Learning Language

One part of Arendt's criticism on education that I have conflicting opinions on is her declaration that we are going about the teaching of languages all wrong, using it as an example for how the whole system is flawed. Arendt seems to feel that in order to learn a language one must focus on rules, syntax, grammar, and such. She scorns the idea that one "is to learn a foreign language in the same way that as an infant he learned his own language." I have taken German classes for going on five years. The problem I find with this is that all of my teachers have emphasized that the hands down best way to learn German (or any language for that matter) is to go and live in Germany for however long. What is this if not being thrown into an unfamiliar environment where you have no choice but to learn the language "in the same way that as an infant he learned his own language." While I do not deny the importance of grammar and syntax, becoming immersed in the speaking of the language can be just as helpful in learning it. Learning a language comes from a combination of studying the rules and experiencing it firsthand.