Interaction with native speakers is a crucial part of developing skills in a language. For those of us who live far from where our target language is spoken, or for those of us lost and in need of personalized help, taking lessons, specifically online lessons, is one way to bridge those gaps. Yet, for those who are not used to doing so for whatever variety of reasons, maybe cost, time, fear, or inversely, confidence, there is a mental roadblock in seeking out this type of learning environment. I want to briefly discuss the pros and cons of taking language tutoring, how to choose a tutor, and what to look for in class styles.
First, to lesson or not to lesson, that is the question. I often ask myself these things in terms of whether or not to start:
-Am I unable to start a language due to a high learning curve?
-Am I unable to gauge where I am in a language, whether it be in grammar, speaking ability, etc.?
-Do I lack opportunities in my daily life to use the language?
-Are there ample resources available or is the language a bit more obscure?
-Do I feel I will continue with this language in the long run?
-Do I have time in my schedule for more homework or practice?
Generally, I decide to take lessons if I answer “yes” to a majority of these questions. Lessons can help you find a starting point in difficult languages, say, Japanese, that have such different features from your L1 that you need someone to break down your preconceptions and slowly work to introduce new information. With that, if I have been studying autodidactically for a given amount of time but don’t have a way to get much feedback, whether that be because I hit a plateau, don’t know what to study next, or have nobody to speak with in real time, tutors can also help you move past these issues. Reading from a language book or listening to music is not the same as having to understand what a real, variable human might come up with on the spot, not to mention what might be said with different accents or colloquial phrases. Practicing speaking with someone who will be able to stop and explain your errors or misunderstandings provides more valuable information than talking to someone on the street who might not stop to work with you on it. Mind you, talking to strangers is also crucial for building your abilities, but having that explanation and safe space to let your guard down and make mistakes is also needed.
The last of the questions look less at you and more at outside barriers. If you have a language like Spanish or Mandarin Chinese, you’ll find every type of resource your heart desires out there. On the other hand, languages like Lithuanian have almost nothing, give or take a couple of obscure books and maybe a YouTube channel or two. Lessons or classes can become your resource if no others exist, and the native speakers can often introduce resources to you that might normally have barriers to access (ex: my current Lithuanian textbook is not available in America, so the book and ordering site were recommended to me by my professor since it never comes up through English web searches). But, I have never been able to take online Lithuanian lessons since they often cost far more than, say, Spanish lessons. For me, it will have to wait until I have more of a disposable income, but regardless, taking lessons for languages you don’t feel sure about can be wasteful if you are on a tight budget. I would take classes every day of the week if I could, but I cannot afford that, money or time. I also know that right now my focus needs to be on grad school rather than language learning, although who’s to say I can’t fit a little in anyways?
There are plenty more reasons why lessons or classes are useful, as well as differences between group settings/structure of courses they have and so on, but these are some main points. If you’ve made the decision to take lessons, here are some traits to consider when choosing a tutor:
-Personality and preferences: We all have met people or had teachers that simply didn’t mesh with us well. When choosing a tutor, you have more say over who teaches you, and you can find the types of people you work best with. On that same note, you can also find people that have similar beliefs or experiences to your own. I personally like finding conversation tutors who have different hobbies or educational backgrounds than teaching, say something in the sciences or music, because it gives us a lot of common topics to discuss. It also helps me to find somewhat extroverted teachers since I dislike those awkward lulls that sometimes pop up between two introverts. If I want a tutor to focus on things like grammar, though, I often like tutors who have more experience as a teacher and could guide me through the lessons.
-Gender in gendered languages: What I mean by this is that in some languages, the types of words used by people of different genders may not be the same. Using Japanese as an example again, the way you say the pronoun “I” can vary, so having a tutor you want to speak like may be preferential. A good tutor should be able to point out these differences regardless, but as we pick up language organically through listening, we may pick up something that would sound strange coming from us. One of my old Polish tutors did not explain to me that the past tense of verbs had different endings depending on gender, so I was using the male version for a considerable amount of time unknowingly.
