Misconceptions
MYTH: If I go to x country, I will become conversational/fluent in that language (without studying)
REALITY 1: If I go to that country WITHOUT studying the language at all, I will probably pick up some basic vocabulary, phrases, and greetings at best (unless you are amazing at language acquisition). You will most likely STILL be lost in translation later on.
REALITY 2: If I go to that country and actively study while I am there, YES it is much quicker to learn that language through immersion.
I think a common misconception is this person went to this country and now speaks that language just by living there.
CORRECTION: This person went to this country, probably studied quite hard, and now can speak the language.
My Experience: I went to Tokyo, Japan on study abroad with about 5-6 months of college-level Japanese under my belt. Initially I thought, “I got this”, like I studied hard/know the basics already. Reality was I was so confused when I first arrived. It was as if everything I studied from the textbook render almost useless in daily life. For example, I hadn’t even heard the term, 敬語 (keigo), until arriving and sitting down at the restaurant and wondering why I can’t understand the waiter.
To be honest, at first it made me quite frustrated because I thought “I studied, but I still don’t understand anything” type of feeling. But after 2 weeks of self-doubt, I decided to change my mindset. I was already enrolled in a language class in school, but I decided to focus on immersive learning outside the class in the real world.
I want to share 5 methods with some examples/hindsight that helped me. This is my personal experience with learning Japanese, but I think it can help in any foreign language.
Immersion Methods
Method 1: Write down or take a picture of all the recurring words or phrases you don’t know in a notebook or on your phone that you see in your everyday life.
For example: At the convenience store – I love oolong tea, so I quickly learned the kanji 烏龍茶. I also often bought milk too for my coffee, so I learned 牛乳. It’s surprisingly easy to pick up words for food and drinks that you buy constantly, or order at restaurants or cafes. You can also use the Google Translate camera app to scan labels or signs and translate them.
Method 2: Actually try to listen to the audio and sounds of Japan (instead of waiting for the English or zoning out).
For example: When you ride the trains in Tokyo, you are constantly listening to the train PAs, absorbing that audio information. They say it in Japanese first and then repeat in English (JR lines). By listening to it so often, you memorize and learn it without even actively studying it. You can then test yourself to see if you understand it before the English PA plays.
Method 3: Talk to anyone and everyone
For example: I think this is self-explanatory, but if you are uncomfortable/afraid of speaking to natives at first, what actually helped me greatly was speaking to my fellow study abroad friends who were also studying the language. I was getting quizzed and learning from friends who had a higher level of fluency, and also teaching phrases to those who had a lower level. They say you truly know something when you can teach it to others.
Also, my university indirectly facilitated the immersion aspect because the school staff didn’t speak English, so in the cafeteria, you had to either point or learn how to read the menu and order food.
Method 4: Go out on your own.
For example: I love traveling and taking photos, but many places I wanted to take photos were places that my friends were not interested in, therefore I went alone (traveling solo in Japan is completely safe). When you go with others, you tend to rely on the person with the best speaking or navigation skills (which I am neither). But by going out on my own, I was forced to learn the train routes and ask for help when I needed it. When you only have yourself (and Google) to rely on, you surprisingly pick up things quite quickly.
Method 5: Keep an open mindset and don’t get defensive in language learning
For example: There was a girl on my program who accidentally drank alcohol, so I said look for this kanji お酒 to avoid it, and she became irritated saying “I can’t read it, so how can I memorize it?” But you don’t need to know how to read it, just know what it looks like (like a picture). So when you go abroad and if someone corrects you whether it be a native or a student/coworker, they are prob not trying to insult your intelligence or shove their knowledge in your face. Usually they are just trying to be helpful. Take the advice.
Summary
Immersion works incredibly well if you actively use it. If you only speak in your native language with friends or don’t go out on your own, it probably won’t work as well. Bottom line is you can’t learn languages through osmosis like babies. So as an adult, you have to put in the effort, but the reward is amazing.
Disclaimer: I am not fluent by any means, but I want to share some tops that helped be. Let’s be kind to each other’s language learning journeys.
𝗙𝗬𝗜: 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 + 𝘝𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘦/𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘙𝘠 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺.
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