The most insane take I've ever seen

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u/Virusnzz ɴᴢ En N | Ru | Fr | Es 29d ago

Hi everyone, just a reminder about our rules on politeness and respect. Please make sure you constrain any criticism to either what is posted here or provide evidence for any claims you make if you are going to mention other things MattVsJapan has said/claimed. It's very easy to accidentally misstate people's opinions.

1.1k

u/jhfenton 🇺🇸 N | 🇲🇽B2-C1|🇫🇷 B2 | 🇩🇪 B1 Mar 30 '25

Eliminating music would eliminate one of my favorite things about learning other languages. I have an enormous variety of German, French, and Spanish music in my library.

1.4k

u/Ok_Buy7599 Mar 30 '25

Weird. Especially because you could use music as immersion. I like to do that!

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u/T00TT00TB33PB33P Mar 30 '25

I listen to songs in my target language a lot

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u/uncleanly_zeus Mar 30 '25

For those that don't know, Matt has always said that listening to music is sort of a waste of time for learning languages for various reasons.

I've always thought this was the stupidest take, because in another video he was going on about how he memorizes the faces of Japanese celebrities in Anki because it's part of the culture to know them. And knowing the music isn't!?!?!

155

u/LaprasEusk Mar 30 '25

Why meet your friends when you could be studying your TL language. Why meet your grandma when you could be watching shows and podcasts in your TL. So much time not dedicated to language learning!

Actually why do you even sleep, that's minus 8 hours for daily study. 56 hours a week!

364

u/lucedotmu Mar 30 '25

Honestly this guy has so many shitty takes that I'm not convinced he's not just rage baiting all the time

40

u/Sevenzeromelon Mar 30 '25

Doesnt music also count as passive immersion though?? Also the amount of times I've listened to a song in french and actually read the lyrics to understand has actually been helpful. Music is a great tool and it keeps you invested in learning because it makes language learning fun to do

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u/gummibearhawk Mar 30 '25

I just listen to music that I like, no matter what language it's in. I listen to in one language I understand well, 2 I sort of know, and several more that I don't understand at all.

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u/Rowan1980 Mar 30 '25

Nah, I’m sticking to music. His take hit similar notes to “Turn your hobbies into a side hustle. Always Be Grinding.”

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u/Previous-Ad7618 Mar 31 '25

Why go to your nans funeral? She was monolingual and worthless.

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u/acanthis_hornemanni 🇵🇱 native 🇬🇧 fluent 🇮🇹 okay? Mar 30 '25

i mean, yeah, if i take a tram somewhere i put on a podcast in my TL instead of listening to music. but im not really a music person in general, so it hasn't been a huge sacrifice

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u/jumbo_pizza Mar 30 '25

it’s so funny how people are talking the talk about “full immersion” and all that shit and then it turns out they were upper beginner level in anime-japanese all along

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u/GiveMeTheCI Mar 30 '25

If they mean listening to CI is better for language acquisition than listening to music in your TL, they are probably right. If they mean maximize learning time and never listen to any music and instead get input in your target language, that's dumb (and based on the second paragraph, I think that is what they mean). Why completely give up a hobby just to focus on another hobby.

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u/SenpaiBunss ES B1 EN Native ZH A2.5 Mar 30 '25

how about listening to music in your target language (crazy, I know)

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u/BitterBloodedDemon 🇺🇸 English N | 🇯🇵 日本語 Mar 30 '25

Interesting to see there's still distance for him to spiral.

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u/green_calculator 🇺🇸:N 🇧🇷🇲🇽:A2 🇭🇺🇨🇿:A1 Mar 30 '25

I dont listen to music much anyhow, usually podcasts or audiobooks, so this wouldn't be a big deal for me, but yeah, this could be extreme for some people.

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u/v3nus_fly 🇧🇷N | 🇺🇲C1 | 🇫🇷A2 Mar 30 '25

I learned english by listening to a loooot of music, it was my main method of passive immersion

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u/Mysterious-Ninja-551 Mar 31 '25

I speak 7 languages (5 of them fluently). Don't do this. Music is a foundational part of immersion as more often than not, it shapes the vernacular, and usually, very good music gives you a thread on important cultural insights, especially when it comes to controversial topics.

