Biggest Mistake #3 – Taking Too Many Class Hours

If your goal is to learn a language as quickly as possible,
you’ll notice that the majority of standard programs only offer three, four or
five hours a day of classes. Can’t you learn faster if you take six or even
eight hours per day of class? There are many reasons that most programs only
offer about half a day of classes:

1. Just like learning music, learning a language takes practice.
   After you are introduced to a new song in music, you have to let it sink in,
   memorize it and practice it. In language study, just writing down a concept, a
   verb conjugation, or a new vocabulary word doesn’t mean you have “mastered” it.
   Too often students who take too many hours find that they never master anything
   and end up retaining less than others who take fewer class hours.
2. Study Abroad programs are immersion programs. This means that
   your entire day is theoretically “class”, whether you are eating dinner with a
   host family, asking for directions or talking to that cute local. The best way
   you can speed up your learning is to take what you learn in the classroom and
   use it in the real world.
3. Learning a language is more than learning words and verb
   conjugations; you need to learn how to communicate. Every culture has a
   different way of communicating. If you utilize your free time to explore and sample
   the culture, it will help you learn to communicate effectively in that culture.

To read more study abroad mistakes and their solutions, download our
free e-report, 19 Biggest Study Abroad Mistakes. 

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