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Living in countries to learn languages | ||
Tags: Living abroad | Immersion | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Neil_UK Tetraglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5196 days ago 50 posts - 64 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Esperanto, Welsh Studies: Polish, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Scottish Gaelic, French | Message 1 of 11 06 February 2012 at 10:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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Has anyone here moved to different countries to learn languages? I am thinking about
doing this. I live in the UK, which although it is a very multi cultural place, I find it limiting in terms of mastering foreign languages. I personally feel that to really master languages, you need to spend time totally immersed in them and live in the countries where they're spoken, so that you're forced to use the language on a daily basis as you go about your everyday life. With that in mind, I am thinking of going to live in every country where the languages I am learning are spoken. I would spend 3 to 6 months, maybe even up to a year, in each country, and then when I feel I've had enough I will move on to another country. I also want to learn about each culture and experience life to the full as well. The idea is to do this for the next 5 to 10 years. I'm in my early 30s, single, and I run several online businesses so I can work from anywhere in the world, and I just feel it's time to do this. I have no real ties here any more. I don't even know why I'm writing this really, I guess I want to know whether anyone else has done this, and how did it work out for you? Should I just go for it? Thanks for your replies. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| 이희선 Groupie Australia Joined 4903 days ago 56 posts - 97 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 11 07 February 2012 at 4:13am | IP Logged | ||
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I moved to a different country for work, and had to learn the language for daily life (but I did have interest in
learning it too), so I had the immersion experience from a beginner's level. While I think there are advantages to moving to an area where the language is used to better learn it, it also has its disadvantages or hindrances that should be recognized. Immersion is not something that happens to you - you have to make it happen. Its not necessarily a magic bullet that will suddenly improve your language skills. As long as you recognize the advantages and disadvantages of "Immersion" and have a good definition of what you want Immersion to be for you and how you are going to achieve it, then yes, it can be a lovely experience. If you have the means to move around and visit all these countries and spend time learning languages, then that sounds very nice. I'm sure many would be jealous of you ^^ 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| zenmonkey Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6486 days ago 803 posts - 1119 votes 1 sounds Speaks: EnglishC2*, Spanish*, French, German Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew | Message 3 of 11 07 February 2012 at 4:51am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, I learned English in the US (at the age of 10). Then French in France (19 years) and now German in Germany ... My other languages are not as solid.
So go and have fun. 3 months might drag out to more, but who cares, enjoy the linguistic voyage, just promise us to keep a journal or post here every once in a while! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6484 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 4 of 11 07 February 2012 at 7:38am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Neil!
I travel the world every year to improve in my languages, usually spending 1-3 months in each country. I posted this in Learning in Spurts It's nice to know someone else is doing something similar to me. Let us know how it goes. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4956 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 11 07 February 2012 at 9:30am | IP Logged | ||
Not yet, but I handed in my notice at work over a week ago, and Im heading dowm to Spain in about a month. Im going to spend as long as I can there , with almost the sole motivation of working on Spanish all day. I will be sure to check back in on this thread and let you know how I do. It would be nice to hear about peoples in country strategies for maximising time spent abroad. I find that common advice on this point often just amounts to "use as little English as possible, and speak to as many people as possible in your target language". Well, I could of worked that out for myself. @ lEOSMITH what do you do to maximise your time spent abroad? Edited by dbag on 07 February 2012 at 9:59am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4956 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 11 07 February 2012 at 10:05am | IP Logged | ||
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Although I have just found a thread about it here : "http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp? TID=29484&PN=1&TPN=1
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| RogerK Triglot Groupie Austria Joined 5009 days ago 92 posts - 181 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian Studies: Portuguese | Message 7 of 11 07 February 2012 at 12:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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I left Australia to learn a foreign language and to experience a different culture in 1994. I landed in Austria and therefore learnt German. What happened? I have since lived in Germany, Australia a couple of times and Italy for a short period but I'm back in Austria now.
I say "go for it". 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6484 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 8 of 11 07 February 2012 at 7:29pm | IP Logged | ||
did you see my link? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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