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Abdicating responsibility for learning

This is quite difficult to say, but it needs to be said.

The biggest danger in taking language classes is that you’re abdicating responsibility for your learning... whether you know it or not.

Earlier, I mentioned the "pay a professional" trap.

Well, here it is, right here.

With many things in life you can "pay a professional" for a solution to your problems (lawyers, cosmetic surgeons, interior designers). There’s therefore a huge temptation for us language learners to think: "Time to get serious, I’ll pay a professional to teach me Spanish for once and for all!", especially if it’s something we haven’t done before or know how to do ourselves.

How you learn languages

What’s the "language learning solution?"

As I said earlier, our common sense tells us that first we need to study the language, and this will then translate into an ability to speak it.

But it’s not that simple. Your proficiency in a language is a result of practical knowledge acquired as a result of the experience of using it, not of being taught how it works in theory.

Again, languages cannot be taught. They can only be learnt.

Einstein understood this, which is why he said: "I never teach my students, only create the conditions in which they can learn."

This is the fundamental difference between teaching and learning.

It doesn’t matter one bit what is taught, only what is learnt.

So go! Attend your class, read your textbook. Learn about the language.

But you will never know how meaningful any of what you learn is until you’ve gone out there, tried it out for yourself and seen if you sink or swim.

And in order to establish all of this, you need to be putting yourself out there and speaking Spanish a lot. Not once or twice. Not from time to time, or whenever the opportunity arises.

A lot. And it’s this necessity to be spending large amounts of time in the company of native speakers that is exceedingly difficult for the language class environment to replicate by itself.

What is a truly great teacher?

OK, Olly. I see what you’re saying. But there must be good teachers out there. How do you know if you’ve found one?

Well, here is the challenge that faces language teachers the world over – the challenge a teacher needs to overcome if they are to be considered truly great.

A great teacher needs to create the conditions in which learners can learn for themselves.

A great teacher needs to encourage the student to behave in ways that they would not otherwise. And it’s got little to do with teaching.

A great teacher often needs to resist the temptation to actually teach.

That’s what Einstein knew.

I believe that what you really need from a teacher is not their "teaching" but their ability to help you reflect on your own learning, what’s been working for you and what hasn’t, and how you can improve faster than you currently are.

If your teacher is great, she would discuss interesting elements of the Spanish language with you, help you solve problems, or answer questions that you bring to the table.

Most valuably, she would pay close attention to your use of Spanish, and help guide you towards noticing new features of the language that you might not have been aware of.

At the same time she would probably act as a counsellor of sorts – reminding you that the various language anxieties that you have are not as catastrophic as they may seem, and what is far more important is your ability to press on with your study in spite of your difficulties.

She would have far more characteristics of a "coach" than a "teacher".

And this relationship between "coach" and student is probably more intimate and close-knit than with a traditional teacher-student relationship, which is more about the imparting of knowledge than the creating of conditions for learning.

More progressive teachers might argue that they can help the learner by creating those conditions for learning during the lesson. In fact, this approach is the foundation of modern communicative language teaching methodology.

Except that it’s a delusion.

A couple of hours per week in a classroom with nine other students is simply not a credible language learning solution, however enlightened the teacher.

Learning should not be seen as what happens in the lesson, but what happens outside. Therefore lessons should be focused on improving what the student can do during the time she is not in class.

Have you found a teacher that can do this?

A teacher that has the skills and the presence of mind to implement it in practice?

I hope you have.

But I think it’s unlikely.

At the heart of my argument is that what is required to effectively teach a student to speak a foreign language well is the ability to help them understand the true nature of the task ahead of them.

It is not going through the motions of teaching with a textbook, handing out grammar exercises, and other "quick wins" that might fit the traditional image of "teaching" but do little to actually improve students’ competence in the language.

Teachers need to help students understand their own weaknesses and how to address them by themselves outside of class... and to be there to coach them through it all.

If your teacher fits the above description, they are worth their weight in gold.

If not, you might want to consider whether your hard-earned money really is best spent in this way.

And this is the major decision you have to make.

Language learning success is yours for the taking!

Language classes can certainly help, and you will undoubtedly learn something in the process.

But you can get most of the benefit of classes by yourself, at home, with a simple textbook and a smattering of motivation.

By making language classes your primary language learning strategy, your biggest risk is abdicating responsibility for your own learning, and in-so-doing fail to learn the big lessons that come from self-directed, independent learning.

The ultimate question for you, as a passionate, aspiring language learner, even if you can justify the cost of lessons, is: Am I really justified in placing the success of my language learning ambitions in the hands of another?

Do you think that language classes are a waste of money? Or do they have a place in your learning strategy?

Original post: http://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/wasting-money-on-language-classes/

Olly Richards, originally from the UK now lives in Cairo, Egypt. He speaks 8 languages and runs the "I Will Teach You A Language" blog where he teaches people the strategies they need to learn another language. http://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/

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