It is widely acknowledged that learning another language and culture in another country in a period of time should be a part of students’ educational curriculum. While this opinion is valid to a certain extent, I am convinced that learning language and culture of a different country could be optimized by more effective ways.
It is understandable why some people support the idea of travelling to another nation for learning new language and culture. The key rationale behind this is the language immersive environment that students interact to, which is one of the most important factors for learners to acquire a new language. To be specific, studying abroad provides students real-life situations such as ordering food in restaurants, asking for ways or discussing with colleagues which are very practical and requires high levels of language flexibility. Therefore, they can foster their confidence while using a second language and gain language proficiency sooner. Furthermore, living in another country in order to learn about culture could be beneficial for gaining a deeper insight into its culture and customs. Obviously, abroad students have opportunities to experience different cultural practices with the indigenous, which in turn help students can have full understanding about their culture and then more appreciate and respect the different custom. For example, by attending in some important holidays or celebrations of the native such as Christmas and Tet, students may have chance to explore the origin, beliefs, and how to celebrate these days, which might increase their cultural awareness and sensitivity.
On the other hand, living in another country to learn a new language and culture as a part of education might not really reasonable, and I believe that this could be optimized by other ways. Obviously, during the period of spiraling living expenses, travelling to other countries for the target of learning as a part of curriculum is not easy for some students who have lower socio-economic background. Therefore, there is a need of a more effective learning and teaching incentives, one of them is operating online learning requiring the cooperation of teachers from two countries. For example, students may learn language first and then have chance to practice this with native teachers through topics related to culture and customs. However, the knowledge and curriculum of the course should be planned thoroughly and tests should be administered frequently to guarantee the learning outcomes. School could also give excellent students free trip to another country encourage students’ learning. By implementing this type of leaning, not only students but also educational institutions could save much money and efforts.
In conclusion, while there are various benefits of travelling abroad in order to learn a new language and culture including enhancing language proficiency and raising cultural awareness, I would contend that there are more effective ways to acquire this such as using online platform, which not only foster learning outcomes but also saving a lot of money and efforts.