Why Language Teachers Should Travel to Foreign Countries

Some learning institutions allow students to go on international trips. However, they may not encourage language teachers to accompany their students. Perhaps, you’re a language teacher, and you think you don’t have to attend to your students during a foreign trip. Traveling overseas has many benefits for language teachers. Here’s why a language teacher should travel to foreign countries more often.

Practicing a Foreign Language with Its Native Speakers

In most cases, language teachers introduce the grammatical concepts of foreign languages, and their students start practicing speaking them with each other. While practice makes perfect, talking to native speakers of the language has many benefits than with non-native speakers. For instance, teachers and students get valuable feedback when speaking to native language speakers. They also learn independently and overcome their fear.

Expanding Language Focus

Whether intentional or unintentional, classroom interactions revolve around the local language. When you travel, you learn more about the language from its native speakers. For instance, you know about the terms that natives use the most and examples that you can use in the classroom.

Additionally, traveling to foreign countries teaches you the tones native speakers use the most and their importance. If you don’t travel, you might never have such experiences from native language speakers.

Enjoying Unscripted Learning Experiences

Language teachers follow specific steps when teaching new languages. Although they can take their students to museum exhibits with foreign artists or set up cooking lessons, they don’t expose students to the cultural practices and values of the language native speakers.

Traveling to a foreign country with native speakers of the language provides a chance to watch and learn from their cultural practices. Thus, they learn from things like food, art, transportation, and greetings. What’s more, they can attend events like cultural festivals and celebrations where they may enjoy a first-hand learning experience from the locals.

In a nutshell, language is an essential cultural aspect. Therefore, learning and mastering it requires a person to interact with native speakers. That’s why language teachers should travel to foreign countries with their students to learn more from native speakers.