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Exercises, conversations, language courses abroad: there are dozens of ways to learn a foreign language, and therefore to teach it. And some will be more effective than others, depending on your own learning style! Discover some of these methods of teaching foreign languages.

How to learn effectively?

Learning a language is a long and difficult process. To make it more enjoyable and effective, it's important to adapt it to your own affinities. Everyone learns differently, and learning methods need to take this diversity into account. Some people prefer aural learning, listening to their teacher, while others are more visual and prefer to read their lessons.

To learn effectively, we recommend that you try out several teaching tools and learning styles to see what suits you best. You'll then be able to choose online courses that suit your learning style.

Here are several teaching methods used by second language teachers around the world (and at Global Lingua), to help students make rapid progress.

Communicative language teaching (or CLT)

Communicative language teaching (CLT) emphasizes the use of language in real-life situations, and focuses on communicative fluency rather than grammatical precision. In other words, it's all about conversation-based courses, just like at Global Lingua! Students are encouraged to talk and use everyday situations to make lessons more interactive.

It's a great way to make rapid progress while having fun.

The direct method

Language teaching takes place entirely in the target language, without recourse to the learners' mother tongue. The aim is to immerse oneself in the target language to make rapid progress and avoid the need for translations. Grammatical concepts are learned through practice and exposure.

The natural approach

According to proponents of this method, there's a difference between learning a language and acquiring a language: learning a language means learning grammar rules, respecting a strict framework and correcting all your mistakes, whereas acquiring a language means encouraging a secure and motivating environment in order to immerse yourself in the language being studied.

This technique focuses on natural language comprehension and acquisition, with extensive exposure and limited correction. It's very similar to children learning their mother tongue.

Task-based language teaching (or TBLT)

In task-based language teaching, learners complete specific tasks based on their personal or professional interests. This enables them to use their existing language skills by working on topics that interest them. 

There are three stages: pre-work, work and post-work. For example, students can give a presentation on zero waste: first they need to research the subject and read dedicated articles (pre-work), then write the presentation (work) and show it to the students or the teacher (post-work). The teacher can also ask questions to explore the subject in greater depth, which helps to develop listening comprehension.

Cooperative Language Learning (CLL)

This learning method encourages activities in pairs or small groups, emphasizing social interaction and cooperation between learners. In these cases, the teacher acts as facilitator. This is also one of the strategies implemented by Global Lingua teachers, particularly in small-group courses.

The grammar-translation method

Sometimes controversial, this traditional approach focuses on translation between the mother tongue and the target language. This involves memorizing lists of vocabulary and grammatical rules. Although this strategy tends to foster the development of reading and writing skills, it does not prepare students for communication.

Audiolingualism

This is a complement to the previous method. Here, learning is based on oral repetition and memorization of linguistic structures through oral exercises and dialogues. Students repeat what the teacher says, working on pronunciation, intonation and rhythm. The aim is to form linguistic habits.

Of course, it's important to note that the effectiveness of these strategies depends on the educational context, the learning objectives and the individual needs of the learners. It is possible that a combination of these approaches will deliver good results.