4 ms·

The point of immersion is not that it's fun. The point of immersion is that pre-puberty, it's still more effective to 'acquire' languages than 'learn' them. The

by lmkg 16y ago

The point of immersion is not that it's fun. The point of immersion is that pre-puberty, it's still more effective to 'acquire' languages than 'learn' them. The ability to intake languages organically from the environment degrades as you get older, but it's widely believed that there's a qualitative inflection point around age 13. Before that point, immersion is useful. Three years of Spanish instructions gave me the skill to conjugate verbs on a test. The following one year of light immersion[1] is what made me able to assemble sentences in real-time, and think directly in Spanish without having to mentally translate in and out of English. If you're learning a language at age 16, like the author was, then yes, the most effective way is to smash your face against the brick wall until it crumbles. 10,000 hours, as they say. What I'm curious about, for personal reasons, is whether learning additional languages early takes away any of the face-smashing in learning additional languages later on. I'm trying to acquire Bulgarian, so I'll get to find out on my own. [1] During our one-hour-a-day class period, we were allowed to chat in class if we did so in Spanish.

jacquesm 16y ago
> What I'm curious about, for personal reasons, is whether learning additional languages early takes away any of the face-smashing in learning additional languages later on. From my own experiene, a definite yes. I learned Polish rather later in life but already had 4 languages under my belt. It went relatively easy, even though I never got the hang of the writing (but then again, there was no need to).
mirkules 16y ago
English is not my native language, but my elementary school taught French since 1st grade and English since 6th. I immigrated to the US at age 12, and now speak both English and my native language fluently without an accent -- as do my friends with a similar background as mine (the ones that immigrated before 13). I think it helps for kids to be exposed to many different languages early on. For example, I never learned to speak French fluently, but because I have some background in a latin-based language, I found it easier to learn Spanish. It's much easier to relate existing words in your vocabulary with new foreign words, than it is to memorize them outright. For example, it's probably easier to learn Russian if you speak Czech already (and to speak it with less of an accent) than it is to learn Korean if you're a Spanish speaker.
blacksmythe 16y ago
<< The following one year of light immersion[1] ... You need basic language proficiency before you can interact with people and benefit from immersion. For English speakers learning Romance languages (Spanish, Italian, French), the Michel Thomas tapes are the best. Pimsleur tapes are also very good in almost any language.

by lmkg 16y ago

jacquesm 16y ago

> What I'm curious about, for personal reasons, is whether learning additional languages early takes away any of the face-smashing in learning additional languages later on. From my own experiene, a definite yes. I learned Polish rather later in life but already had 4 languages under my belt. It went relatively easy, even though I never got the hang of the writing (but then again, there was no need to).

mirkules 16y ago

English is not my native language, but my elementary school taught French since 1st grade and English since 6th. I immigrated to the US at age 12, and now speak both English and my native language fluently without an accent -- as do my friends with a similar background as mine (the ones that immigrated before 13). I think it helps for kids to be exposed to many different languages early on. For example, I never learned to speak French fluently, but because I have some background in a latin-based language, I found it easier to learn Spanish. It's much easier to relate existing words in your vocabulary with new foreign words, than it is to memorize them outright. For example, it's probably easier to learn Russian if you speak Czech already (and to speak it with less of an accent) than it is to learn Korean if you're a Spanish speaker.

blacksmythe 16y ago

<< The following one year of light immersion[1] ... You need basic language proficiency before you can interact with people and benefit from immersion. For English speakers learning Romance languages (Spanish, Italian, French), the Michel Thomas tapes are the best. Pimsleur tapes are also very good in almost any language.