How Polyglot Lindie Botes Learned 12+ Languages By Herself

How did Lindie Botes, a polyglot originally from South Africa, learn to speak over 12 languages?

Lindie can speak Afrikaans (her native language), French, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Japanese. And then Malay, Indonesian, Arabic, and Hindi. Oh yeah, and Hungarian.

What's unique about Lindie is that she's a “professional polyglot”: she learns, maintains and uses multiple languages, at a good level.

In this post you'll discover:

• How she learns new language (and how that’s changed over the years)
• But mostly – what does it take to learn and maintain so many languages?

As you’ll see…it takes a LOT!

If you prefer watching videos, hit play on the video below. Otherwise, keep reading to discover Lindie's methods for learning and maintaining so many languages.

Lindie Thinks And Lives In Multiple Languages

Lindie lives a truly multi-lingual life!

She:

• prays in Afrikaans (her native language)
• counts in English (the language she was schooled in)
• shouts out in Korean when she stubs her toe
• uses her phone in Japanese to maximise daily exposure
• and sometimes dreams in French or Spanish

But it wasn’t always this way.

Growing up, Lindie was extremely shy, bullied at school, and had few friends. She had no real sense of home and felt like an outsider.

It's not the first time we've heard this from successful language learners. Lucy from English with Lucy also describes having few friends at home. And that's one of the reasons why she moved to Spain so young.

Lots of kids grow up with this feeling that they're “different” and don't fit in. I can certainly relate. And some will turn to video games or drugs or whatever to cope.

Lindie actually moved around a lot when she was younger. And this experience exposed her to different languages and cultures.

I can relate with this polyglot identity of being a “world citizen” – going to different countries, meeting people on their own terms, in their own language.

As Lindie points out:

The more languages we speak, the more identities we can flow in and out of.

Lindie Botes

It's difficult to know what lesson to draw from polyglots and their formative years.

On the one hand, it's interesting how many identity crises turn people into polyglots, on the other hand, plenty of polyglots grew up happy, well-rounded people.

So anyway, how did Lindie Botes become such a prolific language learner? And how does she maintain her abilities in so many languages?

Lindie Is Not Dogmatic Or Static In Her Methods

Lindie has changed her methods a lot over the years, which is totally normal. And all prolific language learners have a story to tell about this.

People get too hung up on methods. But methods are always evolving.

Lindie used to memorise vocabulary lists out of context. But now she learns in context by taking conversation lessons and reading articles.

We saw this same method evolution with Xiaoma. He started out learning Chinese with flashcards and spaced repetition. And then he switched to an immersion method.

Many people criticised him for learning Chinese one way, and then preaching a different way to learn on YouTube.

But these criticisms miss the point – because everyone's methods evolve.

Interestingly enough, most polyglots have shifted from “techniques” to “immersion” over the years. And there’s a deep truth there about how language learning really works.

Lindie Tries To Live Her Life Like A Native Speaker

Lindie thinks like a native speaker. So, for example, if she needs to look up some information for work, she'll do it in one of the languages she knows, using the same search engine native speakers do.

What I want you to notice here is her attitude. This is not just trite advice like “15 minutes study in the evening”. This is an entire mindset…

What I like to do is to try and think – how do native speakers live their life?

Lindie Botes

Lindie's approach is – if you want to speak like a native speaker, you need to live like a native speaker.

• What are the podcasts they listen to?
• What language is their phone in?
• What search engine do they use? In what language?

Think about this yourself… are you a passenger on the language learning journey, letting a teacher or someone else dictate what you do and when? Or are you driving that train?

Try to live like how native speakers do, move away from those beginner resources and really use your language.

Lindie Botes

Lindie Learns Vocabulary In Context

So you've already discovered how Lindie learns vocabulary nowadays. And her evolution from rote memorisation to learning in context.

But that's not her only vocab-learning strategy. Lindie also practices “speaking around” words she doesn’t yet know.

“Speaking around” is a specific technique also called ‘paraphrasing’, where you’re negotiating for meaning with the person you’re talking to.

So if you don't know the specific word for something, like “the gym”, you explain the concept, using words you do know. And then, the other person will supply the new word. And that's how you learn it.

But what matters here is having a mindset of: “I’m going to USE this language, even if I don't have all the vocabulary I need.” 

A common misconception about learning with immersion and input is “how do you go from understanding to using?”

Well this is how!

People often get stuck in “study mode” and never get to using the language. But this is essential: you've got to use the target language a lot.

Isn't it fascinating how Lindie changed from “shy teenager” to “fearless speaker” thanks to language learning?

Anyway, all that speaking practice must be difficult to get if you don’t live in the country, right? Not so for Lindie Botes!

