Cultured Learning

If you’ve ever studied a foreign language and suddenly surprised yourself by knowing or saying a word that you didn’t know you knew (!), then, you’ve just proved that ‘immersion’ as a technique to learn a second or foreign language, works. I found myself doing just that when I was studying French. There I was, having a rather stilted, but very enthusiastic conversation with mon amie, when suddenly and quite unexpectedly, I found myself answering her “je ne sais pas,” with “non, moi non plus.” I didn’t actively learn it – I’m sure my teacher never taught it to me, or wrote it on the board, or got us to repeat it – but my clever old brain had somehow picked up the fact, maybe from listening to other people or reading it somewhere, that “moi non plus” means, “I don’t know either!” Magnifique!

And that’s pretty much the basic idea of the ‘immersion technique.’ By surrounding yourself in a language, and even without actively setting out to learn it, your brain picks things up, stores them without you even realising it, and then, suddenly, just when you need it, out it pops. In fact, as I’ve often told my students who are glued to their electronic dictionaries, if you think back to your first words when you were developing your language in your mother tongue, no one gave you a bilingual ‘Japanese/Baby talk’ dictionary. Children learn by what they hear, read and see. They absorb words like sponges and then use their stored knowledge to communicate. So why should it be any different for an adult learning a second language. Preconceptions maybe, about what a ‘language lesson’ should be?

The ‘immersion technique’ works on the principal that language learning shouldn’t be confined to text books and rehearsed and formulated listening exercises in the classroom. Rather, the target language is used as a tool and is used constantly. The idea was first developed in the 60s in Canada when English-speaking educators tried out an innovative programme to help their students learn and understand French language and culture. Many studies followed, including Dr. Chen Ya-Ling’s 2006 study of the immersion technique on Taiwanese children , published in the Asian EFL Journal which looked at the worrying possibility that immersion at a young age might devalue a learner’s original cultural values. Luckily, this assertion was proved unfounded by Dr Chen’s research, but importantly, what this research proves, is that the success of ‘immersion’ is now so widely accepted by today’s educators, that its efficacy at language learning is not even called into question, rather its value culturally and socially has to be assessed – proof, since people are actually worried by its potential negative effects, that it works.

This evidence is not confined to the scientific world, but has even crept into popular culture. The cult BBC show “Doctor Who” which aired in 2008, included a terrifying ‘monster’ in an episode entitled ‘Midnight,’ which, unable to communicate at the start of the show, repeated what was being said in order to learn, absorb, communicate, and then try and dominate. The entire premise of the episode was so psychologically terrifying because it was based on a method of language learning that we can all identify with. Children often repeat and repeat a word (sometimes to great annoying effect) and this is what the monster did, in the end, using the power of language with an evil intent. But theatrics aside, what this episode was show-casing, was how ‘immersion’ works, and again, it is something we can all identify with.

If we turn to the case of Matej Kus , widely reported in popular press, we again see an example of ‘immersion’ at work. Here, the 18-year-old Czech speedway driver woke up from a terrible crash, speaking perfect English. Not so surprising, until you discover that before the accident, his English was, as his promoter, Peter Waite, said, “broken, to put it mildly.” What happened here was not a question of xenoglossy as was often quoted, but the ‘immersion’ technique at work. Having lived and worked in the UK, Matej’s brain had obviously and subconsciously picked up enough of the language to be able to use it and communicate. It just took something as dramatic as a car crash to ‘unlock’ that part of his brain, and as Peter Waite said, to “rearrange things in his head.”

But, it goes without saying that having a car crash is a bit of a ridiculous, not to mention, dangerous way of learning a language. So how can the average learner learn English using the ‘immersion’ technique? Well, the most obvious way is to study in a native English-speaking country, but even if this is not possible, to absorb themselves with English wherever possible. Having an English radio or TV programme on in the background, even when you’re ironing or cooking and not listening, is effective; while think you maybe concentrating on not burning your hand or shirt or dinner, a tiny part of your brain is listening and absorbing and learning, passively, and is just waiting for the opportunity to use it – and it’s a great way to get the ‘music’ of English in your head.

Reading is another great way of expanding your vocabulary (as my teachers always told me at school). Guessing the meaning of words form context helps enormously to expand your range of expression and knowledge of colloquialisms and phrasal verbs. And of course, if you are luck enough to be studying in a native English speaking country, then use English wherever possible. Talk to people; ask for directions even if you are not lost. Go shopping, ask the shop assistants for help if even you’re just window shopping. It’s free, so use them as ‘guinea pigs’ to extend your skills in listening to regional accents and dialects. And most importantly, don’t worry if you make a mistake, it really doesn’t’ matter, just go out there and try. The world is your classroom!

If you’d like more information about Cultured Learning specially developed bespoke‘ immersion’ programme PACT, which allows students to go out into London to shop, visit tourist sites and dine in confidence with the help of a language consultant, then please visit our website: www.culturedlearning.co.uk