Welcome to the Listening Time podcast.
Hey everybody, this is Connor and you're listening to episode 119 of the Listening Time podcast.
Today we're going to talk a little bit about studying English abroad.
So this is a topic that I think will be interesting for most of you, if not all of you, because you're all learning English and you might have the idea or the desire to do some type of language exchange program where you go to the US or Canada or Ireland or wherever, to study English and stay there for a while.
I know that many people have that idea and they think that it will be good for their language learning and give them a good boost.
So I'm sure you'll find this topic interesting.
I'll talk about that, and I'll talk about how it could be beneficial for you to study English abroad, but I'll also talk about some of the traps, some of the things that might not be beneficial for you regarding studying English abroad.
And I'll also talk about my own language exchange program that I did to study Spanish, like 10 years ago, a long time ago.
I'll talk about my experience as well doing an exchange program like that.
So this should be interesting.
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All right, let's get started.
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Okay, let's talk about studying English abroad.
So first, let's talk about the immersion aspect of this.
Immersion refers to when you are completely surrounded by something.
You are like inside that environment.
So, when talking about language learning, we might use the word immersion to talk about surrounding yourself by the language.
So having the language around you all throughout the day.
So this is maybe the number one reason why people want to study languages abroad, in countries where they speak that language because you get this immersion, you're completely surrounded by the language all day, If you do it right.
Of course, some people they don't do this correctly and they go to another country, but they end up making friends with people from their own country.
And then they're not really immersed in the foreign language.
So it doesn't always happen the right way, but if you want to immerse yourself in English, for example, You can make the effort to do that if you study English in the US or in another English-speaking country.
So if you do this part correctly, it's great, because it gives you much more exposure to the language than if you were just at home in your home country.
By the way, the word exposure refers to being around something, having the experience with something.
So if you have exposure to English, that means you encounter English, you have experience with it, you hear it around you.
So getting this exposure is one of the main reasons why studying abroad can be very useful for you.
So you can, of course, immerse yourself in your home country.
If you're constantly listening to English, you spend many hours with the language.
You can get a great immersive experience because of technology, because we can just put our headphones in and listen to podcasts like this one, for example.
But of course if you're in another country that speaks English, then it adds another level to the immersion.
Because when you go outside and you're walking down the street, the people around you are also speaking English.
That's another layer of immersion.
And one of the cool things about going to another country to learn English, for example, is that you will encounter certain situations and certain vocabulary that is related to those situations that you won't encounter if you don't go to a country where they speak that language.
So, for example, when I studied in Mexico, there were many situations that I wouldn't have had in the US, but I had them in Mexico and they taught me very particular vocabulary, words and phrases that I probably wouldn't have learned if I hadn't gone to Mexico recently.
I went down to Tijuana with some people here in the US that are Hispanic.
They're Spanish speakers.
Their parents were from either Mexico or other Latin American countries, but they had never lived in Mexico.
And it was interesting because I have lived in Mexico, but I'm not a native speaker like they are.
However, there were many, many words and phrases that I know, that they don't know because they haven't lived in Mexico and so they don't know the particular vocabulary, the special phrases that we use in different situations, for example.
So that's a good example of how studying abroad can give you very useful vocabulary that you won't learn if you don't go there.
So that's a great benefit.
And, in general, being in that new country will just give you tons of opportunities to learn new words, to absorb things, to just get a lot of great input.
Remember that when talking about language learning, input refers to things that you hear or that you read.
And according to my philosophy of language learning, input is the key to acquiring a language.
You need tons and tons of input And you want that input to be meaningful.
And this is another great thing about studying abroad is that you can get some really meaningful input because you can make friends with people in that country.
You can encounter many really interesting things, interesting experiences that will make your brain interested in trying to decipher the meaning of what is being said.
The word decipher refers to solving some challenging mystery or puzzle, something that you don't understand.
So if you can't understand what's being said, your brain might try to decipher the words, to try to figure out what those words mean.
When you're studying abroad, you can really get your brain in that mode to want to understand the language that is spoken around you.
When you're in this environment where you have to survive, in another country where they speak a foreign language, it can encourage your brain to be more focused on seeking the meaning of what is being said.
And that's a great thing about the immersive experience of studying English in the US or another English-speaking country.
