Language Acquisition Made Practical or the LAMP book is one of my favorites of all time for learning the language. I believe that the Brewsters are the “go to” experts on language learning. 

I wanted to share a couple of quotes with you and to challenge you to read this book over and over. This first quote is about all those people that are complementing you and then one day they just kind of quit complementing you. Read what the Brewsters had to say.

You will probably have people occasionally compliment you on your language ability. You will want to respond politely. But when compliments come don’t jump to the conclusion that you are doing a super good job. If you believe what you hear, you might conclude that you no longer need to press on in the language. Compliments may often be an expression of appreciation for your language learning effort and an encouragement to keep at it. Often the person who uses the language skillfully doesn’t get compliments — his speaking no longer calls attention to his use of the language. By the way, if people give up on you and think you will never get any better, then you will also stop getting compliments.

I have always challenged everyone to go to language school and use the LAMP book. I find that most are not disciplined enough to do what is taught by the Brewsters. Please read their comments about language school which I believe are spot on. 

What about Language schools?

Language schools have one major advantage — if classes start at 8:00 AM then the student is there on time and ready to go. Without a school, the same discipline must come from within oneself, rather than from an externally imposed schedule.

Language schools almost never have all four parts of the learning cycle in their curriculum. Materials are prepared and practice is common, though often practice is insufficient to enable the student to use what he is exposed to. Sentence forms that may be more difficult (which you therefore need more practice on) are often saved to the very end of the course, when little practice time remains. The most important step, communicating daily what you know, is almost never part of the curriculum. Nor is self-evaluation. Curricular materials are seldom prepared with the immediate communication needs of the new learner in mind. It is interesting to note that some schools even prohibit the students from talking with average people on the street. The classical "proper” form of the language is taught, though people speak the vernacular form rather than the classical. The teachers even speak the vernacular to each other!

Another common problem is that language schools usually approach language and culture as bodies of knowledge to be memorized rather than as sets of skills to be acquired.

We should make it clear that we are not saying that you should avoid attending a language school. But while in school, always ask yourself, "Are my communication needs being met?” Then creatively use the learning cycle, or the appropriate parts of it, to supplement what you are getting in the school.