Is Immersion really the answer?? | General discussion | Forum
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17:31
August 3, 2012
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Hello,
I've been living in Argentina for the past three weeks trying to learn Spanish; however, I don't feel like much has been accomplished yet. When I came to Argentina I was at an intermediate level of Spanish as I knew how to converse, but I always had problems conveying what I wanted to say during conversations. After three weeks, this is still a problem of mine and it doesn't seem to be improving. My ability to understand others is much better than before but actually making words on the spot is troublesome. Because of this I'm starting to doubt that merely immersing oneself in an environment is enough to learn a language.
So my question is, what did you do while abroad to learn a language? Did you simply talk, talk, talk and get better that way or was there more of a conscious effort?
Finally, what's a good way to meet people for practice? I'm a college student attending a university here and although all of my classes are in Spanish, they're with other foreigners (mainly from the US). Because of this, meeting locals is difficult. Any advice?
Thank you (:
04:01
June 29, 2011
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There is still a conscious effort. You can still do all the usual language-learning things you would do at home, but in addition you have all these locals to talk to and many more resources (such as library, local TV, etc.). When I moved abroad I talked every day, I read a lot (got a local library card), listened to podcasts (or TV), wrote emails to my colleagues, did some grammar workbook stuff, etc., all in the local language.
To meet people, try joining a group or club… probably your university has various clubs and groups. I met a lot of people because I joined a choir.
Good luck and have fun!
Fluent:
Learning:
13:41
August 19, 2012
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It's only been three weeks, so I wouldn't get discouraged yet. Really, three weeks is a blink of an eye. And if you've noticed that your understanding of Spanish has improved, then you're making progress.
To answer your question, though, "immersion" by itself won't necessarily get you where you want. First of all, most people think of "immersion" as simply "living in the country." I'm an American living in Germany, and I have colleagues who have been here for seven plus years who can only speak a few words of German because they've surrounded themselves with Americans and American media. They're in Germany, but they might as well be back home.
Even if you are truly immersed in a language, though, my experience has taught me there is still value in making an active effort to "study" a language while you are actively using it. (Using it is still more important, though.)
Just in case you need any motivation, when my best friend was in college, he spent a year in Spain. He arrived as an intermediate speaker. When he returned, I watched in amazement as he haggled, negotiated, and spoke fluently with Spanish speakers in our town. So if you keep making an effort and moving forward, I have a feeling you'll have a similar experience.
17:37
Experienced Language Hacker
August 2, 2011
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You know, I have just realised that I did it when I came to UK. But I wouldn't call this the immersion. If you have read the blog, you know that Benny spends time on parties, so he actually speaks all the time and he is in touch with locals as much as possible and even more. It was not my case as I used the language only when I had to – at work, in shops and offices. So it took few years until I could comfortably hold the conversation. The immersion is not the osmosis – you will not get the language from the air, you have to take a dip and be ready to drown!
Besides, look at the bright side. If you focus only on what you do not know you will never get the satisfaction from the successful conversation.
Native: 
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Polska strona języka walijskiego
10:12
moderator
June 25, 2011
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itp4br said
So my question is, what did you do while abroad to learn a language? Did you simply talk, talk, talk and get better that way or was there more of a conscious effort?
It really depends on what your personal goal is. Talking is arguably the key factor when it comes to improving your conversational skills. Notice, however, that people tend to ignore your mistakes out of a sense of courtesy… So if you neither convince people that you really appreciate being corrected nor devote any time to language study, you might end up speaking without much effort but with a significant amount of errors. And this is fine if oral communication is what you're aiming for. (Even the CEFRL levels focus on the range of tasks one can accomplish rather than the degree of mastery of grammar or the absence of mistakes.) As long as those mistakes don't impede communication, you'll only need to get rid of them if you want to sit any exams (even diagnostic/placement exams if you want to take courses).
Finally, what's a good way to meet people for practice? I'm a college student attending a university here and although all of my classes are in Spanish, they're with other foreigners (mainly from the US). Because of this, meeting locals is difficult. Any advice?
Thank you (:
Instead of reinventing the wheel, I just refer you to the following articles posted by Benny:
Use couchsurfing social search and events to get to know native speakers
Another article on couchsurfing
How to make the transition from typical English-speaking tourist to local language speaking expat
The smartest decision you will ever make to achieve fluency
Couchsurfing proved very useful during my stay in Lisbon. Even though I stayed in a rented flat, it made finding people with common interests (even rather rare ones like vegan cooking, for instance) a lot easier. And those couchsurfing events I attended turned out a great way to get to know native speakers and practice my target language.
Focusing on:
Next target: 
Abandoned: 
04:57
June 29, 2011
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Lingo said
Notice, however, that people tend to ignore your mistakes out of a sense of courtesy… So if you neither convince people that you really appreciate being corrected nor devote any time to language study, you might end up speaking without much effort but with a significant amount of errors.
This is so true! I think it's a sense of not wanting to interrupt the conversation. At first you can't think about stuff like genders and endings and declinations of every single word in "real time" while speaking (even if you know it in theory), so you make a lot of mistakes, but will eventually improve with a lot of practice (at least, that is the strategy I'm going with, and I *think* it's working…). People probably won't correct stuff like you using the wrong gender, but they will probably let you know if you use the wrong word.
Fluent:
Learning:
06:13
May 23, 2012
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IMHO the main benefit of immersion is being exposed to a random assortment of language and having unexpected needs popping up. It's one thing for me to know how to respond to "ni hao ma?" but if they ask "hi shenti hao ma?" then I ultimately should know how to respond to that as well. They're very similar questions, but the proper response is slightly different. What's more for those that are less experienced at language acquisition it can be scary.
I think the other common advantage, particularly here in China, is that the locals are generally pushing for you to speak or otherwise communicate. And the constant tests that you get in real life scenarios give some idea as to what value you're gaining. A test is just a test, but learning to buy a bus ticket for the first time confers some confidence in your ability to do it again that a paper or oral exam just can't.
But, ultimately, immersion isn't a magic bullet, with discipline you can force yourself to learn to say things that are difficult for you and make progress with minimal physical contact with the target culture.
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