school can’t teach languages

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, a 19 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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onto today’s topic: school can’t teach languages 🗣️ 

nobody comes out of high school fluent in the language they took courses on for years. at least, i haven’t met anyone that has. yet, people can pick up difficult languages and master them in just 2 years when it’s self-taught

the way school is set up, it can’t teach languages.

it can get away with teaching the same content in the same way to each student for math and science (even then, it’s far from good), but that doesn’t apply to learning how to be fluent in a new language at all.

you’re telling me i took french in school for 8 years and i still can’t call myself fluent? what a joke. 😐️ 

the most school does for you in learning a language is nailing the technicalities of it, because those are objective aspects to pick up via memorization like conjugation rules and vocabulary. fluency, conversational skills, and spontaneity isn’t something that can be memorized. it takes personalized support, experience-based learning, and a lot of engaging practice.

it’s why a lot of the kids that did extended french or french immersion in middle school were a lot more proficient and natural at holding conversations in high school french classes. they didn’t just take a class to learn the language, they learned in that language. they experienced it, and were able to apply it despite the grammar rules or conjugations not always being perfect. 🦜 

for learning a language, that confidence and speaking ability is more important than strictly memorizing vocab. unless you want to be a translator or something, our goal with a new language is typically to hold conversations.

school doesn’t prep you for that.

not to mention, languages are more fun to learn when you do it in a “choose your own adventure” kinda way.

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