Every person I know will have their own preferences about the best way to go about learning a new language. My wife, for instance, can’t commend her French classes at Alliance Francaise enough; my own experiences, on the other hand, has led me to sing the praises of software-based language training to high heavens.
When you decide to learn a new language, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of choice available. The avenues are definitely aplenty and things can get confusing fast. Each one will have a different approach to the process, implement their own materials and follow their own procedures. Deciding on which one to take can really give you fits.
Consider this list of possible methods:
- situational language learning
- audio-based language learning
- communication-based language learning
- software-based language instruction
- adapting styles based on student’s learning tendencies
- total immersion approach
- simulated immersion approach
Overwhelming, right? And that’s even far from being a comprehensive list. Imagine if you really went out to research them one by one – you’ll probably end up paralyzed with the amount of choices.
So, what’s a confused, novice language learner to do? My suggestion is to try to dabble first, while trying to gauge which approach works best for you. We’re not saying to invest tons of money on everything – far from it. Instead, take a local night class, use a trial software and try some free online materials to see which ones you best respond to. There are many ways to try the different avenues of learning without having to fully commit. Try them out until you find one that fits.