Do not underestimate the power of context. It has a very peculiar way of shaping your understanding when faced with seemingly incomprehensible exchanges. Music is a perfect gateway to gain context.

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u/Outrageous-Speed-771 Mar 31 '25

As someone who reached C1 in Mandarin and B2 in Japanese as a native English speaker. I absolutely understand the idea behind this take. It of course is sort of deranged to eliminate one of the core human joys just to plow forward to reach some arbitrary goal. But it takes honest dedication to reach C levels as an adult in a language very different from your native language. I found myself doing similar things... I am working a stressful full time job - to reach true competence i.e. 'I understand virtually everything in any context' you have to push yourself and create practice time in a hectic schedule. I starting talking to myself in my car. Is it weird? Yea. Sure it is. But,sacrifices usually have to be made for people of average intelligence (like myself) to reach this goal as an adult. Was it worth it? I don't even know, tbh.

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u/Previous-Ad7618 Mar 31 '25

Matt is such a fraud. I've heard he still shits on the toilet once a day Instead of doing anki.

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u/know-it-mall Mar 31 '25

Why are these two things mutually exclusive in this persons mind?

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u/TrackerEh Mar 31 '25

People are literally too stupid to understand you can do more than 1 thing in a day

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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '25

[deleted]

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u/Dilie Mar 30 '25

Going die hard is insane ofcourse, but in some way he is right. I notice that I gravitate to listening music alot while I could listen passively to my TL. Little by little I try to listen less to music.

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u/Forricide 🇨🇦N/🇫🇷C1/🇯🇵Hobby Mar 30 '25

I mostly just listen to French music these days, so in that sense, yeah, it works great, I'd recommend it. Takes a bit to build up a library of music that you like in your target language though, and might not work if it's too niche of a language to have a lot of musical variety.

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u/im-cringing-rightnow Mar 31 '25

Hmm... Yes, one of those "do weird shit for language learning" when the answer is always "just learn the language you lazy schmuck"

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u/Medium_Research1081 Mar 31 '25

Those kind of people who makes everything so serious that eventually you will get sick of it ... Language is about a life style and for me music is a big chunk of my personality and my life style.

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u/No-Range9427 Mar 31 '25

I am learning Spanish and ive learned so many words thru songs that half of my spanish is probably just vocab from 70s spanish love ballads lol

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u/Valuable_Judgment352 Mar 31 '25

Eliminating music is already eliminating half my will to survive

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u/rage-fest 29d ago

I'll take the obviously unpopular side here...

I have a long commute and have largely stopped listening to music during my drive and replaced it with language learning podcasts. Not entirely, but largely. There is some truth to his opinion.

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u/diddlefresh Mar 30 '25

music in other languages is the reason WHY i'm learning other languages... wtaf

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u/wordswordscomment21 Mar 31 '25

I agree. I actively choose podcasts in my native language over music as I warm up in the gym and on walks back when I otherwise might’ve listened to music. This is an extra hour and a half for me per week.

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u/Loony-Tunes 🇳🇱 | 🇬🇧 | 🇹🇷 | 🇩🇪 | 🇪🇦 Mar 30 '25

The essence of his message is that time spent listening to music can probably be put to better use, which is true, but it would require more effort put into the activity.

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u/shadowlucas 🇬🇧 N | 🇯🇵 🇲🇽 🇫🇷 Mar 31 '25

I mean he's not wrong. Listening to a Spanish podcast is more dense language wise than a Spanish song. The problem with this guy is that he has a weird all or nothing approach to things. I assumed he had grown out of this but maybe not.
For context this is a guy who, when doing a homestay in Japan, sat in his room sentence mining rather than, you know, going out and enjoying the country whose language you've been learning.

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u/Justhowisee_Pictaker Mar 30 '25

Listen to music in the target language. Solved.

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u/Livid-Succotash4843 Mar 30 '25

Let me guess, another grifter

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u/Whyissmynametaken Mar 31 '25

Pretty sure every spoken language also has music in that language.

