Compared with the direct method, the Natural Approach stresses more:

1. Both approaches aim at naturalistic acquisition in class. 2. The Natural Approach puts less emphasis on practice. 3. It puts more emphasis on exposure to language input and on reducing anxiety. 4. So drills, translation and dictation are not its emphasis. **Why not the others:** Drilling, translation and dictation are practice-heavy or form-focused, whereas the approach prefers exposure and low anxiety. _Source: Wikipedia, "Natural approach", section "Background" (revision 1327047924)_