Category: any language

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How to choose your type of language class

How do you choose language classes? Let’s take a look at the available options and start with the classic language school.

One of the most efficient ways to learn a language is by following classes at a language school or a language institute. These schools adapt to the needs of the student and use an individual approach. Many of them offer a wide range of language learning tools, like lessons at your home or company, own learning materials, phone lessons and e-learning platforms. Be ready to speak, as a good language school makes their students talk. One disadvantage: these classes are the most expensive type of classes. If you’re short on cash, ask for group classes.

people university
Many universities offer language classes ©

 

If you’d like to find a cheaper option, classes at universities or non-governmental organisations might be a good choice. Unlike language schools, their first goal isn’t earning money. Usually, their tools and services are more limited and the groups tend to be bigger. You probably won’t have too many choices when it comes to location, and the hours of the classes will be set in advance, so no canceling. Make sure to be active in class: ask questions, do your homework and talk to the teacher.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/160082970@N04/44112113312/

The cheapest

The cheapest option: group classes by the government. Even if they tend to be the least efficient, there are many reasons why you could follow them. If you don’t want to improve too quickly. Or if you want to meet fellow students. Or if you need to often skip classes. A limited number of locations. The groups are the biggest. The services are the most limited. And progress will move at the pace of the least capable learner. But these don’t need to be a disadvantage. As for universities, be active and participate.

One of the most diverse types of classes is given by individual language teachers. There are many teachers looking for students, both online and offline (I teach on italki.com and here’s $10 extra). Materials, prices, teaching methods, number of students in a class, progress, quality, and location all depend on the teacher. So make sure to agree in advance on the price, location, number of students and materials. Also, communicate what you’d like to do and where you’ll meet exactly. To find teachers, look for ads on websites like justlanded.com.

Tips
  • Always ask for recommendations from your local friends and colleagues. They might give you specific advice about the possibilities in your location.
  • Ask your teacher or language school if you can try the class just for one lesson. That way, you’ll quickly know what to expect. And you won’t be stuck in a class you’re not interested in.
  • Check if your company or organisation can get you discounts, or maybe even offer you language classes for free.
  • Find out where you can find Dutch language classes in Belgium and where you can follow Maltese language classes.
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Learn any language – by watching sports

Love to watch sports? Nice. But did you know you can learn languages at the same time?

You can start by watching your game on television with comments in the language you’re learning. It has many advantages:

  • When your team scores and the commentator shouts: ‘Goal, goal, goal!’, you’ll directly learn a new word.

Football on a green soccer pitch

  • Sports language is a good mix of interesting background and repetitive comments: pass and corner kick will always sound the same. So you’ll start to remember quickly.
  • How the commentator pronounces the name of the players shows the pronunciation of the language.
  • Some news channels give live written comments. So you can watch and read at the same time.

Is the game over? Time to practice what you’ve learned during the game. Head over to a news website and read the resume. Find the words you’ve learned and try to understand the meaning of the sentences.

Reading the resume will not only repeat the new words you’ve seen. You can also learn new expressions and new words. These expressions will come back in the next games you’re going to watch. You might even see words you’ve heard during the game but couldn’t understand.

If necessary, use an online dictionary. Especially if you see expressions and words commentators often use.

When you’ve read the resume, it’s time to step up your game. Many TV channels offer a video resume on their website. Watch it after the game. The commentator will explain in a few sentences what happened during the game.

These few sentences are usually at a higher level. The commentator has to squeeze all that happened in just a few lines. However, here are the advantages of watching the video:

  • you already know what happened
  • you can watch it again and again
  • you can re-read the written resume

Of course, you don’t need to follow each step. Feel free to read resumes of games you haven’t seen. But it’s a fun way of learning a language!

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Learn languages with Udemy – a good idea?

Learning languages online is a challenge, as there’s almost no social pressure to attend classes. That’s one of the reasons why many learners prefer to learn languages online. One of the platforms offering courses is Udemy. That’s where I also teach courses.

On Udemy, there are many other language courses though, ranging from Chinese to German via Arabic. Let’s put some pros and cons of learning with Udemy next to each other.

Pros and cons

Pro: There are many free courses available. It’s easy. You can learn anytime, anywhere. You can also review any of the lessons anytime, without having to pay. There are different levels, from beginners to experts. You can ask questions to your teacher. There are certificates.

Learn languages online with Udemy ©

Con: no face-to-face contact with your teacher. Some students pay but never start the course. Not all teachers reply to questions (I do!). There are not many options for ‘smaller’ languages. And, the quiz system is not adapted to language courses.

Despite these caveats, I still think it’s a valuable way to learn a language. Especially if you need to repeat more often than other students. You can always review the videos at a later time. Even after years. It’s also handy if you find a course that really suits your needs.

What to do on Udemy

Some best practices:

  • Always check if there are free previews available. Most teachers give some of their content away so students know what to expect.
  • See how many and which ratings the courses have. Udemy strictly checks if those are fraudulous, so you can trust these ratings are right. 52 reviews and a 4.7 rating on a course is better than 2 5-star ratings.
  • Finally, buying a course is more like a stepping stone: it’s the beginning. Many teachers include links to more materials, so use those links!

Also check out my Facebook page, where I share free links for paid language courses!

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Learn languages with movies – fun!

Have you ever learnt languages by watching movies? It’s a great tool to learn new words and new expressions in the language you’re learning. However, there are some do’s and don’ts.

First of all, the genre of the film should be suited to your language level. Action movies and animated movies are best for beginners, because those use simple words and sentences. Especially if they’re movies for kids. More advanced students are better served with the many puns and expressions of comedies.

Second, prepare well by printing the script. Check which words are used most, and learn those you don’t know yet. You can find the most-used words also by using Wordle or WordCounter.

Third, never watch dubbed movies. This may be obvious, but what’s the point of watching a movie if not even the language is the language you’re learning?

Fourth, avoid watching with subtitles in your language. You’ll be more concentrated on reading your own language instead of learning new words.

Fifth, put subtitles in the language you’re learning. These are mostly used by deaf persons, but you can enjoy them too.

Sixth, find movies in the language you’re learning on IMDb. Go for the search option and select the language you’re learning under the option ‘languages’.

More tips in my book.