Academic subjects, such as science, math, and foreign language can be grouped into two
distinct (and very different) forms of learning: intellectual learning, and experiential learning. Science and math require intellectual learning – you can’t learn science by walking
through the woods, or math simply by knowing how to count. These subjects are an abstract, intellectual representation of experience, and must be learned as such.
Foreign language is often approached intellectually – students are asked to learn learn grammar, memorize verb forms and vocabulary, and analyze the language intellectually, without experiencing using the language.

Language requires experiential learning. From birth, all people begin learning their first language not through intellectual explanation, but rather through use—out of necessity. Vocabulary, syntax and morphology (as well as communication skills, cultural customs, etc.) are learned unconciously, much in the same way that a person learns to walk, or ride a bicycle. Foreign language, like riding a bicycle, must be learned by experiencing the process—you can’t learn to ride a bike by reading about it, and you can’t learn a language by learning about it intellectually; it must be experienced.