I was walking along, minding my business, when out of the blue, a passer-by said, “Shikamoo” — the respectful Swahili greeting used by young people when addressing elders, which literally means "I hold your feet." 

I was so taken aback by the realisation that, as sprightly as I may feel on my brisk morning walk, I am seen by others as an elderly gent taking his constitutional, that I stumbled.

Instead of responding correctly with “Maharaba” (I accept your respect), I muttered an almost inaudible “Sijambo”, or I am fine. I wasn’t ready.

Nevertheless, after just over a year living in Malindi, where Kiswahili remains the “lugha ya mawasiliano” or language of communication, I’d like to think my Kiswahili is on the road to recovery.

Where once I was proficient enough in the language to have a job analysing reports in and translating Kiswahili, 15 years of hardly speaking it have caused shocking incompetence. Until a year ago, I assumed picking up the language would be like riding a bicycle again after many years. I was sadly mistaken.

It has been an uphill struggle to regain my former level of expertise in the language, and I am still nowhere as comfortable with it as I would prefer to be.

A string of basic mistakes in the language has me wondering whether I can find a “full immersion” experience for a couple of months. An Estonian friend, who speaks several languages, shared his experience of learning isiZulu and IsiXhosa using this method.

Full immersion works by surrounding yourself with the target language and learning through context, repetition and sheer necessity. It is like being gently pushed into the deep end of the pool and discovering, to your surprise, that you can swim.

By forcing you to use the language for everyday tasks, immersion builds fluency, comprehension and cultural understanding in a way that textbooks can only dream of.

Total language immersion is also one of the best ways to move from merely visiting another country or culture to actually experiencing it. You stop being a tourist and start feeling, at least occasionally, as if you belong there.

I read somewhere that scientists have found that when we learn a new language, our brains do not just collect individual words. They pay attention to which words frequently travel together and attempt to predict what is coming next. 

One of the most effective approaches is to be immersed in an environment where your brain is constantly flooded with “natural” content, the language people actually use while buying bread, giving directions or talking about the weather.

This might mean sitting in a Kiswahili immersion class where English is strictly off-limits, and you are expected to ask and answer questions in Kiswahili only, no matter how much your brain protests. 

There are several ways to achieve immersion. Physical immersion involves living, working or studying in a country where the target language is spoken, resulting in round-the-clock exposure and very little opportunity to hide. 

Simulated immersion, on the other hand, allows you to create a similar environment at home by changing your device settings, watching films, listening to podcasts and reading the news in the target language. Your sofa becomes your classroom.

Active engagement is crucial. This means moving beyond passive listening to speaking, keeping a journal and interacting with native speakers. Simply nodding along while understanding nothing is not quite enough.

Consistency is essential, with daily exposure of even 30 to 60 minutes helping to build momentum and prevent your brain from quietly forgetting everything overnight. Mistakes should be embraced as they are an unavoidable and necessary part of the process. 

Starting immersion early, even with very basic vocabulary, helps lay a strong foundation.

The benefits are considerable: Faster acquisition of natural, idiomatic expressions, better accent development and improved long-term retention. 

The challenges are equally real. Immersion can be mentally exhausting, overwhelming for beginners and requires enough motivation to stop you from retreating into your native language at the first sign of difficulty.

Fortunately, there are modern digital tools that make it possible to create an immersive environment from almost anywhere, allowing you to confuse and educate your brain without ever leaving home.