Second Language Strategies Core Principle: Localized Immersion

Immersion is the best way to learn a new language, there's a secret you need to know

Welcome, aspiring polyglot! While I have touched on the core principles of Second Language Strategies before, over the next few weeks I will be laying them out in no uncertain terms. To start, one of the biggest differences between our approach and that of public education: immersion at home.

Dubbed Localized Immersion, the goal of it all is to ensure you are surrounded by comprehensible input as early and as often as possible. This is not only an effective strategy for getting exposure to your target language in multiple ways, it is also a way to develop new skills as you prepare to step into your new language and new culture.

How can you immerse yourself at home?

When it comes time to add your second language into your home, it can be overwhelming. Mainstream classrooms paste conjugation charts on the wall and do their best to add motivation, but this is rarely going to work long term. Much of second language acquisition is a subconscious process and when you find ways to get exposure throughout the day you will enhance and accelerate your second language acquisition. Here are some easy wins you can start TODAY:

Music

Even if you do not understand the words, simply having the music playing will get your brain moving. As you learn more vocabulary and master more grammatical structures, every play through of the song will result in a deeper understanding of your target language. This is even better if you take the time to sit down and read through the lyrics, translate them, and listen over and over again.

Some of the best music in the world comes in languages that you do not speak natively. If you choose not to look for music in different languages you are setting yourself up for an uphill battle. For more insights on how you can use music to master your new language, check out this article:

It can be difficult to track down music before you speak the language. Should you find yourself in this position, leave a comment below and I will help you track some good tunes down. Fortunately, those who are learning Spanish or French can look into these playlists set up on YouTube:

Spanish Music:

French Music:

Sticky Notes

Another issue with learning a language without leaving your native country is that you need to be seeing it as often as possible. This can be exceedingly difficult to do, but you can remedy it well. Without native speakers at your disposal, you need to find a way to simulate them.

Start this by placing sticky notes on the objects in your house. Learning the nouns that are around you is vital. Once you do that, start adding in verbs and how they interact with those nouns. If there is a note on the door, write the verbs that can be used in conjunction with the door. Open the door, close the door, slam the door, knock on the door, all of these are perfect examples of what you can do.

You will notice, even though the goal is simulating immersion, much of this will involve writing. It is impossible to learn to think in your target language if you are not using it to create. Even if you are only creating sticky notes with one or two words, something is better than nothing every day of the week.

When you develop your communication skills with written language you will notice your ability to recall and speak improves. Foreign languages operate much in the same way as your first language. In order to speak fluidly you need to be able to think in the language.

Books

Reading books will move the needle on your language skills. Language output is important, but when you are reading you will be exposed consistently to new and more complex grammar structures and sentence frames.

When choosing books for comprehensible input, the goal should be difficult enough that you are learning new words, but not so difficult that you struggle to make it through a single page. Making sense of complex writing is great, but sometimes it is nice to have a little breathing room during your second language acquisition.

If you want to make this easier, you can always target the classics. Most of the classics are available as audiobooks on YouTube and other platforms. Reading along with the orator will help you with your listening skills and your reading comprehension simultaneously.

This can make high level comprehensible input more accessible when you are getting started. Not only that, but when you are hearing and seeing words at the same time they are more likely to be committed to your long term memory.

How can you leverage localized immersion in your second language studies?

One of the challenges you will run into while working through this exercise is a lack of resources. When you start you will need a mixture of basic and intermediate comprehensible input. Over time, however, the level of difficulty will need to raise and remain high level.

By the end, the goal is going to be spending at least 5 hours every day exposed to your target language. This is your language barrier and once you are spending that much time around your second language you will bust right through it.

That said, it is not important that you start out with five hours of exposure. Your goal in your self language instruction is to start with the smallest piece and build. Ask yourself earnestly, what is the smallest thing you can do, that you will do, and plan it into your schedule.

Starting with 5 sticky notes is great, but then you must continue on and get to 10 then 20 until your whole home is consumed by your second language. After you can sight read all the words, add the verbs.

The same thing goes for music and books. If you cannot start with a book, start with a song. Lullabies are generally accessible for language learners of any level. Comic books and children's books are also great for beginners because they are designed to be understood by children.

Whether you like it or not, when you are getting started you are going to speak like a child. In order to run, however, you must learn to crawl. How much time you spend in each phase is entirely up to you.

As you get deeper into your second language acquisition you are going to realize just how important resource management is. It is in your best interest to develop a system that is conducive to finding new language inputs on a consistent basis. While it can be fun to return to books and music over time as you understand more and more, consistently refreshing your resource pool will help you stay motivated in the medium and long term.

Ideally, your approach to resource management will include following your interests in each interdisciplinary field. When are working to develop your language skills, diving into topics you are already studying is the perfect approach. There is always more to be discovered. Anything you can Google in your native language you can Google in your target language.

If you are struggling with this, simply translate your Google query and watch as whole worlds are revealed to you. Finally, keep track of these resources. One of the most frustrating things in the world is finding resources that work and input you enjoy only to lose it because you never wrote it down or tracked it. For those who are learning Spanish, you can get our Spanish Language Logbook from Amazon to keep track of all your resources.

Conclusion

Here at Second Language Strategies we have three core principles. This, the first, is Localized Immersion. While the other two will enhance and accelerate your second language acquisition, if you master localized immersion you do not necessarily need them. Over the next few weeks we will dive into each of the core principles to really illuminate precisely how you can use them to learn a second language.

At its base, the language learning process involves the same teaching strategies that are used when learning one's own native language. When you realize how closely related the processes are, you will, hopefully, find renewed determination to develop productive skills in your target language.

Whether you think grammar or vocabulary is more important, you need to focus on both throughout your language learning experience if you want to develop your language skills to be well rounded. Learning a foreign language is no easy feat, it will be difficult irrespective of how you approach it. But you can do difficult things and be great, so continue to do difficult things and be great. I will be here by your side endeavoring to do the same.

Eager for more Second Language Strategies?

Be sure to check out Second Language Strategies to catch up on anything you missed, find me on Twitter, TikTok, or Instagram for some short form content. Don't forget to check out the new stuff we are creating over on YouTube! I look forward to seeing everyone’s progress in the months and years to come.