Pros and Cons of Learning a Foreign Language Online vs Without a Teacher

Learning a new language is not as simple as it may seem to some. You are not just about to learn about some new words and grammar, you are about to open a window into a completely new way of thinking. Languages are developed under different circumstances. It represents an unbreakable tie with the culture of those who speak it.

So, you can see that this is always an exciting time. Be prepared to invest countless hours and your best efforts into this procedure. Only by doing that you can perform well enough to adopt all the crucial elements of the language itself. In some situations, it will not be as easy as you may think it will be.

Basically, there are two ways you can learn a language these days. You can either go to the class or opt for an online course. However, more and more people decide that they want to learn the language themselves, without having any teacher.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of learning a language in an online course or without a teacher.

Learning Language Online

First, we would like to focus on the concept of learning through the online course.

Pros

Let’s take a look at the pros.

• Develops Responsibility

We cannot complete any sort of job without having the sense of responsibility. Enrolling in an online language course is useful since you will have a certain schedule you need to keep up with. Naturally, this will help you develop a sense of responsibility and a much-needed consistency, crucial for the learning process.

• Native Teacher

One of the best things you can experience when you enroll in an online language course is that your teacher can be a native speaker. Why is this important? Well, natives can provide you with numerous useful tips those who are not natives simply cannot provide you with, for obvious reasons.

Sure, having a native teacher is usually costlier than other situations, but we truly believe it’s worth it. The only aspect that can make it perfect is that this teacher is competent enough to share his or her experience and knowledge with those who have enrolled in the course.

Cons

Now, let’s check out the cons.

• No Flexibility

Since these courses tend to run on a certain schedule, chances for flexibility are minimal. So, you cannot expect to attend classes whenever you want to. On the other side, missing out on these classes can be quite a big problem. Missing out on the lessons and working with a group can become a big problem.

• Time Consumption

Some people are more advanced when it comes to studying foreign languages. For them, being present in these classes can be time-consuming. Since we live in a busy time, it is possible someone doesn’t enjoy this concept precisely for this reason. So, they can easily perceive it as a negative, right?

Plus, there’s always a possibility for your devices, like PC, laptops, and mobile devices to malfunction, or the internet connection can stop for some reason. Situations like this can contribute to the time-consumption even more, even though they are not always likely to happen.

Learning Language on Your Own

As we’ve said, many people want to learn a language on their own.

Pros

According to the tradition, let’s check out the pros first.

• Flexibility

One of the most significant pros of learning the language on your own is that you can have a flexible schedule. For instance, you can solely focus on doing it in your free time. For example, there are numerous apps out there, like Duolingo, that can offer you this possibility.

• Accessibility

Since you can open a mobile device and access the mobile app whenever you want, we would say that accessibility is a major thing to take into consideration. You can find numerous other resources that can help you on this journey. You just need to know where to look for them, don’t you agree?

Not to mention that you can learn from any location you want. The only requirement is to have a solid internet connection, which is a widespread possibility these days. Also, you will be glad to hear that using these usually comes either completely free or at a significantly low price.

Cons

Once again, let’s pay attention to the cons.

• Lack of Professional Advice

No matter how committed you are to learning a new language, there’s always a chance you will not understand some aspects, especially if you are learning the one that’s not in the same group as your native. In that case, having professional advice could represent quite a big help down the road.

Sure, some people have a better understanding of this topic and they don’t perceive professional advice as crucial as some others do. Nevertheless, we don’t think there’s any reason for not considering these whatsoever. A true professional can share a completely new perspective with you, which is always good.

• Lack of Consistency

Since no teacher can represent some sort of consistency in your learning process, chances are that some people can get too comfortable and not pursue consistency. At first, we all are interested in learning as much as we can in the shortest possible time. It’s not always going to be like that.

Of course, laziness is not the only thing that causes the lack of consistency. It can also happen whenever you lack the time to commit to this process. You may forget some crucial parts of the procedure, which would force you to return to them and learn them all over again.

In Conclusion

If you are not sure which way to go when it comes to studying a new language, you need to consider all of them before you make the decision. In this article of ours, you can take a look at these two approaches and see whether they meet your needs and preferences. We’re sure you will find this insight quite helpful for making your future decisions.