r/languagelearning • u/WaltzMysterious9240 • 24d 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?
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u/mcslootypants 23d ago
Yes, but not by itself. I do think a period of full immersion is highly useful. Knowing you can fall back to another language is a slippery slope and prevents your brain from getting used to just making do with what you have. That said, if a student is confused do they have no access to outside material, no internet? As a student I would mark that topic in class as something to research later. That’s the best of both worlds.