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rather than a complete method, you'll find them to be a useful addition to your toolkit. Now, how exactly do you use these tools? Let's move on to immersion...

Environment

When someone says they picked up a the language when staying in a foreign country, it's simply because they are exposed to it on a daily basis. It's the natural result of being immersed in that environment. Traditionally, one would have to go to a particular country where the language is spoken in order to get exposure. But with the tools mentioned above, you can create this immersion environment almost anywhere. One advantage here is that when you do visit that country, you'll actually know a thing or two beforehand. After all, language is the gateway to culture, so think of it as your first step to walking on in! Even trying on some of the cultural habits of your target language can be useful. You'd be surprised at how often they're reflected in the language and vice-versa. Putting on this second skin can get you into the native mindset.

So how do you create this environment? As mentioned above, take all the material you can find in your target language, and enjoy it! Listen to that music, read through those books, watch those TV shows, learn those sentences, and play those games! And as you go along, you'll discover all sorts of new words and sentences for you SRS. You're bound to be totally lost at first-don't worry. Like a snowball effect, you'll start to pick up on a few words, then a few more, and so on. Eventually, you can even try the "I don't speak English," technique. When doing your day to day business, pretend you only speak your target language. Is your bank's ATM available in it? Use it. Is your favorite programs available in that language? Change it to that. Need to look something up online? Not in English you won't! Don't wait until you're comfortable with it, because that time will never come until you do it. You can only be comfortable with something you've done before.

Written and spoken language are complimentary in the learning process. By listening you can catch pronunciation, and you can hear someone speaking at a natural speed and just absorb it in. By reading you can see words more clearly, and can study each word. One method helps the other, so use both in your materials., Regardless of how you've learned what you know, that knowledge will stay with you, even if you change your methods or resources. Every method is valid, it's just that some will get you better

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