Learning vs. acquiring

Spoiler alert: I am definitely for fostering acquisition over solely laboring through learning!

So, what’s the difference? Well, learning is something you do very intentionally and through planned work and effort. It usually involves lessons or exercises, workout or practice, and demands a lot of rigor and studiousness. You can also say “learning” simply for the mission you are striving for: you are learning French.

On the other hand, acquiring is what happens in you when a skill or knowledge settles in and stays. In fact, it is not opposed to learning: when learning is successful, you are acquiring. So, when you study a grammar lesson, you are learning. However, you have acquired that grammar concept only when you finally understand and own it to the point that you can use it well and naturally, without thinking much about it.

Acquiring can happen through learning, but it can also happen through experiencing and living. Babies don’t learn their native language, they acquire it by immersing themselves in the world out of the womb. They also naturally acquire grammar and vocabulary by being surrounded by more advanced speakers. Children even acquire basic spelling simply by being exposed to books and to adults writing a variety of notes. However, children do have to learn more complex grammar and spelling rules. This usually happens at school, when they are already fluent in their native language.

So how does that apply to you and your mission to master French? When you study vocabulary or grammar, you are learning and, maybe, eventually acquiring. If you enjoy studying, keep going! However, keep in mind that, just like babies and children, you can also acquire naturally through experience: in other words, through hands-on, life-based immersion. I strongly believe that natural acquisition (the one that comes without the act of learning) is what really pushes us further towards fluency. I also strongly believe that it is best to do it first (more on that in a future newsletter).

Regardless, if you’re wanting to acquire a language (or any other skill, really), you need to include moments of immersion, whether it is through Deep French or elsewhere. You can spend a lifetime studying grammar and never really acquire it. You can be a master at phonetics but not know how to speak naturally. You can become excellent at spelling but not really know how to write a message to a French person. AND, you can become fluent with or without acts of learning. Not without doing anything, though.

So my summary advice: whether you like learning or not (i.e. studying), you also need to foster language acquisition. This comes from living meaningful moments in French through immersion and organic use of the language: not for the purpose of using the language, but for another purpose (to cook dinner, to understand a movie, to connect with a foreigner, etc.). In future newsletters and posts, I will keep sharing ways in which you can do this without being in France. And of course, the Deep French immersion experiences I organize are an excellent way to do so too!

Baptiste Delvallé