Just say it like you think it

Tamil language education still going strong

There are many ways to teach and learn a language. Some insist on 100% immersion into the language without the use of any other language to explain the words or grammar. The theory is that if you get thrown into the deep end of the pool, you will somehow learn to swim to survive.

Others say that you learn best when everything in the new language is explained using your native language, so you fully understand what is going on and how the new language works. Some disagree with this method, saying that you end up not learning anything because you rely entirely on your native language, using it as a crutch to fall back on too often.

The article above is a study of school children learning Tamil, a Southern Indian language. Both the theories I stated earlier are shown to be wrong. School children in Singapore are taught Tamil as a second language. They may get stuck on a word, but if they use English, Chinese or Malay to fill in the blank, they are not penalised. In reality, the children end up learning and speaking more Tamil this way than if they were forced to speak only Tamil. I think the children get excited if they are given a chance to express themselves without fear of being reprimanded if they make a mistake or use a foreign word in a sentence. After all, it is better for them to speak up than not at all.

I tell all my students who are learning any language that they need to have "thick skin" to learn. Go ahead and keep talking. Don't be afraid of saying the wrong thing. Someone will correct you along the way, and you learn something new very quickly. Say it in the way you think is right, mixed with other languages. You will learn very quickly.

Have fun learning languages!

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