mercy of whoever you are listening to, so if they have a funny accent or weird speed of speech, you could possibly start to copy this and pick up on these mannerisms.

A classic example is men who are learning Japanese from a woman, and they tend pick up more feminine style language and then when they start talking, they sound a bit strange.

I don’t think this is really a massive issue, usually once these people step away from a language parent and start listening and even speaking to more people, these little quirks get ironed out and it’s not really an issue.

The biggest kick back is that you will hear people saying you will end up learning a certain dialect …but isn’t that the point? If you wanted to learn English, wouldn’t you want to focus on one dialect, such as British English?  You are still going to be able to understand Australians and Americans …but you will just have a slight biased towards the British. There is nothing wrong with this and is actually probably a better idea.  

Getting Too Comfortable

You could also argue that a language parent can cause you to get too comfortable and you don’t realise it.

I know I have been guilty of this. I have watched a few French creators who speak slowly and clearly and generally use a small pool of vocabulary. I can watch their videos and fully comprehend what is going and it feels great …the problem lies when I step away from this comfortable little bubble.  

I might watch something else in French and it is a real shock. The speed or the vocabulary used is like a punch to the face. I have no idea what is going on and all that confidence I have is quickly washed away.

Get A Language Family?

A slight alternative way to get your immersion, is from a “language family” it is pretty much the same concept, but you pick a couple of content creators and get all your immersion from them.

I actually did this unknowingly with French. I watched anything and everything, but really I didn’t like a lot of things and ended up just watching 3 or 4 youtube channels. These had lot of videos and I just binged these and got all my immersion from this small selection of people.

I also found I did the exact same when it came to talking, I just interacted with a small handful of native speakers.

There is nothing stopping you from doing the same and it can help add an extra bit of variety into your immersion. Just be sure to pick a few people who are quite similar in how they speak, such as their dialect or accent …for example pick 3 British youtubers if you are learning English …not a British, American and Australian.      

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can see there can be some merit to a language parent and how it sounds stranger that it really is.  All you need to is just spend a lot of time listening to one person speak the language you are learning and  absorb as much of this as you can from this immersion.

If you are new to learning a language or even if you have been doing it for a while, this can be a good approach to try.

I would recommend you give it a go and see what you think, and I would really try and find a few youtube channels you enjoy so that you can create your own little “language family”.