Are you someone who gets intimidated by the sheer size of language textbooks? Are you someone who would rather watch fluff movies or reality television to learn one phrase and be done with a language? Or are you simply too cool to be classified as a book nerd in the age of the internet? If the answers to any of these questions is yes then maybe, just maybe this article will turn you upside down. Because in our opinion nothing beats the old gold books when it comes to learning. Apart from several studies that show that using paper and pen as your tools for learning may enhance your memory, it is common knowledge that learning online is replete with distractions and this is speaking from experience.
Multidimensional versus Linear learning approach
Nowadays, the process of learning from textbooks is treated with the same dignity as we treat shimmer pants- none at all. Though learning from apps is more audio-visual and you tend to employ more than one senses in the process, learning from a textbook allows you to sink the learning material in a structure. Any lesson in a structured format makes more sense and is reinforced through the subsequent lessons. While the app follows a more multidimensional approach to learning- giving you all sorts of settings and conversations in those settings, textbooks follow a more linear approach. In textbooks you have to perfect each lesson before moving on to the next one.
Are apps resources or crutches?
Apps also make you dependent on using online resources. For instance it is quite convenient to look up words that you can’t instantly remember on an app. Whereas learning from a textbook allows your neurons to make stronger connections among the words and their meanings while you scramble your mind for the meaning of that Haitian Creole word you were struggling with. In our opinion the best way to learn a language is without the use of a mobile device, straining harder for that word to get it quickly the next time.
Fancy being a Grammar Nazi? Textbooks all the way.
Textbooks allow you to be grammatically precise (or in common parlance-a grammar nazi). While this may upset some of your friends who are also just as enthusiastic as you in learning the language, it certainly scores more brownie points for you. When reading a textbook, you can make as many mistakes as you want and get constructive feedback from your instructor. Apps do not personalize their feedback which is a major flaw. They do not tailor their feedback to your struggles. They are inhuman. Period.
The final point: Apps versus Textbooks- It really depends on your personality
If you are not one of those aesthetic studyblr people who are introverts (and make tons of money while studying) you will not get this whole learning out of a textbook thing. These people really enjoy routines and putting everything in well defined boxes. Since they also have no friends to hangout with, they can afford to spend summer afternoons negotiating rules of Haitian Creole grammar with a heavy textbook in one hand and a cup of steaming coffee in the other. You on the other hand are the rebel, the one who runs away at the mere announcement of a didactic speech, who has a party planned right after the parents leave for the annual conference and who has a basketball practice session in the morning. You can’t be bothered with a textbook even if your life depended on it. And it is totally okay. Whatever may be the method you use, you should learn the language from Creole Tutors Website and enjoy yourself in the process.
