Learning a Language Through Immersion

Have you ever wondered why you have not made much progress in a language, but have studied it extensively in school? Have you ever told yourself that you are “not good at languages?” If you answered yes to either, or to both of those questions, I hope that you gain a few words of wisdom from this post. As some of you may have already read in previous posts, I have always considered myself to be shy. It has taken me my entire life to slowly start pushing myself out of my comfort zone to start interacting with more people. As time has passed, I have learned to embrace making mistakes and to learn from them (feel free to read my post “Being Afraid of Making Mistakes in Another Language” if you want to know how you can get rid of your fear of being wrong when speaking a new language).

 

I believe that immersion has enabled me to make the most amount of progress in any language than all of the other methodologies that I have ever tried combined. This is the case, because it is not a traditional way of learning a language. Instead of memorizing tables, or vocabulary by using flashcards with the words in English on one side and with their translations on the other, you learn how to communicate and to understand what others are saying from the very beginning, which should be your end goal when learning any modern language. It is great if you can memorize the conjugations of the verb “ser” in Spanish, which means “to be”, but if you cannot say fluid sentences using this verb when speaking, that you have ultimately failed to do what your original intention was. This does not make you less smart than others, but it does give you a red flag that you should try to change your methodology.

As the video above says, you could consider my methodology of improving the languages that I already speak an “artificial immersion”, which I create for myself from the comfort of my room in college, or at home. What I mean by that is that I go out of my way, and create a schedule in which I incorporate several languages into my everyday life. What is amazing about this century is the fact that we have the world at our hands, and information at our fingertips with the simple click of a button. There are no longer any excuses to not be able to supplement, or to completely teach yourself a language from scratch. I argue that the most effective methodology is through immersion. 

What I do is I try to find articles, watch the news, watch YouTubers (feel free to read my post titled “Listen to YouTubers in Your Target Language” if you want to get suggestions on which foreign YouTubers I like to watch the most), and listen to music in my target languages. I watch films whenever I have time, especially in the languages that I am close to fluent in, as films are the ultimate test to whether or not you can understand idioms, regionalisms, dialects, and more complex vocabulary words and sentences. Keep in mind that you do not have to spend more than an hour a day per language if you do not have the time, or do not want to do so. It is oftentimes more effective to spend time on your target language for less time. What matters most is not the quantity, but rather the quality of how you spend your time.

Since I have not had a class in German since my senior year in high-school, I have spent most of my free time perfecting my German. I find that watching videos by German YouTubers has been the most effective method and has been the best use of my time so far. By doing so, I pick up words by associating words with sounds, or objects with their names. It is also a more organic and authentic way to review or to learn vocabulary, sentences, and idiomatic expressions, as they speak at a native pace. It is not rigid, or meant for language learners, but rather for people who live in countries whose native language is my target language. I also find it more rewarding when I understand 90% of what is being said after having done this for over a year, because I know that they speak at a normal native pace in their videos.

I also enjoy listening to songs in German, and looking up unknown words. The more times that listen to a song, the more words that I can sing by heart, and the more times that I look up words, the more words that I can understand. I also have my phone in German, so I am constantly reading in it, without making a conscious effort to do so. The little things and changes that you make are what count, not necessarily the amount of hours that you spend trying to cram information into your head. Consistency is a tip that you should take away from this. In other words, make yourself listen to what Germans would do or listen to in Germany instead of finding Rosetta Stone where everything is translated into your mother tongue. The sooner you make yourself start thinking, writing, reading, and speaking in the language in an immersive environment, the more comfortable you are going to feel about your capabilities.

Another way to immerse yourself that is a little harder to do is by attending a foreign language immersion camp, institute, or university for as little as a week up to a few years. It is ultimately up to you to decide how much time you would be willing to invest in assisting one of these programs. By interacting with locals, or with other students who are there to learn a common language, it will be less likely that you speak in, say English, if you do not share that common language. I went to Concordia Language Villages for 4 summers in Bemidji, Minnesota and had the privilege of going to 4 different language villages (French, German, Italian, and Russian) whose methodology was to be immersed in your target language from the moment in which you wake up until you go to sleep. I will write a post about my experience there in a few weeks, so be sure to stay tuned for it. I am also going to go to an institute soon, and am excited to share my experiences in a few months. Feel free to read my post “Taking Classes in Multiple Languages: My Experience and Advice” if you want to know how I immersed myself in several languages during this academic school-year in college.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide how you want to perfect your language skills, but I encourage you to ask yourself whether or not you have been satisfied with your progress so far using another methodology, and to strongly consider starting to think of ways in which you can start to make languages a part of your life. It is a lot easier than you may think, and you will be amazed with the results that you will get over time. I can say that after 2 years of watching YouTubers in German, I can now understand at least 90% of what I watch. This is because I have consistently watched them, and have made myself learn about topics in which I am interested in languages that are not my mother tongues.