Studying a (new) foreign language is a time consuming process and with the fast paced lives we’re living in today, time is not a commodity we can often spare. A lot more popular in the past, local language centers are losing more and more students due to the sheer waste of time it takes to go to and come from the actual center as well as the preset hours in which the courses take place. Fortunately, the Internet has an alternative to this that can save you a lot of time and will allow you to study the language of choice whenever you want and how much you want.
Free online language courses
Free online language courses can be found on hundreds if not thousands of sites that deal with foreign language teaching and their quality may vary from extremely poor to high quality ones. It’s up to you to see how these language courses fare, but then again there’s no harm in trying more than one, since, after all, they’re free.
Online educational games
Online educational games can also be found in abundance and their main advantage over other language learning methods is that they provide a relaxing, fun study environment which in most cases will be more efficient. The downside is that a learning process based on online educational games will take much more time than with conventional methods, but, as stated earlier, the information you get through games will stay in your memory longer and it will be easier to access and use.
Media and foreign websites
Over the last few years, the Internet has become a great platform for all sorts of media elements and you will need to use this to your advantage when studying for your new foreign language. For example, streaming or downloading audio or video files in the particular tongue you’re studying can be extremely helpful in building your vocabulary as well as getting used to the pronunciation of words and characters.
Similarly, reading through websites written in the foreign language you’re studying (assuming you already have a basic ground to work upon, otherwise you won’t be able to understand what you’re reading) is also a good method of assimilating vocabulary, spelling and grammar rules.
Video conference lessons
Although this is a newer concept to the language learning world, live Internet video teaching is becoming more and more popular. Studying with a teacher that’s miles away, through your Internet connection is quite a new milestone in the above-mentioned field. Although video conference lessons might be a bit costly, they do allow you to benefit from the same advantages that a local language center would offer you, but you will able to benefit them from the safety of your home and from the comfort of your favorite chair.
As you can see, the Internet offers a great variety of language learning methods, but it’s up to you to choose which ones will suit you best and which ones you have the time/money for. Check out a few sites offering online language learning services and only take a decision after a solid think-out.
Michael Gabrikow
http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/studying-a-foreign-language-online-98192.html
Do you prefer to hire a teacher to teach you foreign language or study online by yourself? Why?
I prefer to do it by myself because it is more flexible in terms of time management. However, maintaining consistency is one issue for me.
I hate learning langauges like that, the only way I’ll learn the language is through immersion.
Personally, I would rather just jump straight into immersion (just go to the country or region where that language is spoken) followed by taking classes with a teacher to help the grammar aspect–That way I can ask question when necessary.
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I prefer a teacher. Maybe try finding a teacher that has a flexible schedule to fit yours, because I know it can be hard to move stuff around. I prefer a teacher because it is more interactive and you can get your questions answered immediately. I also find that with a teacher, the learning process moves much faster and they can create tests to fit your needs. I met with a teacher 4 times a week for a year and now I am fluent in French which is quite a hard language to learn because of the nasals and the really hard ‘r’s". I don’t think I would be able to do this if it wasn’t for a teacher. On the internet, you don’t have people do help you pronounce the words and sentences, and if you do, it is usually a virtual pronunciation which is really no help at all since most of the time, you don’t even understand what they are trying to say.
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Experience.
I study by myself not using the internet. Sometimes I’ll use You tube and find shows and episodes in that language to hear it spoken naturally, but I mainly study through books. I just got some Rosetta stone, and it is pretty cool. You just have to becareful studying on your own when it comes to properly speaking the language, and you may lack the confidence to communicate, because you will be unsure of your own abilities.
However I Prefer studying on my own much better, I can study what I want when I want, how I want, and it is in a way that works best for me.
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I would say hire a teacher because if there is anything i am stuck on i can ask them and also things on the internet may not be 100% true!
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the teacher would be the better choice.
according to someone’s hierarchy of learning, reading is the lowest level of learning. and you would have a hard time with the accents anyway if you didn’t learn from a teacher.
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