I was on a plane out of state to collect material for video lessons. A woman asked if I could do her a favor and find an internet connection for her computer. No connection was available, as it turned out, and I’m glad because we started talking and I found that she teaches Spanish at a local university. She said everything that I like to say. About how language is taught in school. She’s disgusted with the overly academic approach to modern language. She said what I say, and it was so nice to hear it from her. What she and some of her colleagues want is to see their students leave with practical competence that justifies all the coursework. Something besides an A. Like I’ve said elsewhere more than once, almost every single school official I talk to about language tells me, “I took years of language in high school and college, and I can’t speak a word of it.”

At some point this needs to get through everyone’s head and into the brain. We learn useful language by being exposed to it over and over and over, and using it along the way without the pressure of upcoming tests. Language instruction needs lots of room for a climate of use, motivating the learning beyond class time.