If you're a faithful reader of The Lighthouse, you are already familiar with the idea that learning a language is a journey, not simply a destination. But what if I told you that fluency is best seen as a result rather than a goal?
In my own experience as an English learner, and in the many articles and books I’ve read over the years, one thing has become clear: fluency is a byproduct of meaningful input and interactions with the language. Yes—meaningful, not mechanical (e.g., The book is on the table... repeat with me, again, again...).
Many linguists argue that input is the most important part of language learning, and I agree, to an extent. This is because input alone without any opportunities to speak won’t make you a fluent speaker... think of so-called passive bilinguals or those people who can understand a heritage language really well but can't speak it. However, no input at all won't take you anywhere! You NEED input. With that being sad, let’s look at meaningful input as another pillar of fluency. Hopefully, next week, we can talk about meaningful interactions.
