Table of content:
Introduction (the benefits)
My experience
The Secret
The Language Project (link to the website)
Introduction (The benefits)
There is no doubt that picking up a foreign language can greatly benefit you. It’s 2022, and our world has evolved towards an internationally bounded system, where crossing nations and languages has become a necessity. Not only do languages increase your cultural awareness and sharpen your cognitive skills, but they also open exciting opportunities you'd have missed otherwise, whether it be within the job market, or meeting new people. Although the importance of language learning has been fostered within us ever since primary school, I am sure we’ve all experienced hiccups when learning a new language.
My Experience
I took Spanish as an additional class for 3 years in middle school. In a small class of Español rookies, we mainly stuck to the basics. The homework, projects, quizzes, and tests were all a breeze. It was only after I tried talking with native Spanish friends that I realized how restricted my “Textbook Spanish” was in application to real-life situations. Conjugation, grammar, and memorized vocabulary can only get you so far, and this is a universal struggle. Language learners need to develop verbal fluency and oral confidence, and this cannot be achieved from Duolingo or the basic classroom curriculums.
The Secret
Solely relying on classes, textbooks, or an app is ineffective when it comes to language learning. It has been scientifically proven that the key to learning a language is to fully immerse yourself in the language!
Receptive bilingualism (being able to understand but not speak a language), is very common when learning a language and occurs due to a lack of practice. To counter this, you have to work on your pronunciation and oral proficiency. Mistakes will be inevitable, but they'll make you focus on your weaknesses and push you to improve and watch out for what not to do in the future.
Additionally, communicating with natives builds your confidence and eloquence. By surrounding yourself with a circle of friends that speak your target language, you constantly engage with the language, which makes it imperative for you to pick up native slang and colloquial terms and forces you to figure out a way to get to your point without google translate. These small differences enable you to progress much further on a daily basis. This is why student exchange programs are so popular. They are an incredibly rewarding and culturally enriching experience that exponentially improves your language skills
The Language Project
Obviously, most teenagers don’t have an exchange program ready at their fingertips – especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet throughout the pandemic we have seen extraordinary online innovations that have brought untold experiences into our homes through our computers. Amongst this sea of innovations, my friends and I created The Language Project to bring the interactive art of learning a language straight to you.
The Language Project is an online language mentoring platform where students from around the world mentor fellow students in English, French, Spanish, Mandarin, and Japanese, for free.
The Language Project focuses on speaking and verbal communication skills instead of grammar and vocabulary that schools drill and emphasize, in order to develop a cultural connection with a language. I am currently learning Spanish and teaching Mandarin with The Language Project. I deeply enjoy being able to share my love for learning and cultures with students from across the globe.
Sessions are 40 minutes weekly and are flexible to accommodate the busy schedule of students. Lessons cover a wide range of relevant topics, from global issues to daily conversations, and are tailored to effectively engage learners with the language.
Languages are such valuable treasures to the world. Languages are what connect us and shape our identity.
As Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart”.
Sign up on our website to be a language student or teacher on The Language Project!
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