Recently, I found a book in my language (Brazilian Portuguese) that proposed teaching German using the natural approach method, a language learning method I had heard about from a YouTuber, but only recently started paying more attention to.
And the fact that I've recently given this method more attention has made me think about what other methods exist, and so I'd like to know what "different" methods you usually use when studying or practicing a language that interests you.
Wikipedia has a decent overview.
Nice find on the Wikipedia link! I've been experimenting with shadowing lately where you just repeat audio in real time - feels weird at first but really helps with pronunciation and flow. Also tried the "no translation" method where you only use your target language resources, which is brutal but effective
Total Physical Response - TPR - based on giving commands and modeling responses (Stand up, sit down, open the door...)
This is more flexible and sophisticated than it sounds, but it definitely has limitations, so based on TPR, people developed TPRS - teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling. TPRS involves storytelling but also 'story asking' where student input is used to move the story forward. Typically you do a lot of questions to get repetitions of grammar points. Does Mike play basketball on Wednesday or Tuesday? Yes, he plays on Wednesday. Does he play with his sisters or with his friends? Yes, he plays with his friends. These are questions to check comprehension but they also provide repetitions of 3rd person singular present tense.
I don't know a lot about Suggestopedia, but that's another interesting method to investigate further.
Being hearing impaired since birth (wasn't diagnosed until I was 5), and having learning disabilities, this one worked (and still works) the best for me. It's how I learned English, too (I was a delayed speaker). It was TPR and lots of reading simple sentences with pictures from familiar scenes (i.e., things I did that summer - so I would learn the past tense, or pictures of common activities and learning the present tense). So yeah, I'm that 1% who learned by grammar. :p
I can't comment since I don't know what this "natural approach" is. I haven't read any German-teaching books in Portuguese. Plus "the natural approach" is YOUR English translation of a Portuguese term. I imagine it involves drinking really strong coffee, but I'm guessing.
I like CI (Comprehensible Input), but CI is not a "method". It is a set of ideas about language learning.
This is the method I'm referring to. In Portuguese, it's called "Método Natural," which means natural method. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_approach
I use TPRS and will continue to do so until required to do it differently (for example, I will be teaching EAL for the IBDP next year, and the curriculum is different).
But what is more important? Every day, it's the application of Bloom's taxonomy. In other words, once you do your warmups and priming, you aim for moving up and balancing the higher-level tasks. Being in a proficiency-driven environment means that you build the top levels into the curriculum so that learners develop self-correction earlier than later.
I suppose the main ‘alternative’ language learning approaches are the ALG/Dreaming Spanish ‘learn like a baby which is chained to a chair facing a TV screen’ approach and the Antimoon/Ajatt/Refold ‘autism and caffeine-fueled tool-assisted speedrun of comprehensible input’ approach.
I would say I’m mainly aligned with the latter.
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