How I Correct Mistakes When Practicing Foreign Languages

03 Jan 2025 #misc

It’s discouraging when a teacher corrects your mistakes in every phrase. It makes you want to stop speaking.

I’ve had all types of teachers:

• The ones who cut you off in the middle of every sentence to correct you
• The ones who write corrections on a whiteboard
• The ones who don’t correct at all

We need the right balance when learning a new language.

If we’re not corrected, we keep making the same mistakes. But if we get corrected all the time, we lose confidence.

After taking many language courses and doing plenty of language exchanges, here’s my strategy for correcting mistakes:

Instead of cutting off your language partner (or student) in the middle of a sentence to point out a mistake, restate the sentence or ask a follow-up question without the mistake.

For example, if someone says “my brother don’t like apples,” you could say:

• You mean your brother doesn’t like apples?
• Why is that? Why doesn’t your brother like apples?

You’re correcting the mistake while keeping the conversation going and without discouraging the other person with too many corrections.