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So, in terms of experience with the immersion aspect, when I went abroad, when I studied Spanish in Mexico well, I made a lot of friends there and I really connected with different people and I had a thriving social life for those weeks that I was there.
This just means that you have a social life that is doing very well.
You have a lot of social activities and events and good relationships, etc.
So because of that, this immersive experience really helped me with my Spanish, because all of my interactions with these different people were meaningful for me.
My brain really wanted to decipher what these people were saying to me in Spanish.
I really wanted to understand them and communicate with them.
And this really helped me advance more quickly than in a normal situation.
And so, in terms of the immersion, it's really important to do it the right way and not just expect that you're going to be like a sponge and just absorb everything automatically.
You have to really try to be engaged with your surroundings and try to encourage your brain to seek meaning.
Because I know many people that don't do that and they live in foreign countries and they can't speak the language even after many years of living there, because they expected to just absorb the language like a sponge, without the effort, without trying to engage themselves and really seek meaning and try to really focus on getting the language in their brain.
So that's something that I want to advise you is to not just expect that you're going to absorb the language automatically.
If you study English in the US, for example, you have to seek that meaning and try to be really engaged with your surroundings.
And now let's talk about the homestay option of studying English abroad.
So some people when they do a language exchange program they might just stay at a hotel or a hostel or something like that.
However, there's another option when it comes to doing language exchange programs, and that is the homestay option.
A lot of language schools will provide this option to you to stay with a local family, and in my opinion, this is the best way to do a study abroad program.
So i did this and it was very helpful for me, and i think that if you're considering studying english abroad, This is something to consider as well, because this will give you very meaningful immersion.
It will provide you the situation that the context that you need to actually engage people in conversation and have very meaningful input, because when you stay with a family, they will talk to you.
That's what happens.
And if you're very open to this interaction, then they'll talk a lot to you many times.
So that can be a great source of input, and a very meaningful source of input, because you're not just talking to a random person at the grocery store or a waiter at a restaurant.
You're actually living with these people and you're probably more interested in talking to them in a deeper way and exploring more interesting conversation topics.
So this provides you with a great context, a great environment in which you can practice your English and receive really meaningful input.
And I would also advise you to try to have a good sense of humor when you do these homestay programs.
Be willing to laugh at yourself when you make mistakes or when you misunderstand the person who's talking to you.
Be willing to kind of drop your ego and just laugh at yourself and have a good sense of humor.
And your host family will see this and they will want to talk to you more and they'll want to engage more with you and you'll have a better time.
Because if you're really uptight and you don't want to make mistakes, then it will be harder for you to develop a good connection relationship with your host family.
By the way, the word uptight can be used to describe someone who's not very easygoing or relaxed.
A person who is uptight is more strict and they don't want to laugh a lot or be really relaxed around other people.
So with your host family, you want to invite them to talk to you a lot and engage with you if you're really uptight, then they might avoid you.
They might not want to talk to you that much because they might feel like you're not comfortable speaking English with them and they won't want to bother you or make you feel uncomfortable, right?
So try to have a good sense of humor and be willing to interact with them and not care about the mistakes and the misunderstandings and just invite that conversation, that engagement.
When I studied Spanish in Mexico, I stayed with an older couple And at the beginning it was awful because I couldn't understand anything they were saying.
But then I kind of convinced myself that I didn't need to be so critical of my Spanish level.
And so I kind of stopped being so nervous and I tried to be more easygoing and And it really helped me start to have meaningful interactions with them.
And we started talking more and we had a great time together.
And I learned a lot of words and phrases from them, especially because I
We kind of had a routine.
We would eat meals together every day.
And so there were always words and phrases that were repeated every day, during breakfast or whatever, because we had this routine.
We were doing the same thing over every day.
And so a lot of phrases and words were repeated and I heard them many times.
And so I learned a lot when I did that homestay.
That was very beneficial for me.
And lastly, let's talk about language schools.
So this is maybe the biggest element of the language exchange program that you might do the actual language school itself.
So I have some positive and some negative feelings regarding language schools.
Let me start with the positive things.
So, in my opinion, one of the best things about studying at an English school in an English-speaking country is is that you're gonna have a native speaking teacher who is gonna give you tons of good input.
You're gonna hear this native speaker talking, and many times talking to you directly, for hours every day or on the weekdays, right?