-Voice and accent: These things definitely vary by language, but finding a tutor that, again, speaks in a way you want to speak is crucial. If you were learning English from an Australian but planned to move to the States, you would have to deal with learning new words and phoneme pronunciation all over again. Languages like English and Spanish are pretty mutually intelligible regardless of the accent of the person (usually), but for languages like Arabic, the dialects can practically feel like another language all together. Similarly, the tutor’s voice matters. If you have a hard time understanding them because they speak too high or low, or maybe talk too fast, you will be giving yourself another road block. Yes, it is good to get a taste of different people speaking, but in lessons it might be a more valuable use of the time to focus on content.
-Price and format: Lessons can be as cheap as a few dollars an hour to hundreds depending on the teacher. Finding a range that is sustainable for you is what is most important. With exceptions of course, the cost of the lesson doesn’t necessarily determine quality. You might get more from a cheaper tutor than a fancy-shmancy expensive class. This especially applies with finding a tutor for conversation practice rather than grammar lessons, etc. If you only need someone to talk to, that is something with which pretty much every native speaker can help, while deep explanations may vary. As for where to look for lessons, I personally like Preply, but iTalki and some others are also considered reliable. Most websites will have an introduction video you can watch to get an idea of the way a tutor speaks and the format they use to run their classes.
The final thing to consider is the type of class that would be most beneficial to you. Think back to the various teachers you’ve had throughout your own life– there were always differences in teaching styles, no? The same applies with language lessons.
-Conversational classes: These work best for someone who already has a foothold in the language, as it more so acts as time to interact with native speakers in a controlled environment. While you can definitely ask your tutor to explain aspects of the language to you, your main goal here is to use what you know and pick up new words or phrases.
-Grammar/Vocab/Learn New Info: These classes are best for someone lacking knowledge in a part of the language or for new learners. Some tutors will follow a textbook just like a class, while others use their own materials. The beauty of this is often they provide copies of the book/pages, and they take it as fast as you are willing to learn. I have taken these types of lessons for Polish and Japanese before, and I found it extremely calming to have a teacher take you though a topic and practice with you rather than cracking open a textbook all alone and trying to figure out where to start.
-Topic-specific: If you have a goal of reaching a specific language level to take an exam or for your job, a good option for you is working with a tutor with an intimate knowledge of the subject. I have never prepared for a language exam before, so I can’t really vouch how useful they are, but it is another resource you can have in your language arsenal. As for work-related topics, many of these tutors will have either experience or certifications to show they understand the lingo and situations you will be faced with in the professional world. Again, this is not something I have ever tried personally, but having taken other high-stress exams like the MCAT before, I can understand why it might be better than just books and YouTube videos.
-Actual classes: So, this doesn’t really fit into the category of “lessons” or “tutoring,” but I think I should mention reasons you would seek out actual classes, whether at a school or online through an education company. When you take a legitimate class, you follow a set structure that (usually) has been proven to work. Your resources and next steps are pre-decided and you follow the pace of others. This can give you either more or less time to absorb new information depending how fast the class goes, and also provides you with quizzes/tests regularly to check your progress. You may not get as much one-on-one attention in this setting, but you will be surrounded by others who wish to learn the language and that you can interact with. Websites like Lingoda offer classes and usually local universities or community colleges have them, even as non-credit which can be significantly cheaper. In the age of the Internet and pandemics, it is pretty easy to find online classes for most languages which is great if your target language is not as common.
My post here is not a be-all end-all in terms of how one goes about making decisions on language tutors, but rather a guide of things to consider. Since there is a monetary aspect to this, it may help to know what to expect before starting. Currently, I am taking conversational Spanish lessons with a woman from Argentina to keep up/improve my ability to speak correctly without having to spend time thinking about my words. Most classes we just discuss random topics in each of our lives, or we talk about an article she had me read ahead of time. For me, this fits in my schedule nicely since it is only an hour a week and I don’t any obligations to complete more work outside lesson if I don’t want. I do have a burning temptation to start Italian up again, but I am going to wait since I am considering joining this year’s Lingoda Sprint, and Italian is not an option for it. Anyways, hopefully you found these points useful, and I hope to write more on language acquisition soon.
Happy reading,
-Beppa