Why Not Vocabulary and Grammar?
Language is not a skill that can be learned....... wait, what?! Yep, you read that right! Humans do NOT learn languages. We acquire them. Language is an instinct, an innate ability that we pick up on naturally because we are human. Language is not something to be learned like math or reading. It is not facts or letter sounds to be memorized.
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When we memorize vocabulary and complete grammar drills, we are learning about the language, not gaining the ability to use it for actual communication. If you want to communicate in a language, you need to practice communicating! Have you ever heard someone say they are bad at learning language? or that they took Spanish for 4 years in high school and still couldn't speak it? Maybe you've said these things about yourself. This happens because all of that class time, or most of it at least, was likely spent learning about the language, not actually acquiring it!
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So, since we can’t learn languages, we can’t teach them! Instead, as 'teachers' we guide you to understanding by creating an environment that allows the student to acquire the language naturally. This is done best through developmentally appropriate authentic communication with a skilled guide who understands how to make language meaningful, engaging and interactive. For very young kids this means complete immersion, however for older children & teens, the research shows that carefully placed English or making note of a grammatical structure can expedite the acquisition process as long as the focus of the lesson remains on authentic communication rather than memorizing the language.
So just how do we acquire language if we can’t learn it or be taught? According to Stephen Krashen (probably the most influential linguist of the past century!), we acquire language when:
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