Learning languages today has become a hobby for many people in the world for a good reason. If you want to be able to compete with other experts in the market, then you definitely need to know more than just English. A lot of employers worldwide require their staff to know more than their native language and English because business world speaks many languages.
So you’ve made up your mind about learning another language, and it’s great. But whom to turn to? Should you improve your language skills in a group with other students or opt for a language tutor? There are pros and cons for both of these options. Below you can find some of them to help you make the right choice.
Schedule
Schedule is often one of those factors that stop people from learning a new language. Very often we have only an hour a day or a window during the lunch break to get to learning. This means that flexibility in terms of language classes is one of the most essential things for modern people.
And in case while reading this info you recognized yourself, then language tutor for private lessons is your option. With a private language tutor you can match your schedules the way it works for both of you. Maybe you learn better at 7 AM or maybe after 8 PM your working time begins; whatever it is a private language tutor will be able to adapt to your needs.
Should schedule be not the main focus for you and you have time to accommodate with the group classes existing schedule, then you definitely can work with language schools. But be ready that there flexibility is not the case because the class hours will be set in stone for at least half a year.
Location
The choice of location is again the issue of flexibility. In case there is a language school with group classes just next to your home or work place, then you can just go for it. Yet, if such an option is not available, then hiring a language tutor for one-to-one lessons is your case. Private language tutor can offer you to learn language in any convenient environment. You can come to his or her place, invite the tutor to your home, study via Skype, and even go to a coffee shop! With a language tutor location is always a negotiable matter.
Curriculum
In terms of curriculum the controversy around what way of learning language is better has always been on the table. On the one hand, language schools generally operate with accumulated experience of bigger number of teachers which helps them create a better curriculum. Language schools also have access to bigger array of learning materials which helps them provide deeper and easier understanding of a language. However, a language tutor is able to adapt the curriculum to your specific needs based on the existing background and your goals. For instance, if you attend Chinese classes in a group then you will have to keep up with the pace and might not understand some basic things about the language. During a private class your language tutor will be able to pay more attention to the topic you have hard times with and go faster if something is easy for you.
Teaching methods
As already discussed above, generally language schools know the best language learning techniques. However it doesn’t always mean that they apply them during classes. When a teacher has 15-20 students sitting in a class, it’s hard to make them all speak or ensure that each and every discusses the given topic in a foreign language and not with the mother tongue. With a private language tutor such tricks as using your mother tongue won’t work. Private classes are generally tougher because you have to do all the job and no “I had no time to do the homework” will work. Yet, such approach when you do all homework and speak at every class gives you more opportunities to use a foreign language and as a result you learn it better and faster.
Value
Value in terms of language classes can be divided into money value and knowledge value. If your main concern is the cost of your language classes, then group learning is your choice. In case you aim at better results and care about the quality of your language learning process, then private language tutor and one-to-one classes is your best option. With a private tutor you get flexibility, convenience, and better results in much shorter time. Think of what is more important to you and choose wisely!
