Learning Language the Natural Way

In a world full of myths about learning languages, there are some fundamental truths.
There are two ways to learn a language
we can learn in a language, or we can learn about a language
In is the natural way – just like we learnt our first language
About is the unnatural way – what we call traditional language teaching

Learning in a language enables you to have one unique powerful thinking system
Learning about the language usually means you have two disconnected systems in your brain
One system is additive – the two languages work together
Two systems are subtractive – one language can work against the other
Learning in a language helps you think creatively and develop new ideas
and now, research shows the advantages we experience if we learn language in a natural way

These are how we perceive the world around us and solve problems
how we think more flexibly and deeply
the way we remember things
how we filter and process information
and how we understand, relate to, and communicate with other people

Learning the unnatural way – learning about a language – is now the most common approach in our schools
Learning the natural way – learning real things and language at the same time, has become the signature language learning approach of the 21st century