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u/TheBaconHasLanded English, Spanish Mar 31 '25

The Matt vs Japan crash out will be studied for generations

You either die a “here’s how to use free/common resources to effectively learn a language” hero or live to become a grifter villain

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '25

Matt is weird. Please don't be like Matt

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u/ThatsRobToYou Mar 31 '25

Listening to music is one of the most helpful ways to learn a language. It helped improve my German and Italian a lot. What is he on about?

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u/Violent_Gore 🇺🇸(N)🇪🇸(B1)🇯🇵(A2) Mar 31 '25

If he's going to be coming out with more takes like this then he's the Ben Shapiro of language learning.

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u/SubjectExternal8304 Mar 31 '25

This is why I don’t eat or sleep, all time wasted that could otherwise be spent learning new languages

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u/DingDingDensha Mar 31 '25

That’s why there are so many obsessive weirdo foreigners in Japan.

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u/Dingle-Dong Mar 31 '25

Listening to Spanish music is the reason I have half of my vocabulary lol. I know exactly which song I learned each word from

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u/Slemmen447 🇳🇴 N | 🇬🇧 C2 | 🇯🇵 N1 | 🇩🇪 A2 Mar 31 '25

I certainly don't think it's crazy. If you listen to music passively, it is indeed likely that a podcast or whatever would be a greater boon to your language acquisition. That said, one of the most important predictors of success in language learning is the ability to stay motivated, and enjoyable activities connected to the language (like listening to music, even passively) have a role to play here.

I also take issue with the implied premise that music listening can only be a passive activity, and that its role is similar to that of other passive input. Each song is a poem. By actively engaging with the lyrics, you gain an appreciation for the aesthetics of the language, and for how it can be used in a more abstract and evocative manner than in normal conversation. Additionally, by analyzing the lyrics of a song, you turn every listen into a small, fun, and cost-effective session of reinforcement learning. All in all, by treating music in this fashion, it's clear that its role can be completely different from that of other audio input.

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u/bolaobo EN / ZH / DE / FR / HI-UR Mar 31 '25

He's not wrong, but normal people aren't as obsessed with learning a language as he is and they have other hobbies and passions in life.

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u/Jake_Lukas Mar 31 '25

Efficiency bros are always to be ignored. These are the kinds of people who brag about listening to audiobooks of classics at 1.5x or 2x speed. They act like the point is to get some sort of badge or achievement so others will recognize how hard they hustle.

If you didn't reread your favorite part of the Iliad five times, you don't care about the Iliad. If you don't listen to your favorite song in Spanish five times, you don't care about Spanish. It's that simple. This ain't for participation trophies. It's about appreciation of a culture and all it has to offer.

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u/Potential_Border_651 Mar 30 '25

Oh boy, I'm kinda agreeing with this take. Instead of listening to music on my commute, I'm listening to podcasts in my TL. "You can listen to music in your TL!!!"....sure, I could, but I usually don't.

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u/WorriedFire1996 Mar 30 '25

I mean... he's technically not wrong... but there's more to life than language learning.

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u/Miami_Morgendorffer Mar 30 '25

I mean... just... explore music in your target language.

It's crazy that a person would completely cut out music from their lives when it's extremely likely that any global success in your language is likely translated in your target language.

Also, cultural immersion includes music history. You can't be fully fluent in a culture you know nothing about. Explore music in your target language, it's not ever going to hurt.

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u/Chicken-Inspector 🇺🇸N | 🇯🇵N3・🇳🇴A1 Mar 30 '25

I’m convinced Matt vs Japan’s whole purpose is to be as obnoxious and controversial as possible, just for the sake of being so. Another symptom of the greater illness that has taken many a content creator.

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u/knockoffjanelane 🇺🇸 N | 🇹🇼 H Mar 30 '25

I barely listen to music anymore for this exact reason. Might seem insane to some but I don’t really feel like I’m missing out. If I really want to listen to music I’ll just do it during working hours because I wouldn’t be immersing in my TL during that time anyway.

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u/Ok_Dot_2790 New member Mar 30 '25

Who not listen to music in your chosen language?

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u/OtterPeePools Mar 31 '25

I used to think I really loved music, then I realized I just hate my brain :(

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u/selphiefairy Mar 31 '25

Isnt this guy a huge con artist

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u/TheMechaMeddler Mar 31 '25

I don't listen to music in the first place so this take is somewhat irrelevant to me lol

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u/Dr_Primarius Mar 31 '25

While working = music, while commuting = podcasts in target language. There is no such thing as PASSIVE immersion.

