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Comment by LeonRobrotsky | Hacker News Reader

> Given the right environment, the brain seems to adapt.

In high school, I had a German immigrant, fresh out of college as an instructor. The moment one stepped into that classroom to the moment one stepped out, nothing but German.

Hell, it didn't stop there. If you tried to talk to him at all, in or out of the classroom, he wouldn't acknowledge you unless you spoke to him in German, and he would only speak German to you.

Strangely enough, the German students were the only ones capable of holding conversation in a foreign language.

I graduated in 2008, haven't 'used' German in 7 years, but I still find myself thinking in German every once in a while.

Immersion (even for ~50min, 5 days a week) is easily the best way to learn. I don't know why anyone wastes their time with anything else.

EDIT: Hah, I just remembered how he never cared that we talked to each other during class about whatever, just that it was in German, not English.

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>Immersion (even for ~50min, 5 days a week) is easily the best way to learn. I don't know why anyone wastes their time with anything else.

I think once you're somewhat proficient in the language, this is true.

I'm currently taking Spanish courses in uni, and my professor is from Cuba. She's the sweetest lady, but has a tendency to ramble off in Spanish. About 50-60% of the time I can (vaguely) follow her, but the rest of the time I'm just hopelessly lost. And judging by the silence the rest of the class has a tendency for, I'm not alone.

Anyway, I'm certainly not trying to counteract your point, just to say that there are steps up to 100% immersion that I feel are necessary.

Yup, and this is especially true of languages that are completely different than your own.

Immersion and osmosis are going to work a whole lot better if you're going from French to Spanish, or English to German, etc. There's enough shared vocabulary and culture that it's easier to make assumptions about the intent of the speaker.

That will not be the case if you're going from English to, say, Korean. Immersion is important for any language learning, but some prerequisite learning is needed to take advantage of it. I think those prerequisites stack up as you move further away from the foundation of your current languages.

Is that really that unusual? All foreign languages are taught this way in German schools.

> Is that really that unusual?

In the US, yes. Or, at the very least, at my high school.

The other classes had weekly vocab quizes and grammar tests, with English instruction, whereas we learned German... in German.

I don't recall my first years in Germany, learning English. Do they really start by speaking English only? And .. I don't know, explaining words by pointing at things etc? I .. don't remember. I do know that most of my English classes were held in English and completely so, but I forgot the beginning..

I spent a year in Israel and wanted to learn the language (spoiler: I failed). The language courses (Ulpan) there started in Hebrew on day one. I knew not a single word. It was pointing at things, using your hands and .. a new language.

I liked the concept and I do like the language, even though I never made it.

Yes they do. Currently at least in NRW English lessons start in 2nd grade of primary school, so we are talking about 6-8 year old children. So you have to keep in mind that they aren't (all) able to fluently read and write in their native language.

Thanks a lot. That's actually the state I live in (and was raised in). Guess I'm clueless, because my little ones are still 4-6 years too young for me to worry or care about those primary school programs. :-)

During my time we started with English in 5th grade/at age 11 I think. And I'm still having trouble believing that these lessons were English only / full immersion right from the start, but .. I wouldn't know anymore, tbh.

Again, thanks for enlightening me.

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