It might be helpful to think about this in a slightly different way. You probably don’t speak English in your everyday life, the way you are taught in your English textbooks in primary school. It would feel a bit unnatural to speak that formally, wouldn’t it? Well, the language you learn in the classroom is more formal than how you will hear it spoken by native speakers. This is necessary to properly teach grammar and vocabulary. Think back to a time you met someone from a different place, whose second language was English. They probably spoke a bit more formally than you did and didn’t understand every word you said. Not knowing everything in a second language is okay.

Last summer, I lived and studied in France as part of my degree requirements for the university. I had been to France before, and I had practiced speaking there, but I had never been fully immersed. At first, I felt like I hadn’t learned anything at all. My brain felt sluggish trying to remember the words that I knew were buried somewhere in my mind. I realized how much vocabulary I had to learn because there were so many everyday words that I had never even thought about looking up. One I remember very clearly—I needed the word “pillowcase”, and suddenly realized I had no idea what that was (it’s taie d’oreiller if you’re wondering). And then, I had to learn some words in argot, or French slang, so that I could communicate normally with the French people of my own age I met. I felt like I had to learn a whole other language! I’m still learning it. No matter how long I study French, I cannot imagine that I will ever make such a grandiose claim as to say that I know ALL the words in French. But, by the end of the summer, I had gone days without speaking or thinking a word of English. It was incredible. And I realized that the classroom had taught me quite a lot. I would never have made the progress I did without the solid language base I had formed at school.

If it takes authentic exposure to truly be able to speak a language properly, then why not skip the lessons part and just go straight to a country whose language you want to learn and immerse yourself? Well, that’s not normally feasible. Language lessons teach you the grammar and vocabulary you really need to know, so that when you do immerse yourself, you’ll hit the ground running and absorb more, quickly.

Even better, the earlier you start learning a second language, and the more exposure you have to hear it spoken, the easier it will be to put your classroom knowledge into practice in an authentic environment. As I discussed in my last post, language learning is one area where age is not necessarily on your side.

So, do you want to travel one day and be able to speak to the locals in their language? Then be sure to put in your hours in the classroom first. Happy studying!

À bientôt,

Shannon