Starting from the very beginning when we know nothing of a language can seem daunting. We have to focus on digestible chunks that feel useful. In early language lessons, these will look like common components of a conversation.
Think of these as learning openings in chess. You only have to practice a few moves and responses. There is low variability here because we’re in narrow, but common contexts. The goal is to communicate a simple idea to someone and (sometimes) understand a basic response.
Early learning material focuses on common interaction types (going to the store, ordering food, basic greetings and personal information).
This is a strong approach only if you only expect to spend a short amount of time immersed in the target language. Sticking to this approach is one of the greatest faults in traditional learning. Beyond absolute beginner or survival, this method breaks down once the game opens up into free-form conversation.
Chunks don’t have flexibility because you pre-plan the context. You are left with memorized information which can’t be regurgitated if you aren’t given a specific prompt. We need to reduce chunk size so we can start building up our flexibility with the language. See Vocabulary is underrated then it is overrated The hardest part of learning a language is basic comprehension.