Article in English/ Spanish

We know that the ideal way for your Spanish language level (your target language) to succeed is by linguistic immersion. What do you know about linguistic immersion? You will be able to say that your getaway was a success if you optimize your chances by living with a host family, making Spanish friends, visiting some typical/ historic sites, speaking Spanish and avoiding as much as possible your own mother tongue. Perfect, but  there is still room for improvement, that’s why throughout these lines I’d like to improve your cultural expectations. Here you have a little help!

One simple strategy to help you achieve your goals abroad is motivation. The science of motivation when learning a second language makes a big difference. A motivated learner might want to step to a higher language level because he has fallen in love with someone who speaks only the language you want to learn and not yours. Or someone who is planning to start again from scratch in another country and needs to understand the language and local customs. Or  a couple who might want their children to learn a second language. Maybe the motivated ones are just aware of the cognitive and social advantages of being bilingual and develop that extra interest.

When someone «dives into the idiomatic sea of distant countries«, normally feels an affinity for it, he wants to know people who speak that language, see how they live and live that life as well. To be part of their culture, politics, music, nightlife, history… there are as many reasons as individuals.

Take your time and explore your aptitudes through an open mind to motivate yourself (and even the others) and think about how good is going to be to master a new language.

The dynamic and contagious motivation leads us to its counterpart. The autopilot version of language learning: flow to speak fluently.

Have you ever been sat on the train, in a coffee or even in the supermarket queue to experience that kind of temporarily absence in which you are half down here and half (or totally) up in the stratosphere? Me too. Even in that situations your mind is receiving external stimuli -luckily for the daydreamer- codified in your target language.

If you have plenty of time abroad or you are not in a hurry (I understand this is not the case for everybody) maybe you’d like to let yourself go and enjoy things just as they come, I mean, to try to be as much receptive as you can to all that happens around you without «turning the machine on». Fill and soak yourself with the world around you. We believe that learning a language has to be something attractive and enjoyable. This «slow food» vision of language learning pays attention to the little details in the student’s daily life: what you can see in a shop window or read in magazines, the conversations and radio stations you listen to, the galleries you visit or the concerts you go.

Language is everywhere and you don’t have to go running to trap it. Let the pieces of the language jigsaw puzzle put together by showing interest, not pressure, because they will finally be part of «your» dictionary and therefore of your speech.

Think like us. This fact has to do with interculturality rather than personality.

International students will experience differences between Spanish culture and theirs. At Syllabus we believe that cultures have to be including, that is to say, they (their citizens) must help and make it easy to the newcomer. The «host»,  if I may put it like that, has it easier than the «guest», understandably, but the guest who is going to perceive all that contrasts, has to do an effort to understand and respect the values, norms, beliefs, laws, rules, gender roles and status of the country of destination.

When in doubt, place yourself in the position of the local and imagine what he would do in that particular «tricky situation». They will appreciate it and it will score points on your behalf.

Interculturality is about interaction and respect. It enriches culture and creativity and puts the best of one’s culture into another.

Perhaps one day you look back and think to yourself: I came to improve my Spanish because I wanted to get the DELE certificate and it has been four years since I landed here. That’s because you are happily trapped.

This situation is fairly typical, partly because you might have found a better life than the one you left behind or because this country – which you probably knew little about – surprised you so much that you couldn’t help to keep on exploring it.

If you have experienced this natural long-lasting attraction for the unknown country when travelled abroad, you already know about the three first items above which make this phenomenon the most enviable way of being happily immersed in the language.

From a practical social and linguistic view, there are rare few who don’t end up sounding just like native speakers and living an authentic local life.

Ah! and don’t forget to enjoy it. In a way this is just another game where learning languages doesn’t necessarily have to be a boring difficult task. The world of education has changed completely in the last two decades turning its obsolete methods into real and practical activity. Classrooms haven’t got four walls anymore, they are now the extension that surrounds you 24 hours a day and specially during the class time where you are the main character willing to acquire knowledge.

Make it funny. We know that the brain assimilates information faster and better when we are in a good mood.

Syllabus is the young Spanish school for the people who ♥ Spanish

¡No te lo pienses y lánzate!

Article in Spanish/ English

He sido siempre un gran defensor de la fórmula “1º gramática y después inmersión” en cualquiera de sus formas y siempre que se pueda cuando se trata de aprender un idioma.

Un previo conocimiento linguístico antes de la llegada al país elegido significa, a parte de un colchón gramatical básico, la tranquilidad y confianza en ti mismo que vas a necesitar ya sea en Berlín, Sevilla, París o Londres.

La mayoría de nosotros antes de zambullirnos en el mar de las expresiones de los países de ultramar, queremos hacer unos largos en la piscina de casa para poder lidiar con las embestidas conversacionales que aparezcan en nuestro camino. Eso es lo ideal, viajar con los deberes hechos, de esta manera verás como las tapas en el Barrio de las Letras de Madrid o una pizza en la plaza italiana Campo di Fiori te sabrán mucho mejor.

Algo tan puramente cultural no se puede separar de la lengua, aunque se sabe que hay barreras (obstáculos como el tiempo o el dinero) que evitan que nos realicemos como hablantes en el país extranjero.

Aquí tienes unos consejos útiles (espero que te ayuden igual que me ayudaron a mi) antes de que hagas el petate:

1. Revistas: tendrás un hobby, seguro, algo sobre lo que te guste leer de vez en cuando. ¡Busca esas revistas en tu lengua meta!

2. En el cine: seguro que lo has intentado y no hay duda de que lo volverás a hacer, porque funciona. El reciente ajetreo de los Oscars es un buen recordatorio de como ver tus títulos preferidos en la lengua extranjera, mejora las 4 destrezas básicas del lenguaje: tu audición y habla y por tanto tu escritura y lectura.

3. La red: navegar y buscar en internet es parte de nuestra vida, admitámoslo: compras, viajes, música, noticias… busquémoslas en español, alemán, chino o inglés para ir familiarizándonos con algo que se ha vuelto esencial.

Por suerte, de entre todas las posibilidades que el sistema de enseñanza ofrece, una muy convincente es la propuesta online de Linguistadores y su visión multifacética para alcanzar la lengua meta.

Todas las opciones son tan válidas como complemetarias, la clave está en la continuidad y en elegir una escuela responsable.

A QUICK LOOK AT LINGUISTIC INMERSION AND ONLINE LEARNING

I’ve always been a great supporter of the “1st grammar and then immersion” formula, in any form, when it comes to learning a language.

A bit of linguistic knowledge prior to arrival in the chosen country means, apart from an essential grammatical cushion, the tranquility and confidence in yourself that you will need in either Berlin, Seville, Paris or London.

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