I met an English teacher at a party last weekend.
Of course, her method was classic “classroom-style.” (grammar, text books, etc.)
But, at the same time, she was very professional – she spent a lot of time preparing her lessons – and her English was very good – she was a Czech native speaker.
So my question for her was” And was that how you learned English?”
Her answer: No.
My level of surprise on a scale of 1 to 10: zero
This reminded me of the aqua Zumba ladies at my pool.
When I go swimming, sometimes when I’m leaving an aqua Zumba class is starting.
And it’s always the same thing: in the pool are a bunch of big ladies and on the edge of the pool, teaching the class, is a slim, fit lady.
Ask a slim person how they got or how they stay slim and “aqua Zumba” is not the answer you’ll hear.
Ask a fluent English speaker how they got fluent and “sitting in a room with ten other people doing grammar exercises” is not the answer you’ll hear.
It’s what I call “the aqua Zumba” trap.
It’s easy.
It feels good.
Your friends are there.
But fit or fluent, you will not become.