So this is great.
This is great input.
You're listening and absorbing this person's speech for many hours and you'll definitely benefit from that.
That's one of the best things about studying at a language school in a country that speaks English right.
And of course, you're going to learn things.
There are things that you'll learn in your classes, some useful words and phrases.
Of course, you're gonna forget a lot of these things afterwards.
However, some of these things will stick and you'll probably be able to recognize these words outside of class.
By the way, the word stick in this context means that something stays in your brain.
It doesn't get forgotten.
So you're gonna learn some things that will stick and you'll start to recognize new words and phrases in other contexts outside the classroom, because you learned those things, you heard those words a lot in your English class.
So, of course, you're gonna learn a lot of things.
And one of the other really good benefits of going to an English school in an English-speaking country is that it's fun and it's motivating.
I love this environment, where it's actually dedicated to language, the language that you're learning.
I love that.
I love when the focus is on the language and you feel this motivation that you're advancing, you're getting closer to your goals and you're at this school to try to learn more, advance more.
And it's motivating to see the other people around you doing the same thing.
And it's fun because you have really fun interaction with the other classmates and with your teacher.
Usually language teachers in this environment are really fun and lighthearted and they're great people to laugh with.
And that's been my experience with teachers in this type of context.
So the experience of studying at a language school can be really motivating for your language learning and it can help you in many ways.
However, there are some negatives when it comes to language schools.
So the main negative thing is that most language schools are structured just like any other random class, like a math class or a science class or whatever.
They're not really optimized for language learning.
They kind of use the same structure and the same type of classes that you would have for other subjects.
And language is not acquired the same way that you would learn math. for example.
So that's a big negative.
And another negative is that a lot of these language schools force you to speak before you're ready.
That's a big thing in a lot of language schools.
They'll say you have to speak in English if you're studying English here.
And I don't think people should be forced to speak before they're ready to speak in their target language.
I think that that can actually have negative effects on their overall language learning.
So I don't like that aspect.
I like that the teacher talks 100% in English.
English, or in my case, when I was in Mexico, they spoke in Spanish 100% of the time.
That's fantastic, but I don't like that they force you to always use the target language when you speak in class.
I think that you should speak when you feel ready to speak.
So that's another negative in my opinion.
And one other negative is that it's not necessarily the most optimal use of your time.
So if you study English for five hours an English school, that's not as beneficial maybe as using those five hours to study in other ways, because for those five hours you're not just engaging with the teacher in English and getting meaningful input 100 of that time because there are other students.
There are other people learning English there with you and a lot of that class time is spent listening to other students talk and ask questions, and there's a lot of silent time where you're just doing exercises in your English book or whatever.
And so even though you have five hours of class time, a lot of that time is not used optimally.
So I think that's another negative thing about doing group classes at an English school in an English-speaking country.
But overall, I think that the experience of studying at a language school can be very good.
And I really liked my experience doing that at a Spanish school.
It was motivating for me.
It was fun.
I had a good time with the other students and it added structure to my day, which was great.
It kind of forced me to remain focused on my language learning right.
It forced me to remain focused on the fact that i was there to study spanish and not just have a good time right.
So it gave me some good structure and good focus, And so I really liked it overall.
But of course, there are many other ways to study a language and get good input.
And it's not 100% necessary to go to these language schools.
But if you're doing a program to study English in another country, then of course you're going to go to one of these language schools, or you're most likely going to go.
And I think that's good, but just have the right mindset there.
Don't think that this language school is just going to change your life and give you all the knowledge that you need of English.
It's not going to work like that, but it can be very beneficial for you.
All right, let's stop there.
I hope that this episode was interesting for you and hopefully some of you will get the opportunity to study English abroad someday.
I think that would be really cool.
Remember that if you want my help understanding native speakers when they speak fast and say things in a way that is hard to understand, then definitely consider joining my membership so you can get my specialized training.
And if you become a family member, then you'll get my advanced podcast episodes as well.
And if you're a Spanish or a Portuguese speaker, check out my ebook if you want to read fiction in English.
And, of course, share this podcast with anyone else.
You know who's learning English, and please give it a five-star rating and write a review.
All right, thank you for listening to this episode and I'll talk to you on the next episode of Listening Time.