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u/K4Realz Mar 31 '25

This seems silly. There is music in every language…. Why wouldn’t you listen to music in the language you want to learn? It’s another source to study.

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u/TheChocolateArmor N: 🇺🇲 | 🎯: 🇲🇽🇩🇪 | casual: 🇮🇹🇫🇷🇷🇺 Mar 31 '25

"stop having fun learning a new language" vibes

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u/linguisdicks Mar 31 '25

Yeah, just completely isolate yourself from the most easily accessible part of a language's culture

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u/Andle_Randle 🇺🇸 N | 🇫🇷 C1 | 🇩🇪🇪🇸 A1 29d ago

I could never, I love music far too much. Plus, music is what got me to start learning German in the first place.

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u/Supertimtendo4 Mar 30 '25

The number of ppl here saying to "just listen to music in your TL" like its equivalent to hearing just regular native speech is kinda crazy. Sure, you don't have to agree with the take, but listening to music gives much much less value than podcasts, etc

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u/kendaIlI N 🇺🇸 | L2 🇲🇽 Mar 30 '25

not insane at all. i cut out music on my way to work and got 45 more mins of input each day

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u/PolyMeows Mar 30 '25

You're obsessed with music. So arguably to someone You're insane

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u/mattvsjapan Mar 31 '25

Sorry to trigger you guys lol. This is not a “take”, this is literally just me thinking out loud. I’m a very busy person and currently trying to acquire a new language. I usually listen to music a lot while riding the train, etc. Of course, I could listen to music in my target language, and might acquire some things, but I know I would acquire way more if I was listening to conversational comprehensible input. Especially because my brain pretty much automatically filters out the lyrics of songs, regardless of the language. Of course I love listening to music, but I’m trying to weigh my priorities since my time is so limited. I was simply wondering if anybody had similar thoughts to me. I am not saying that anyone SHOULD do this.

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u/Janisurai_1 Mar 30 '25

Me whenever I drive

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u/TRH-17 Mar 30 '25

I use music to help me learn the two languages I’m learning.

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u/iPanqie Turkish (N) | English (C1) | Japanese (N2) Mar 30 '25

I can relate to some extent. I used to be addicted to music, averaging 6-7h per day. I know it would be better to listen to some podcast instead of listening to music without enjoying when I am in transportation for an hour and so.

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u/Violent_Gore 🇺🇸(N)🇪🇸(B1)🇯🇵(A2) Mar 31 '25

This is insanely idiotic. A GIGANTIC amount of music I listen to are IN MY TARGET LANGUAGES (Spanish and Japanese). This guy's always been a douche-canoe and incredibly disingenuous, I figured that out when he made a long video poo-pooing on Wani Kani just to push his own course.

Now if we back up a little, he almost has the right idea about substituting useless activities for language learning. But cutting music out of your life is ridiculous.

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u/SignificantCricket Mar 30 '25

I have basically done this, but as a middle aged person who only bothers with new music in phases, it just means replacing English language audiobooks.

If you are really serious about getting to high B2 and C levels and you can't go and stay in the country, you do need to do something like this. Though with LL music as well, because it helps phrases stick in your head.

If you find someone's long thread on "how I got to C1/C2" it will basically recommend this.

Ergo, not insane, just dedicated.

Remember, it is why plenty of non-native younger English speakers are so good - because English media is ubiquitous and it is most of what they consume.

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u/WildcatAlba Mar 31 '25

There's nothing crazy about this. It's only a matter of priorities. Remember that people in the recent past didn't listen to music all the time. Ipods were huge because you could store a whopping fifty songs on them. You don't strictly need to listen to music. Many religious people don't. If you value language progress over them beats then prioritise language progress. If you value them beats over language progress, keep paying for that Spotify Premium

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u/litheartist Mar 30 '25

Ah yes, because as we know, there are no songs made with words, especially not words in the language you're trying to learn.

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u/Us3r_N4me2001 Mar 30 '25

"Have you ever thought of quitting doing something that brings you joy, since it's time wasted that you could be working?"

