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Progress through an intensive course | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| basica Senior Member Australia Joined 3471 days ago 157 posts - 269 votes  Studies: Serbian | Message 1 of 8 29 March 2015 at 8:34am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi everyone,
I am currently studying Serbian on my own, but I have been toying with the idea of attending an intensive course in the language at the end of the year for a couple weeks. Class time seems to be around 20-30 hours a week depending on the course. I'm wanting to be at around the B1 level before I go there and I'm wondering what I should expect by the time I leave. I realise there are probably few to no people who have done an intensive language course in Serbian, but I would like to hear about the experiences of others who have attended such schools for other languages and whether or not they felt they got a lot out of it and how significant was the progress they made. Thanks, 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4642 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 2 of 8 29 March 2015 at 9:50am | IP Logged | ||
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I have followed an intensive Mandarin course and it was definitely beneficial (I was
about A2 and am now about B1), but you need time to digest. At higher levels, the progress you will make is less noticeable because you have the structures in place already. You can expect to have a good experience and be better than you were before if you put in the work. You will get better especially at some daily interactions. But what level you will be at is anyone's guess and not as much dependent on the course as your interaction and experience. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| basica Senior Member Australia Joined 3471 days ago 157 posts - 269 votes Studies: Serbian | Message 3 of 8 01 April 2015 at 5:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Just realized that I didn't reply to this already, thank you for your input. So what
would you say the benefit is of going to an intensive school vs just being in the country? Like if the times were comparable - how much more bang for your buck so to speak do you think you would get from the course? I realize quantifying these things are hard - if not impossible buy I do appreciate any input you'd be able to give. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4379 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 4 of 8 01 April 2015 at 7:23am | IP Logged | ||
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Exactly what constitute intensive language learning? Some people would consider reading or listening to
language learning materials everyday. I'd also consider watching many hours of TV programs, listening to the radio as having the same effect as long as you make every effort to pick up new words & phrases. Even listening to songs in various languages can be beneficial. I read news online in Chinese and English. Every day I pick up a few new words & phrases and I would look them up. When a news report is in Chinese, I would Copy & Paste characters into a dictionary for a quick lookup. When you are not in a language class, you daily routine would include shopping, reading the newspaper, watch TV, etc. You can set aside a certain number of hours each day doing the same activities but in your target language. Edited by shk00design on 01 April 2015 at 7:25am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4642 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 5 of 8 01 April 2015 at 10:07am | IP Logged | ||
You don't sit at home or walk around, you get some deliberate practice. Are you doing group classes or private tutoring? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| basica Senior Member Australia Joined 3471 days ago 157 posts - 269 votes Studies: Serbian | Message 6 of 8 01 April 2015 at 11:04am | IP Logged | ||
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From what I understand there will be group sessions (up to 10 people). It's done through a university so after
the classes there is organised socialising with Serbian students at the university. There are also excursions and other such things - so there is a lot of human interaction from what I understand. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5310 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 7 of 8 01 April 2015 at 2:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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I did a couple "intense" weeks in Spanish. I did two weeks of 20 hours a week with a private tutor and stayed with a host family. It was definitely worthwhile and I'd recommend it (and I would have done longer if I had the vacation time), but all things considered, it was only 20 hours and was a drop in the bucket in the big picture. If there is a way to go to an immersion school where you have a private tutor that's what I'd recommend. In the Spanish speaking countries that can be done quite cheaply.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4944 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 8 of 8 01 April 2015 at 2:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, my experience is a bit different. The intensive group class was actually the
least useful thing of my stay in Berlin a few years ago. If you can get individual classes instead (which is a more expensive version, true), or at least a really small group, than it should work just fine but being with ten people is useless. You will listen to various non natives instead of natives. Of course it gets better the higher level you and your group are. One of my main troubles was being among higher beginners. I belonged there grammar and vocabulary wise (I really hated myself for not having pushed myself much harder before arival) but they were all much worse at pronunciation and speaking despite them having learnt in country from the beginning while I had been learning on my own with audio. If your classes will include interaction with natives, that in should work fine, if all the students are at least as good as you or better, it should be good. If the pace is fast enough to keep you working on your own as well, it might be extremely beneficial. But if you happen to be among the best in class with no work, it can be extremely demotivating. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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