Nice. Living in Brussels a lot of people seem to have decided that English will be enough for them - it us indeed a transitory place. Personally, I've gamefied my environment to get as much French and Dutch-speaking in as possible. Bilingualism, if you want it
This is such a great article and explains so much about language learning. I definitely relate to the "need" theory. When I lived in Sweden and realized I couldn't get by without the language, I quickly learned to speak it. Of course, the other factor is immersion, which you covered in this article. Now I understand why my French hasn't improved over the years. Some food for thought, hmmm!
It's really hard to create an artificial immersion environment. What works for me (not with French, because I kind of abandoned it a long time ago) is watching movies in the target language with English subtitles (or without if I'm feeling brave:))
Yes! I actually learned conversational American English that way, when I was a college student. Subtitles weren't available on the big screen, so I was forced to learn. I tried that with French TV for a period of time, but without subtitles I was lost, so I reverted back to subtitles and my learning was limited.
I definitely agree that an ‘immersion bubble’ is necessary to truly learn and retain a new language. I made the most progress learning Spanish when I spent 3 weeks in Mexico with my husbands family. (Just me and my 2 kids - he couldn’t go at the time.) I went not knowing ANY Spanish. And they didn’t know any English, either. I learned basic vocabulary and simple sentences quick! And could understand a lot. Since then, I haven’t been able to progress and have lost a lot of what I learned because I’m not really around anyone who speaks it anymore. (My husband works all the time and I only see him a couple hours a day. We should speak only Spanish, but I have no patience when so much needs to be discussed in such short time frames.) My brain definitely does not feel it ‘needs’ to learn it, I suppose. It definitely hasn’t prioritized it. 🫤
Exactly! When you have no choice you learn quickly. Also I'm a little bit jealous of your immersion experience. I need to marry someone urgently whose parents don't speak any of the languages I already know :)
Haha! It’s probably one of the most intense immersion experiences!!
Although, I also spent a month in the wilderness when I was 15 as part of a French voyageur experience and that was pretty intense, too! We were encouraged to speak, sing, and write only in French the entire time. To this day I usually recall French vocabulary and phrases first (when actually trying to learn Spanish). Sometimes I wonder if it would come back if I moved to France. 🥰
And if I could arrange it - a month long immersion in Italy to learn Italian would be next on my list!
Maybe this is why I've been finding it so hard to learn Welsh, despite having lived in Wales - sorry, Cymru - for 5 years! Dwi'n trio ddysgu siarad Cymraeg - I really am!!
You nailed it on the head!! Such a big factor when it comes to motivation, and a crucial factor that I've observed in my own life (being in language communities where I *had* to use my TL).
This makes a lot of sense. I can understand Thai more than I can speak because I'm immersed in it by living in Thailand but it's not a need for me to speak it. I quickly learned to read and write when I was with my ex who couldn't write English, so all our text communication had to be in Thai. My reading, writing, and listening are so much stronger than my speaking.
That's so funny, considering that reading and writing Thai is so much harder (for most people I think) than learning to speak it. And just proves that we'll learn anything if we need it.
Right?! Let's just learn 72 whole new characters that don't resemble anything of the English language... I hadn't actually thought about it so deeply until reading your post, so thank you for bringing the topic to light.
Wow, Tanya, you’ve forced me to reconsider the moments where I’ve felt a language explosion and you’re absolutely right! It was when I felt the urgency to figure out a new language. It feels like your brain can just take in huge swaths of language and somehow your brain is able to start structuring it. As I was reading, it reminded me of that scene in The Matrix where they download all the information into someone’s brain. Sort of like that but way less intense 😂
I've always wondered what it was that allowed me to self learn Mandarin for now 6 years straight. In the last year or so I've mostly been maintaining but at the start I was learning it as my only language without a need for it. I never took language classes and I barely spoke with anyone. I just learned for the sake of learning. Maybe my need was to grow my knowledge in general? Or the need to learn something for myself since during those years I was also in university feeling the stresses of academia. That's probably it.
I think you can do it without having the need for it but it takes longer and is harder. You probably created little "need" / "immersion" bubbles for Mandarin without realizing it. Good language resources usually do it for you. But I also relate to the need to invest myself into something to escape the stresses of something else in life.
I actually thought you were going to write about the “need” factor as an urge, a craving. That is what I say when I feel I “need” to go to the forest and walk 10 kilometres and paint, otherwise my brain will explode! :) But I guess it is a different kind of “need”😉
Nice. Living in Brussels a lot of people seem to have decided that English will be enough for them - it us indeed a transitory place. Personally, I've gamefied my environment to get as much French and Dutch-speaking in as possible. Bilingualism, if you want it
I learned a lot of languages when I was young and I agree that unless there is an urgent need, it’s hard to make headway in a new language.
I'm lucky: English isn't my mother tongue.
