Where to go for affordable group language lessons online
I’ve made heavy use of online language tutors to improve my French, but there have always been a few things that have bothered me about them:
1. The cost: I know it’s possible to do free language exchanges, but I really don’t have a lot of time to teach someone else English while I’m juggling my four target languages. iTalki and similar services are much more affordable than offline private classes, but they can still feel a bit expensive to do long-term and consistently. More than one class a week is usually beyond my budget.
2. The one-on-one aspect: I know that a one-on-one setting is usually considered the biggest benefit of Skype classes because it maximizes speaking opportunities, but that also depends a lot on the teacher. Some teachers I’ve had will talk so much that I don’t feel like I’m getting much more speaking practice than I would from a group class. It also creates a lot of anxiety for me because it feels more high pressure. Personally, I prefer to be in a class with others so I can see other people struggling or making mistakes as well, and a lot of times I learn a great deal from them. In fact, there’s some research that shows that small group classes can be more effective for language learning than one-on-one tutoring. I’m not sure if this is true for everybody, but I feel much more motivated when I have classmates. Obviously, being in a class of 20 other students isn’t very effective at all, but small groups can be fantastic.
3. Lack of structure: this depends a lot on the teacher, but many freelance tutors don’t have a program in place to help you improve; they’re just there for conversation practice. That can be fine for beginner and lower intermediate learners, but you might find that you never use certain advanced grammatical structures often enough in free conversation to ever master them. Unfortunately, the teachers that do offer more structure are usually booked up or much more expensive.
4. Timing: sometimes it can be difficult to schedule lessons with a teacher, and I’ve had a lot of teachers who will cancel lessons at the last minute after I’ve set aside time in my day for a language lesson. Other times, another student will book the time slot I’m accustomed to, and I miss out. Or the teacher will go on vacation for two months, and I have to wait for them to come back. I understand that life can get in the way, but it can be frustrating when you’re just working with a single teacher and can’t make the progress you need because of scheduling conflicts.
So, for a long time now, I’ve been looking for small group lessons online, similar to traditional language classes but more convenient and hopefully more focused on a conversational approach. Every few months or so, I do a Google search hoping this company exists, but there are always things I don’t like. The other day, though, I found a company called Lingoda that solves the four problems above!!! Their lessons are around $5/class for group classes (with the option to add in private classes; they have a lot of different packages available), they focus on small groups, they have a structured curriculum, and booking a class is very easy, with plenty of time slots available throughout the day, including weekends.
If you’re interested in trying their classes, you can get $50 off by using this code when you check out: WNA43P. If you go with the group classes only option, that means you can get 10 lessons for about $30 (or $3 per lesson), which is an incredible deal. I’m not sure if other people feel the same limitations of italki and similar platforms, but if you do, I think Lingoda could be the answer.
