Created by our founder, Maximilian Berlitz, the Berlitz Method is the first-known immersive teaching method and has shaken up traditional language learning styles since its inception.
How the Berlitz Method was developed
Like many great discoveries, the Berlitz Method came about because of chance, specific circumstances, and a creative mind. While teaching in Providence, Maximilian Berlitz hired Joly, a young Frenchman as his assistant. However, upon Joly’s arrival in the U.S., Berlitz found out that his new assistant did not speak a single word of English.
During this time, Berlitz fell very ill and had no choice but to let Joly take over his teaching duties. Berlitz instructed Joly to use gestures to act out his meaning, encouraging him to use vocabulary in context so his French students could begin to understand the meaning.
After six weeks, Berlitz returned to the classroom expecting his students to be far behind in their language development. Instead, to his surprise, his students were more engaged than ever, communicating in an animated exchange of questions and answers – in perfect French!
Having been forced to learn from a French-only speaker accelerated their learning. As a result, a completely new and highly effective method of teaching was created.
The Berlitz Method today
The Berlitz Method is still the most effective way to learn a language and continues to be used today.
The key elements of the method are:
- Immersive. Your instructor teaches and addresses you in your target language only. Language is presented in the context of real-life situations with a focus on grammar and vocabulary.
- Goal orientated. Each lesson is task-based with specific learning goals. This allows you to put your new language to use in actual situations right away.
- Present, practice and perform. To help you absorb your new language, every lesson follows this structure. New content is presented by your instructor, you take part in both guided practice and general practice, and are then encouraged to perform what you have learned.
Putting the Berlitz Method into practice
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