I can use Duolingo in English and still make mistakes... In English.
That's how I felt when my daughter was using Duolingo to 'learn' Hebrew which is her mother tongue: at least she was practicing reading in English :)
So true! Unfortunately it works in both directions. I have subsequently forgotten most of the Polish I spoke when we lived and worked there
Yep! It totally does. We lose it if we don't use it / don't need it anymore.
This is such a great article and explains so much about language learning. I definitely relate to the "need" theory. When I lived in Sweden and realized I couldn't get by without the language, I quickly learned to speak it. Of course, the other factor is immersion, which you covered in this article. Now I understand why my French hasn't improved over the years. Some food for thought, hmmm!
It's really hard to create an artificial immersion environment. What works for me (not with French, because I kind of abandoned it a long time ago) is watching movies in the target language with English subtitles (or without if I'm feeling brave:))
Yes! I actually learned conversational American English that way, when I was a college student. Subtitles weren't available on the big screen, so I was forced to learn. I tried that with French TV for a period of time, but without subtitles I was lost, so I reverted back to subtitles and my learning was limited.
I definitely agree that an ‘immersion bubble’ is necessary to truly learn and retain a new language. I made the most progress learning Spanish when I spent 3 weeks in Mexico with my husbands family. (Just me and my 2 kids - he couldn’t go at the time.) I went not knowing ANY Spanish. And they didn’t know any English, either. I learned basic vocabulary and simple sentences quick! And could understand a lot. Since then, I haven’t been able to progress and have lost a lot of what I learned because I’m not really around anyone who speaks it anymore. (My husband works all the time and I only see him a couple hours a day. We should speak only Spanish, but I have no patience when so much needs to be discussed in such short time frames.) My brain definitely does not feel it ‘needs’ to learn it, I suppose. It definitely hasn’t prioritized it. 🫤
Exactly! When you have no choice you learn quickly. Also I'm a little bit jealous of your immersion experience. I need to marry someone urgently whose parents don't speak any of the languages I already know :)
Haha! It’s probably one of the most intense immersion experiences!!
Although, I also spent a month in the wilderness when I was 15 as part of a French voyageur experience and that was pretty intense, too! We were encouraged to speak, sing, and write only in French the entire time. To this day I usually recall French vocabulary and phrases first (when actually trying to learn Spanish). Sometimes I wonder if it would come back if I moved to France. 🥰
And if I could arrange it - a month long immersion in Italy to learn Italian would be next on my list!
Maybe this is why I've been finding it so hard to learn Welsh, despite having lived in Wales - sorry, Cymru - for 5 years! Dwi'n trio ddysgu siarad Cymraeg - I really am!!
You nailed it on the head!! Such a big factor when it comes to motivation, and a crucial factor that I've observed in my own life (being in language communities where I *had* to use my TL).
I'm in need of some more need now. Great essay. Thank you.
Thank you for commenting, Adam!
This makes a lot of sense. I can understand Thai more than I can speak because I'm immersed in it by living in Thailand but it's not a need for me to speak it. I quickly learned to read and write when I was with my ex who couldn't write English, so all our text communication had to be in Thai. My reading, writing, and listening are so much stronger than my speaking.
That's so funny, considering that reading and writing Thai is so much harder (for most people I think) than learning to speak it. And just proves that we'll learn anything if we need it.
Right?! Let's just learn 72 whole new characters that don't resemble anything of the English language... I hadn't actually thought about it so deeply until reading your post, so thank you for bringing the topic to light.
Inspiring, true and even funny!
Wow, Tanya, you’ve forced me to reconsider the moments where I’ve felt a language explosion and you’re absolutely right! It was when I felt the urgency to figure out a new language. It feels like your brain can just take in huge swaths of language and somehow your brain is able to start structuring it. As I was reading, it reminded me of that scene in The Matrix where they download all the information into someone’s brain. Sort of like that but way less intense 😂
Yes! If we feel the urgency we can learn anything. Or at least we can learn much more than if we don't feel the need to do it.
I've always wondered what it was that allowed me to self learn Mandarin for now 6 years straight. In the last year or so I've mostly been maintaining but at the start I was learning it as my only language without a need for it. I never took language classes and I barely spoke with anyone. I just learned for the sake of learning. Maybe my need was to grow my knowledge in general? Or the need to learn something for myself since during those years I was also in university feeling the stresses of academia. That's probably it.
I think you can do it without having the need for it but it takes longer and is harder. You probably created little "need" / "immersion" bubbles for Mandarin without realizing it. Good language resources usually do it for you. But I also relate to the need to invest myself into something to escape the stresses of something else in life.
I actually thought you were going to write about the “need” factor as an urge, a craving. That is what I say when I feel I “need” to go to the forest and walk 10 kilometres and paint, otherwise my brain will explode! :) But I guess it is a different kind of “need”😉
Well, could be both I guess :)