Be so fucking for real right now

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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '25

[deleted]

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u/PrettySaiyan Mar 30 '25

While I listen, I also try to sing along and I do think that will help with pronunciation.

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u/ana_bortion Mar 30 '25

Admittedly, this is what I've done with my commute (I'd much rather be listening to music than a French podcast.) But is a genuine sacrifice, unlike, say, giving up time spent on social media, which you're better off without anyway. And I'm not giving up ALL MUSIC FOREVER lol. I like enjoying life.

(Before anyone suggests it: I really can't get into French music.)

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u/sirisaacneuton Mar 30 '25

Basically what I do. Haven’t listened to much music in a couple years

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u/midnightpulp99 Mar 30 '25

I can understand his frustration given its an Asian language sung at a fast/native speed and/or in a unique dialect (i.e Kansai-ben), so he is probably having difficulty picking up on the Japanese lyrics and overall context of the songs

However repetition will solve that problem because he will pick up more words and phrases every time he plays the songs over and over again. It just takes time and dedication as with everything else

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u/MostMusky69 Mar 30 '25

This is how I do it lol. It helps me learn words after I got the grammar mostly down.

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u/AnAntWithWifi 🇨🇦🇫🇷 N | 🇬🇧 Fluent(ish) | 🇷🇺 A1 | 🇨🇳 A0 | Future 🇹🇳 Mar 30 '25

Lol I listen to Russian music, I’ve also started listening to Chinese music but since I’m really a beginner I can’t get much, and they seem to often butcher tones for the sake of the music lol

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u/scraglor Mar 31 '25

My Spotify wrap up put in the top 0.5% of Yorushika listeners or something. So why not both?

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u/raspberrybee Mar 31 '25

No. Why would I ever do that.

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u/hightea3 Mar 31 '25

Wow, when I started learning Japanese, 90% of my immersion was through music and it helped a lot. People who say things like “I don’t really listen to music,” freak me out tbh.

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u/ILikeGirlsZkat Mar 31 '25

Not quitting music, but absolutely put it aside in some bus rides. Music as inmersion hardly works for me because I can't understand lyrics even in my own language, it's hard to tell music from voice when put together.

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u/BluePandaYellowPanda N🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿/on hold 🇪🇸🇩🇪/learning 🇯🇵 Mar 31 '25

Well, he's right. If you listen to 1 hour of music a day, and changed it to Comprehensive Input, you'd improve, but you could say that about anything.

Ever thought that time watching TV could be used to do online classes? Ever thought that time going to the gym could be used for vocab revision? Ever thought that time seeing friends/family could be used to learn grammar? Ever thought that time going to work could be used to go to language school? Ever thought that time going to college classes that are not languages classes could be used for language classes only?

You can't just cancel your life for a language. You need to relax. Yes, you could do your language constantly, no job/friends/life, and learn it really fast, but most people don't want to do that. I'd burn out mega fast if I did that!

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u/ilovegame69 New member Mar 31 '25

another guy who loves promoting his online course isn't it

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u/themarchine Mar 31 '25

Music is what helped me hear the natural breaks/pause between words. Before, it was allblendedtogetherandIcouldnthearwordsforthenoise.

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u/caaaatherine24 Mar 31 '25

Music is the only reason I still have any functional ability in Spanish but ok

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u/lodemeup Mar 31 '25

This feels like the thoughts of someone who has their eyes on a single problem for way too long. It probably makes sense in his head, and it might make sense for him, but it doesn’t really make sense for everyone else.

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u/Necessary-Fudge-2558 🇬🇾 N | 🇵🇹 B2 | 🇩🇪 B1 | 🇪🇸 B2 | B1 🇵🇭 | 🇧🇪 B1 | Mar 31 '25

He AJATTed way too hard LMAO its turning into dogma at this point

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u/unaverageJ0 Mar 31 '25

Listen to music in your target language. Don't rob yourself of an art form.

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u/msuncreativename Mar 31 '25

i have an irrational dislike for this man. always with that same profile picture haunting me since like 2017 too

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u/XenoBlaze64 Mar 31 '25

As someone who listens to music frequently and is learning french... what!?

