Many people choose to learn a second language by living amongst those who speak it as a native language. But the one thing of most importance is that they are happy in that situation otherwise their language studies will suffer.
Based on this, many people choose to go on language courses in the country of their chosen language for an extended trip. It’s often the everyday tasks that we undertake that give rise to the best opportunities to practice speaking a new language, such as going to the shops to buy something, or catching public transport.
One of the reasons for this is because when someone is presented with a study course, or left to choose which parts of the language they study, they fail to tackle the really difficult parts (for a variety of reasons). But when the focus is simply on getting something done (such as catching a bus or buying some food) they have no choice in the matter and no way of avoiding learning the necessary words and vocabulary in order to complete the task. If you are going to travel abroad for a language course you might as well learn as much as possible!
One more reason is that the student is not just going through a book and trying to force the brain to retain the knowledge. It’s reasonably obvious that if the brain is engaged in completing a seperate task, the learning process is not so daunting and cumbersome. Also, they may find themselves getting drawn into conversation, which again, is one of the best ways to learn. If the student has to vacate a bus or leave a shop without buying what they entered for, then the potential embarassment will probably ensure that they muddle their way through – hence, learning more vital language components.
While on a language course, the student is likely to spend a lot of time surrounded by natural speakers of the country’s native tongue. This has a lot of benefits, some obvious and some not so obvious. It’s possible to pick up ideas and and understanding subconsciously just by being in their presence. This type of learning can greatly improve the student’s ability to master the little nuances of the language, such as intonation and emphasis on certain words.
It’s clear that by distracting the mind from focusing on the fact that you are trying to force it to learn, more knowledge is likely to be retained. For example, if the student was to get bored then they will feel more tired and will do anything to avoid the pain of continuing with the boring task. Trying to learn a new language, like the English language for example, should be enjoyable, not a chore.
The ideal solution for this problem is to combine study sessions with other activities that are relaxing, exciting and fun. The double benefit of this is that not only will the student get less bored and retain more knowledge during the learning phase, but they will also have a more enjoyable time overall during their language course. These activities can be organised in order that they offer character building benefits, as well as also placing them in a situation where will be exposed to native speakers of the language, and can be required to converse with them as well.
Especially if the student is quite young, they can also gain further from these activities. They can get involved in character and team building exercises for example. This will develop their communication skills, their boldness and confidence, plus it can help to develop initiative. These things will all contribute to the learner’s future success, and helps to ensure that they not only learn about and experience languages, but also many other things as well. This way, they will not feel that the whole course has been one long study session, but in reality they will have picked up language skills throughout the time spent. Many English language course students will be pleased to hear this – you learn more when you’re having lots of fun!
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