I teach ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) but is school the best place to learn another language? I have my doubts. From what I've seen, successful language learners generally achieve more outside of the classroom.
I don't believe that languages ought to be taught, at least not beyond the early stages. (Maybe coached, but that's a different story.)
Why is this so? What are successful language learners doing better, and what can we learn from them? What are schools and teachers doing wrong, or at the very least poorly, and do they need to do to improve?
I'm writing this blog as if I'm talking to myself - my 15-year-old self. That's when I gave up French and Latin.
How I wish I could go back in time to persuade the younger me to reconsider. How far might I have managed to travel had I stuck with languages longer?
Here, I'll do my best not to be dogmatic. My aim is just mean to present the interesting ideas I've collected from various sources. I want to house the principles behind successful language learning in one spot.
I want to explore how we might acquire new languages quickly and easily without schooling.
That is: no grammar, no word lists, no forced reading out aloud, no studying in a classroom.
What are the principles behind picking up a new language , and how ought we to apply them?
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