In-country language learning
Monday, 3rd November 2008
Laura Harrison shares her experiences of how 'total immersion' can be a fantastic way to learn a new language.
Italian was definitely my language learning curve. Having completed a degree in French and German, I was an expert in verb conjugations and writing literature essays. My rise to ‘near native’ speaker in both languages had, although successful, been long and undeniably hand-held.
I had always hankered after learning Italian, but during my formative years had never been presented with the opportunity. Gaining a TEFL certificate and securing a job in Northern Italy gave me the perfect excuse though.
A busy summer prior to my departure meant that my attempts to learn even the basics were pretty feeble. When I arrived though, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could understand at least some of what was going on around me thanks to Italian’s relative similarity to its Gallic cousin.
Communicating with other people myself however, was a whole different ball game. As a linguist and keen conversationalist, I found it extremely frustrating and debilitating not to be able to convey my wishes and thoughts freely, or even at all at the outset.
As they say though, the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself, and this I was able to do. I re-lived the great buzz that comes of being able to go into the local bakery or wine bar and be understood by the staff. Sure, the first couple of times you might be presented with a small bread roll rather than a family-sized loaf as intended, or small glass of an obscure local aperitif as opposed to the cold glass of beer that you had been dreaming of all afternoon, but the key is to keep at it! You’ll get there in the end.
The most experienced of secondary school teachers were far overtaken in the patience stakes by the lady in the local bakery, who every day smiled sweetly and nodded as I commented on either how hot or cold it was today, and asked for the same slice of pizza. It was nice to see that even she was pleased for me when my gormless pointing at the slice in question became accompanied by ‘that one please’, then ‘a slice of that one please’, until finally ‘a slice of the one at the back as usual please’! Yes..in case you’re wondering, I returned from Italy a dress-size larger.
I consider myself very lucky to have been able to learn so many different languages, and in different ways, and would encourage anyone to try as many as possible to see what works best for you. Any chance that you have to go to the country where the language is spoken though, grab it with both hands! It really is priceless.
Tags: italian, tefl, italy, immersion
Posted by Laura Harrison under Types of Courses, Case Studies,
Permalink
