Perhaps you will find this experiment interesting. Can a young adult in one year learn English to a near native C1 if the starting level was A1 ? Yes, most can do it if the conditions are right. And it's well documented. Here is the complete story. I had spent 7 years learning English the conventional way (grammar, translation), some in school and some as individual hobby. And even though I did well in school, realistically my final level was barely a beginner. (A1-A2, as was confirmed by the lowest TOEFL score possible) This was before the Internet, so my choices were limited. Then as a 19 year old I was a part of this experiment. I was placed in a US MILITARY academy with very strict guidelines. Foreign students were only allowed to use English. Native language (Slavic) WAS NOT ALLOWED, it was absolute 100% immersion environment 24/7. (Kinda similar to Middlebury Language school or French Foreign Legion approach) And even though I was already an adult, I learned a second language to a near native level within a year. I could physically feel the development of a second language. After 3 months i was thinking in L2 full time, i had near native listening comprehension in 6 months. And obviously i wasn't studying a second language exclusively, I was learning science, engineering, humanities, doing sports. I was having a rich learning experience while acquiring a second language at a rate that seemed magical. There are very important conditions that allow adults to learn on par with immigrant kids. One condition really. Temporarily abstain from native language and dedicate all the remaining time to a second language. Regarding deliberate study of GRAMMAR. Nobody was teaching me any of that. Well, I had a tutor for a few sessions, but then a school decided to forgo tutoring because our progress was too fast to keep track of. Yes, our progress, because there were 5 of us. And we all exhibited remarkable rates of improvement. We were separated to different battalions (dorms) and we weren't allowed to communicate. As far as explicit knowledge of L2 grammar, I FORGOT everything I knew as a beginner. I ACQUIRED grammar the same way native speakers do and I was reasonably grammatically correct. A Grammatically correct sentence SOUNDS right, incorrect sounds funny. I don't know much of the textbook grammar explanations. That being said, studying English grammar ENTIRELY in English when you are progressing to intermediate could be a USEFUL tool, though not entirely necessary. Studying L2 grammar (or vocabulary) using native language is very INEFFICIENT. The GOAL for any beginner should be to reach a level where monolingual L2 acquisition is possible.
Thanks for sharing your experience with English! I agree with you about direct/explicit grammar study, and that in certain circumstances, progress can be quite fast.
Perhaps you will find this experiment interesting.
Can a young adult in one year learn English to a near native C1 if the starting level was A1 ?
Yes, most can do it if the conditions are right.
And it's well documented.
Here is the complete story.
I had spent 7 years learning English the conventional way (grammar, translation), some in school and some as individual hobby.
And even though I did well in school, realistically my final level was barely a beginner. (A1-A2, as was confirmed by the lowest TOEFL score possible)
This was before the Internet, so my choices were limited.
Then as a 19 year old I was a part of this experiment.
I was placed in a US MILITARY academy with very strict guidelines.
Foreign students were only allowed to use English.
Native language (Slavic) WAS NOT ALLOWED, it was absolute 100% immersion environment 24/7.
(Kinda similar to Middlebury Language school or French Foreign Legion approach)
And even though I was already an adult, I learned a second language to a near native level within a year.
I could physically feel the development of a second language.
After 3 months i was thinking in L2 full time, i had near native listening comprehension in 6 months.
And obviously i wasn't studying a second language exclusively, I was learning science, engineering, humanities, doing sports. I was having a rich learning experience while acquiring a second language at a rate that seemed magical.
There are very important conditions that allow adults to learn on par with immigrant kids.
One condition really.
Temporarily abstain from native language and dedicate all the remaining time to a second language.
Regarding deliberate study of GRAMMAR.
Nobody was teaching me any of that.
Well, I had a tutor for a few sessions, but then a school decided to forgo tutoring because our progress was too fast to keep track of.
Yes, our progress, because there were 5 of us. And we all exhibited remarkable rates of improvement.
We were separated to different battalions (dorms) and we weren't allowed to communicate.
As far as explicit knowledge of L2 grammar, I FORGOT everything I knew as a beginner.
I ACQUIRED grammar the same way native speakers do and I was reasonably grammatically correct.
A Grammatically correct sentence SOUNDS right, incorrect sounds funny.
I don't know much of the textbook grammar explanations.
That being said, studying English grammar ENTIRELY in English when you are progressing to intermediate could be a USEFUL tool, though not entirely necessary.
Studying L2 grammar (or vocabulary) using native language is very INEFFICIENT.
The GOAL for any beginner should be to reach a level where monolingual L2 acquisition is possible.
Thanks for sharing your experience with English! I agree with you about direct/explicit grammar study, and that in certain circumstances, progress can be quite fast.