5 Ways to Acquire Foreign Language

At some point in their academic life, all students feel the pressure of learning different sets of verbs and their conjugations, grammatical rules, and practice-scenarios. It is not uncommon to have heard of a friend who felt so anxious with the workload that they decided to withdraw from a language course altogether. This doesn’t have to happen that way. There is a better way to easily speak and understand other languages.

It’s time to meet Comprehensible Input - a theory and method for teaching and learning language using messages you understand but that also have enough unknown content for you to push through your limits. In this blog, you will learn the fundamentals of language acquisition to better understand key language-learning concepts and to support your language learning journey!

Below are five ways you can put this theory into practice!

1. Understanding Language Acquisition Basics

Imagine this scenario: you go to a market in a foreign country and you have items in your bag. You walk up to the register to check out. You know you don’t speak their language, but you know you’re likely going to hear numbers related to the cost of the individual foods and the total cost. Over time, you pick up on the words the cashier uses when checking out, and that’s where your journey begins. 

In situations like this encounter, there is enough unknown material that you see yourself challenged and compelled to find out what the missing words are and fill in the blanks every time you go back to the store. You are acquiring the building blocks of a foreign language without even trying. According to the creator of the theory of Comprehensible Input, Stephen Krashen, people don’t learn a language, they acquire it. You spontaneously spoke your first language when you were young. Learning and acquiring are different concepts, and you’ll see how.

Music is a great way to interact with a new language and learn about a new culture!

2. Less Grammar Focus

We’ve all spent endless hours racking our brains over grammar. At some point, all of us have tried to remember that table with the rules of the subjunctive form of Spanish verbs so then we can move on to burning the words belonging to that particular conjugation into our minds. All to wonder why that test was so hard to do while we learned the lyrics to Despacito after a night at the party without breaking a -mental- sweat. 

If your goal is to acquire a language and become proficient in it, Comprehensible Input may be a more efficient way of starting to do it. Once you are able to understand a sizable amount of your target language, studying its grammar may help you understand why things are said the way they are. Grammar instruction then gives you a deeper understanding of language, for example, why the verb to be in English has two separate verbs in Spanish, ser y estar and how this changes the way people think.

3. Language in Motion - Acquisition through Context

Acquisition is a subconscious process that happens when you understand the meaning of something. Your brain then starts associating what you see, hear or read to what you understand. If I tell you a story that resembles one you already know, but change the name of the characters, chances are you will remember the names of the new characters, because you already understand the context of the story. 

The process for language acquisition is the same. I can start drawing on a blackboard, describing what I am drawing in another language, but as soon as you figure out I am drawing a face, you will quickly associate the facial features with the words I am saying at the time I am drawing them. Your curiosity is focusing your attention on figuring out what I am doing, but your subconscious is already making the connections and saving those new words for later use. 

This is why Comprehensible Input works so great because you focus on the images and concepts you are relatable. At the same time, you can find yourself so puzzled by the things you don’t know, that you feel compelled to find out what more lies there. Before you know it, new words and phrases start to naturally make sense in your mind.

4. Infuse Your Passions to Activate the Language 

Through our experiential learning programs, students learn words, concepts and new ideas!

Take advantage of the things you enjoy. Our electronic devices are built with the goal of consuming content. Use your device as a tool. The next time you jump onto Netflix and watch your favorite movie, but this time set both the audio and subtitles to the language you want to learn.

If you enjoy cooking, why not look for a YouTube video of a foreign meal you always wanted to try? You already know most cooking shows list their ingredients first, then move on to the instructions, so use that to your advantage to associate what you see with what you hear.

You must have fun doing this, and if the method you are using right now does not inspire or compel you to continue, don’t be afraid to change it into something you can’t wait to do.

5. Building Language Through Daily Interactions 

Comprehensible Input shows students who might struggle with classic methods of classroom teaching and learning to rather focus on how to naturally pick up the language. For example, language acquisition in children happens spontaneously through play, daily life, listening to their parents, songs, stories. The next time you are feeling anxious or frustrated about that chart with verbs you need to learn, put the dictionary down for a moment and find another fun way to activate the language.

Have you tried using Comprehensible Input? Connect with us on social media below and tell us about your experience! You can also check out our blog post on Four Tips for Embracing the Language Learning Journey.