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Oleg's avatar

I think the efficacy of each school of thought depends on the contex you're in. Immersion schools work because you have no other way out except speaking early and speaking a lot. But having a rigid schedule imposed on you helps. Speaking a lot when moving to another country is also what helps recent transplants integrate. Folk in language-heavy college courses learn the language, while understanding the mechanics of the language better. Self-Administered Mass Immersion makes sense if you're not in a hurry to learn a language and you're basically doing it for fun. But that's just my 2 cents :)

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Lou's avatar

Precisely! In the end, it always depends on your goal.

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Eric Wah's avatar

What a great framework!

Looking back, I think I tend to start with approach 2 and then as soon as it becomes too boring, I will blend in approach 3. Then once I’m comfortable, I will introduce approach 1.

They seem to complement each other really well when mixed at different stages.

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Lou's avatar

That makes sense, that's actually the process I'm going through with Korean! It took me more than 3 years to feel comfortable speaking. With languages that are more comfortable for me (Italian is very similar to my native language), I skip the approach 2 altogether and just listen a lot... And speak too early and make lots of mistakes 😁 I wouldn't dare do this with a language that uses honorifics, making a rude mistake is too scary!

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Mar 8, 2024
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Lou's avatar

Any method is fine, but if it gets you closer to your goal it's even better 😊

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