Language Immersion

Immersion versus Classroom is a classic debate when it comes to learning a foreign language. You may have read, heard or thought whether being surrounded by a foreign language, or immersed in it, is the best way to speak like a native. Or are traditional lectures with grammar rules and vocabulary list the best way to learn a language.  By learning language I’m not only talking about English or Spanish. The guidelines you are about to discover here can be applicable to the learning process of any language. I believe so at least, but if you want to add something, you can leave a comment of which I could learn from.

Coming back to this debate there are many things we can say. I’ll try to squeeze the whole idea into this paragraph.  There are traditionally two approaches: one is explicit, where the students are taught a lot of information about grammar rules and the other one is implicit, where the students learn the way children do when they learn a native language. That is, by being with native speakers and absorbing the language that surrounds them, generally without a lot of explanation. The obvious and most important question would be: What is the best way to learn a language?

I’ll answer this base on my own experience. Considering that English is a compulsory subject in Spanish primary and secondary schools, I’d been studying it since I was a kid. I used to hate it and always wondered why I have so little talent. To be honest it wasn’t until I started my degree in Tourism that I really learn something, as English was a very tough matter and I had to do whatever it took to pass my exams. The key factor for this real learning process was that for the first time in my life I need the language for communication purposes. I’d never forget my first exchange with Kyle, a guy from North Carolina (USA). My mind was completely frozen and unable to coordinate a single sentence. But I was determinate to have some kind of interaction, so I grabbed a piece of paper I could use to make some draws to support my lack of vocabulary. At that very moment, a strong desire was born: to improve my English skills. This wish is what push you through a real immersion, what make you create the triggers around you to have as much contact with your second language as you can. Thanks to this mind set you switch everything you do, if you want to watch a movie, chat to somebody, read, and so on; you just do it in English.

After so many years fighting to accomplish this aim more effectively and efficiently, I can say that those periods in which I’ve been immerse in English gave me the crucial boosts to become what I am today. The first time I travelled abroad was to Ireland to make an English course of six weeks. So I combined the two mentioned approaches. Let’s call it the Immersion-style Classroom Learning. It worked well, but it did because I was focus on being exposed to a situation where the communication was absolutely necessary. In my class there were other Spaniards and I told them I was Italian, so if they speak with me (even outside the school) they did it in English. I kept this attitude until the very end. Can you imagine their face the day they found out where I was from when I said bye in my mother tongue?

Let me provide you with a couple of examples where the immersion has been a key point. The first one came at the following year when I had a teacher’s grant to go Malta to do another course. In this occasion I found a job for the evenings so that I can practise it more in real situation. The second one took place three years ago, when I moved to United Kingdom and I avoid making Spanish friends.

All these cases allow us to understand that immersion is very important to speed up learning, but we shouldn’t confuse the fact of going to a foreign country with proper immersion. Nowadays with the resources available (especially on the Internet), anyone can be more immerse into a second language than someone surrounded by English speakers but who doesn’t interact with them. Obviously, being in this context is a bonus, but you need to make the effort to achieve what you want to achieve.

The capacity to successfully use language requires one to acquire a range of tools including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and an extensive vocabulary. They can be learned in a classroom, but if you really want to consolidate this learning you need to find ways to put these skills into practice.