Raye Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5146 days ago 37 posts - 51 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: DutchB1
| Message 9 of 11 31 March 2011 at 8:00pm | IP Logged |
Abrown wrote:
I have taken 4 years of Spanish which includes 2 semesters of college Spanish. I have also taken Live Mocha's most advanced course and passed with flying colors. But from all of that I have a moderate fluency at best. |
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This is the point where "junior year abroad" was supposed to kick in and give people the finishing touch. Always a bit of a luxury. But if the language is Spanish and you're in the U.S., maybe you can create your own (Internet-enabled) immersion experience.
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amethyst32 Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5641 days ago 118 posts - 198 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, French
| Message 10 of 11 01 April 2011 at 1:25am | IP Logged |
Abrown wrote:
Has anyone else noticed that independent study seems to substantially outclass formal coursework? |
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Definitely! I always felt like I made more progress outside of the (rather pedestrian) Spanish classes that I took last year. Looking back I don't feel as if I really needed them, or that they taught me anything I couldn't have learned more efficiently on my own. I don't mind though because my main reasons for attending the class were for the social aspect and the end certification. With self study I found that it wasn't so easy initially getting started (since Spanish was my first foreign language), but making much faster progress once I got going compensated for the time lost.
Edited by amethyst32 on 01 April 2011 at 1:41am
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Li Fei Pro Member United States Joined 5115 days ago 147 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map
| Message 11 of 11 01 April 2011 at 3:07am | IP Logged |
I enjoy classes and learn the kind of stuff I dislike studying on my own, like grammatical structures. I also get the
chance to practice speaking and listening to a native speaker. Another benefit of classes is that the teacher usually
shares cultural information spontaneously and on an as-needed basis, and that's valuable. Finally, I like classes
because I am not always as motivated as I should be, and the structure of having to attend class helps me get
through a slump. With a hard language like Mandarin, I fear I couldn't get through the rough patches alone.
Even with all of those advantages, however, I learn a lot more on my own, outside of class. In addition to my formal
class that meets 3X per week, I do Pimsleur, lots of SRS, and supplemental reading and listening. That all loops
back to make my work in class that much more stimulating and understandable.
I like the combination of learning tools because I'm easily bored and I feel I need all the variety and support I can
get to insert Mandarin Chinese into this 51-year-old brain.
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