[opsunit]

I had both experiences and found neither valuable. I am in awe of anybody who can learn a foreign language full-stop.

My French teacher fully explained the grammar most of which passed me by since, certainly in my case, one doesn't really rationalise their own language in terms of technicalities.

My German teacher just pitched up on day one and spoke nothing but German. Two years later I was absolutely none the wiser. I could quite honestly have been listening to white noise.

That anybody "picks up" a language is something I am amazed by.

[vidarh]

Immersion requires you to speak, not just listen, and that was key with my second French teacher. Everyone spoke words, and soon sentences in French from day one, even if at first it was badly broken and little more than parroting things back. She kept track - nobody got away without participating. Every lesson. Towards the end of a year of that we went to Paris for a week and spent 5-6 hours every day going out and stopping strangers to have conversations with them about various subjects.

The structure meant both that we were forced to try and that the teacher knew at any point how we were doing.

[kwhitefoot]

> the teacher knew at any point how we were doing

She is an exceptional teacher. If only every teacher were that good, that dedicated.