Lindie Doesn’t Wait To Move Abroad To Start Immersing Herself

Lindie looks for any and all opportunities to immerse herself in the language she's learning, even if she isn't living in the country where it's spoken.

For instance, she's never lived in Korean, but in 2012 while she was still at high school, she got a part-time job in a Korean restaurant in South Africa!

Despite struggling with writing in Korean back then and feeling nervous to take orders in the language, she knew that this immersion would pay off.

You can create an immersive language learning space for yourself in a specific language as long as you dedicate enough time to lots of listening, reading, writing and speaking. You don't even need to travel to that country.

Lindie Botes

Are you getting the mindset here?

Lindie's attitude is: I want to learn this language, so I'm going to find a way. Even if that means getting a job in Korean restaurant!

I see this time and time from polyglots. Instead of making excuses, they find a way to learn their new language.

So ask yourself:

• Are you serious about learning?
• What actions are you taking?
• What more can you do?

Now, this sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? A lot of dedication?

But the thing about polyglots like Lindie who are super successful with languages is that they find a way to make language learning sustainable too.

Let's take a look at how she does that next.

Lindie Uses “Habit Stacking” To Fit More Language Study Into Her Day

Habit stacking looks like taking an exist habit, such as cooking breakfast, and combining it with language learning.

So that could mean reviewing some French vocabulary on a sticky note while flossing your teeth!

Give yourself these small actionable goals rather than saying study for x amount of time.

Lindie Botes

I know a lot of polyglots, and they’re all good at fitting languages into their lives in creative ways.

So take note. And recognise that learning doesn’t have to mean “studying”. It could mean listening to a podcast or reading an article on a topic that interest you.

But if you’re learning your first language, or you're new to language learning, you DO have to develop discipline around study. Otherwise you risk never gaining any traction and getting thrown off course by the inconsistency villain.

That's why rule number eight of StoryLearning is: “door closed, phone off”.

But the question here is: how do you live a life of languages, without it becoming a struggle? This is how.

And even if you’re on your first new language, another way to look at it is – just how much more exposure could you get by looking for ways to stack habits?

But I'm sure you'll agree that one big question remains : if learning one language takes so long, how on earth can you learn more than 12?

Let's leave habit stacking behind and take a look at language stacking. What on earth could that be?

Lindie Uses “Language Stacking”

Language stacking is a technique where you learn new languages through previously learned languages.

In Lindie's case that looked like learning Japanese through Korean. And learning Spanish with a Japanese textbook.

Once you're comfortable in one language try and use it to learn another. It'll help you keep the first language fresh, and maybe if the languages are similar enough even help you to learn faster.

Lindie Botes

It can be bewildering to think about learning 12 languages… 

But this is great example of how language learning compounds. The more languages you learn, the easier it gets to learn each additional one.

There are two reasons why compounding happens:

1. Because of similar languages: learning Japanese via Korean (concept shortcut)
2. Or “Spanish via Japanese”: you can improve one language WHILE learning the other 

People often ask me: how did you have the time to learn 8 languages? That’s why – learning my languages got easier and faster as I added them.

Lindie Journals In Foreign Languages

As an introvert and deep thinker, Lindie loves to journal to work through problems in her life. So, she thought to herself, why don't I start writing in other languages too?

Journaling helps Lindie to identify gaps in her vocabulary and work through problems.

When I write in a different language, especially if I'm a beginner, there will be lots of times where I encounter words that I don't know. I don't let that stop me. I continue writing, maybe I'll write a word I don't know in English, Afrikaans or Korean. And after that I will look up the words so it helps me learn new ones.

Lindie Botes

Lindie's journaling practice also reveals plenty about her language learning mindset. She committed to journaling for an entire year in a particular language. And his filled journals in Korean, Chinese, Hungarian and Japanese.

I try to force and push myself to use Japanese every single day

Lindie Botes

And really…

That says it all 

In her journals, she’s mixing in English and Korean words with the Japanese… but who cares?

A particular mindset is what’s behind everything that Lindie’s doing with languages, and this is how she’s not only been successful, but also kept it up.

And it's a mindset of: yes, I’m going to find ways to integrate languages into my life in a fun, varied, creative way. But I’m also going to bring a level of discipline and hard work.

Lindie Botes Method Breakdown: Attitude Trumps Method

And that's the most important takeaway from this Lindie Botes method breakdown.

I always like to say “attitude trumps method”. Lindie could use a totally different set of techniques and still get the same results. Why?

Because of her passion for languages. And also that deep internal drive to learn and to connect with people, undoubtedly fuelled by some difficult childhood experiences.

That's what has helped her become so successful with languages. And also inspire thousands of people around the world to learn too.

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.