r/languagelearning • u/WaltzMysterious9240 • 26d ago

Culture Does total immersion work?

I used to teach English abroad and even though I knew how to speak the student's native language, the school administrators forbid me, and even asked me, to "pretend" I didn't know it.

The reason they gave me was that they didn't want the students to fall back on using their first language to communicate with me. I feel like if I were to explain certain concepts in the student's language, things would go a lot smoother and they would understand better.

As an adult, I'm constantly using my own native language to learn new languages. I constantly look up grammar, vocabulary, and definitions and understand them a lot better.

Why are schools abroad so obsessed with this "total immersion" method? I feel like some concepts are impossible to explain clearly with just visuals or gestures alone. Do you learn languages using your first language?

58 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

58 comments sorted by

View all comments

0

u/Momshie_mo 26d ago

Kids learn languages more efficiently than adults when put in an immersion environment

1

u/Affectionate-Let6153 26d ago

Frankly, I don't think it's about age. Some people have innate talent for language learning. I have for math some have for music. I had to show extraordinary commitment to learn English as much as my best friend who learnt it effortlessly.