This is kind of the point of this article. Saying that Immersion schools are not the best way to begin learning a language. It makes sense that adults and children learn differently and that a lot of methods, including immersion try and teach a language like you were a child. Children learn by associating pictures (objects) with words.

You’re Not A Native… All About Immersion

Adults are word based, not image based. When we talk about traffic we do not see little BMW’s, Fords or Hondas flashing through our heads. The reason for this is that it is easier to manage large bodies of information concretely rather than abstractly.

Which is faster to download on your computer, a graphics file or a text file? Text is always faster to process than graphics! The same is true for the human brain.

It goes on…

One last word about immersion. There is a place for it. You should be in an immersion program when you already understand and have a mastery of the Spanish language and are just looking to “smooth out the language.”

I would agree with that and that’s the way I was thinking. It would be great to go to school somewhere only to learn Spanish but just listening to Spanish or being shown pictures and the Spanish isn’t going to do much. It takes years for children to get to a point of comprehending and being understood using pictures and being immersed.

Once I get the grammar and vocabulary to a certain point of comprehension, I’d like to go to an immersion school to be able to fine tune and be able to put into practice on a daily basis. Plus it would be a great vacation! But to go and spend money on an immersion school as a complete beginner, you might as well sit and watch Telemundo all day and learn Spanish that way.

I don’t know, but I would think that even people that live somewhere and are immersed still have to learn grammar somehow. You don’t learn verb tenses with pictures or even by being immersed. I’d love to hear from someone that has had experience with living somewhere or an immersion school, in the comments if you want.

It’s a good article and I’m still checking out the website at: Bilingual America there are a lot of good articles (here) on the best way to learn. This is a serious (and expensive) course. With audio, workbook and private tutor time.

Originally posted 2008-02-20 16:45:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter