Coffee Shop, Learning Resource Centre, Edge Hill University (Photo credit: jisc_infonet)
Learn the language in the country where it is widely spoken. That has been our encouragement, recommendation, and if allowed, a command to a learner who is learning a foreign language. I have been repetitive to say that there are endless learning methods a learner can apply, but as far as natural effectiveness are concerned; immersion is so far the most effective methods to learn a new language.
If you are a native Chinese, Japanese, or even an Arabian native, to study English abroad is the best option. Why? Because if you settle on audio lessons or internet resources, you will not maximize your learning to the fullest. It will only give you half-way of the whole learning process. Thanks to the audio and internet resources, alright, but if you want to learn the language’s correct pronunciation, it’s better to be immersed.
Immersion even has a current study made, as of the reports from The New York Times posted recently by Sindya N. Bhanoo. According to the study, “it is possible for adults to process a language the same way a native speaker does. And over time, the processing improves even when the skill goes unused.”
The study was made as the scientists involved used an artificial language of 13 words, and these languages dealt with pieces and moves in a computer game, and the researchers tested proficiency by asking test subjects to play the game. Quoting what the news posted, “the subjects were split into two groups. One group studied the language in a formal classroom setting, while the other was trained through immersion. After five months, both groups retained the language even though they had not used it at all, and both displayed brain processing similar to that of a native speaker. But the immersion group displayed the full brain patterns of a native speaker.”
See how studies can prove that immersion is indeed effective for a learning method? So if you wanted to be fluent with the target language you are interested to learn, take some foreign language courses in the country where your target language is being spoken and be immersed!