Recently, there was a debate in the parents’ group for my daughter’s kindergarten. The focus was whether to change the time with the foreign teacher from the current half day to a full day (of course, going full-time would mean paying more tuition).
The parents who proposed the motion naturally hoped their children would spend more time in an English-speaking environment, which should be a great help in learning English.
But how much help can it really be?
I offered a slightly different view in the debate. My point was this: the key to learning a language isn’t how long you’re immersed in it, but whether there’s some problem you have to solve through that foreign language. The most efficient way to learn a language, after all, is to be “backed into it by problems,” or, if you prefer, to use problem-driven learning.
For example, if a child needs to use the bathroom, but can solve the problem without using English (because a life-skills teacher is there to help), then even if a foreign teacher stands beside them talking from the moment they pull down their pants until they finish washing their hands, their foreign language won’t improve much.
That’s also why watching American TV shows for your entire life still won’t teach you English. I once saw someone on Zhihu describe their experience learning English (sorry, I really can’t remember which prominent influencer it was). They said their English listening took a huge leap forward because they spent a year watching American TV shows with English subtitles only.
Can this method work?
Yes.
But the key problem is that if you try this method yourself, you simply won’t be able to stick with it, because you have no compelling reason to do it this way. I guarantee that after a few days, you’ll switch back to Chinese subtitles. The reason that prominent influencer made the method work was that, beyond watching American TV shows, they had some other reason supporting their study—they just didn’t mention it.
It’s not just adults who will never improve by watching American TV shows and Hollywood movies this way. Children won’t improve their English by watching cartoons in English, either. That’s because, in the process, they have no problem that can be solved only by understanding the dialogue. They either have a perfectly good time just watching the pictures, or they get bored and stop watching altogether.
Conversely, if there’s pressure from a problem that can be solved only by understanding a foreign language or communicating in one, language ability may improve at lightning speed. In the kindergarten foreign-teacher situation, the key issue isn’t whether the teacher stays for half a day or a full day. The key issue is whether, in their life and learning at kindergarten, the children have needs that must be met through the foreign teacher. As long as such situations exist, even if there aren’t many of them, the children’s foreign-language ability will improve.
The same principle applies to adults learning English. Many Chinese people studying in the United States can speak remarkably smoothly when talking to a supermarket cashier or giving a presentation in the lab, but become mute in other situations. Isn’t that because, in those first two situations, they couldn’t survive without speaking?
Take improving your English by watching Hollywood movies. If you were now a professional film critic who had to watch a newly released movie in the United States every week and immediately write a review of it to earn enough money for food, then I guarantee that after a year of watching movies this way, your English would change beyond recognition. I believe that prominent influencer also had some reason why, without learning English properly, they’d be completely screwed (though it’s also possible they simply had extraordinary talent and superhuman perseverance).
My own English has improved in three clearly noticeable leaps:
The first: I loved the American TV show LOST so much that I couldn’t wait for the subtitles to come out each week, so I watched it cold. My listening took off—problem-driven learning;
The second: I went abroad as a visiting scholar, and in some situations I couldn’t get through daily life without speaking. My spoken English took off, going from silent English to half-silent English (and now it has fallen back to silent English)—problem-driven learning;
The third: From last year until now, I’ve been working on New Developments in Psychology, forced to read large amounts of foreign-language books, papers, and webpages every day. My reading ability is currently taking off—still problem-driven learning.
So, are you learning a foreign language right now? Are you learning through problems? Or do you have some other brilliant trick? Leave a comment and let’s compare notes.
Note
- This series of articles, Short Lessons on New Developments in Psychology, was written at the time to accompany related popular-science articles and casual essays for Zhichao Wei: New Developments in Psychology. They were published on the now-shut-down platform Fatuan; the original link no longer exists.
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