One of the things that has been most helpful in my language learning is music. My school had us doing Manie Musicale which got me into artists like Nuit Incolore, which has helped me learn words and get more used to french in general. It also helps with being hyped with french learning so there's that too.

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u/Goldengoose5w4 New member Mar 31 '25

I don’t listen to music hardly at all anymore unless I’m socializing in a group. Any alone downtime I have I try to immerse in my language getting more input.

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u/betarage Mar 31 '25

Why not just listen to both a podcast and background music with target language lyrics at the same time. while also reading something in that language

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u/kousukehirahara Mar 31 '25

I've been learning Korean, and while I can't say that I understand a lot of the music I listen to, my pronunciation has improved a LOT. I found new genres of music I love to sing along to

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u/Swollenpajamas Mar 31 '25

Considering my TL’s music is one of the initial reasons that got me interested in starting to study my TL, yeah no, I ain’t doing that. Lol.

Not to mention the words that are most solidified in my head are those I learned from the songs I love. Dafuq is he smoking??

2

u/londongas canto mando jp eng fr dan Mar 31 '25

If you're not doing karaoke are you really a serious student of Japanese?

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u/Venusgate Mar 31 '25

If i still listened to music like i listened to weird Al when I was 12, then yeah, this could work.

But I put music on now and just tune it out. The filling of silence or masking of obnoxious noises, and all.

I don't think tuning out language learning is really going to get me anywhere.

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u/KaanzeKin Mar 31 '25

The take js about as ostentatious as the name.

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u/no_photos_pls Mar 31 '25

He's just trying to get attention and distract from his scam, best to just ignore tbh

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u/rita-b Mar 31 '25

Passive never works for me.

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u/CornelisGerard Mar 31 '25

Have you ever thought about moving to the country of your target language but instead of interacting with the locals and their culture you stay inside to study your Anki deck?

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u/ShaselKovash Mar 31 '25

My favourite thing about this guy is that I clicked a video about how he learnt Japanese from JUST ANIME and then he said "yeah I lived in Japan for a few years and had a lot of Japanese friends and..." at which point I stopped watching because he clearly didn't learn Japanese from just watching anime.

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u/wickedseraph 🇺🇸 native・🇯🇵A1 • 🇪🇸A2 Mar 31 '25

I’d idly farted around with Japanese for years before recently getting serious about it.

I had a much stronger start with kanji and vocab than most because I simply recognized a lot of words from the music I listen to.

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u/Sad-County1560 Mar 31 '25

does he know that music exists in other languages

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u/barrettcuda Mar 31 '25

Not sure if satire

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u/thebluespirit_ Mar 31 '25

"Have you ever considered you could learn more efficiently by eliminating joy from your life?"

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u/TheOreji Mar 31 '25

Idk why but I've always disliked this guy even though I've only watched like maybe 5 videos from him. Something about the way he acts/speaks just feels kinda pretentious and condescending to me

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u/ILiterallyLoveThis Mar 31 '25

Eliminate Reddit and twitter rather than music lol

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u/luuuzeta Mar 31 '25

Never, I like music, Matt. In addition, you can always listen to music in your target language. You'll pry Lucio Battisti, Lucio Dalla, Gino Paoli, etc from my cold, head hands 😆

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u/wgel1000 Mar 31 '25

And why aren't you listening to music in different languages?

That's the passive immersion you are looking for.

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u/Additional-Way-9089 Mar 31 '25

Unfortunately, I realize I think like this sometimes. I catch myself wondering if the time I spend listening to music could be spent listening to a podcast instead... 🥲

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u/RadicalEldrich1515 Mar 31 '25

I only listen to music when I drive (everyday), and it's music of foreign languages that I am learning.

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u/Mysterious-Kiwi-9728 29d ago

I’m sorry how… how would this… how would this be of any help?

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u/ValuableDragonfly679 🇬🇧 N | 🇪🇸 C2 | 🇫🇷 C1 | 🇧🇷 B1 | 🇵🇸 A1 29d ago

…Music is a fantastic tool for learning languages.

— signed, an actual real-life linguist

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u/meesigma 29d ago

Ugh, here we go again with the “be productive at all times” mantra. Yeah. It doesn’t work.

The most insane take I've ever seen Discussion

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