[17] (Real) Language Immersion At Home

In this episode, I explore why overseas language immersion is so different to doing it at home.

The answer may surprise you.

I take it a step further and actually attempt an experiment to replicate the process of overseas immersion without leaving home.

Summary:

• Simply being in the target language country has very little direct correlation to language immersion.
• The primary factor that makes overseas language immersion so successful is time spent using.
• Listening time does equal usage time.
• Languages I’ve picked up quickly abroad have been the result of me using the language for 5 – 6 hours a day on average.
• In order to replicate this at home, it requires an extremely regimented and exhausting schedule.
• As the day goes on, your mind adjusts more to the language but you fatigue a lot.

Related blog post:

Read the results of my at-home language immersion experiment.

Resources:

For this experiment, I used (and highly recommend) italki.