Learning a Language Solo vs With a Native Teacher

I often get this question a lot: “Why bother paying for a native teacher when I can just download an app?”

This is a true question. “Why bother?”

Learning English or another language on your own can be rewarding and definitely fun!

But like anything, there are pros and cons.

When you self-study, you can do what you want. There is no teacher telling you that you have to do some busy work and write sentences. You can read and listen to whatever you want! If you are more of a visual learner or a listener – you do you!

This being said, you know what you want and or need to focus on. You can dedicate weeks to reading or weeks to listening. You don’t need to follow any structure.

And without a structure, you can study anywhere or anytime. Are you commuting to work or school? Listen to an audio book in English or another language? Traveling to another country? Bring an English or another language book? Need to relax in front of the TV? Put on an English movie or a movie in another language. The options are endless!

The goal is to be able to converse with anyone and everyone. So, studying solo, you can meet whoever you want to speak English with or the target language. When you are traveling or maybe at work or school, you can have a native speaker converse with you for an hour or two a week. Right?

Lastly, there are plenty of generic lesson materials online for free. They are free because it needs to be able to suit everyone. But, you can adapt it to your style.

Maybe.

Often, science has shown, that without a structure, people’s motivations stop. It is similar to New Year’s resolutions. You start strong, but without accountability, things seem to stop.

It is up to you if learning a language solo is worth it or not.

It can have a lot of great benefits if you have the motivation and structure to maintaining your language journey.

For beginner and intermediate learners, we recommend having a teacher to give extra support!

And, it doesn’t hurt as advanced students as well!

Having a native teacher guide you can give you so much more than learning a language on your own.

Besides providing an accountability partner, here are some of the great benefits!

With a native teacher, you are able to practice your speaking and listening. You have a native speaker’s attention for an hour or two a week. You can speak as little or as much as you want. AND, you can hear them speaking to you about topics you want to talk about.

This being said, you will be able to work on your pronunciation. Our language skill always sounds better in our heads than it does when we speak. Sometimes it just comes out a bit off…your native teacher will be there to help you pronounce it correctly with no stress!

This can also be with reading things out loud. Interested in cooking recipes? Read one out loud to your teacher and go over any words and vocab you might have missed.

You are more than welcome to self-study outside of class – in fact, it is encouraged! And when you do have class, you can ask questions about what you saw, read, and or heard.

Your teacher is there to help you through this language journey – ask them anything!

And asking questions is also available for learning about your teacher’s background and their cultural norms.

English is the world language. Business is conducted in English. Traveling is in English. It is a good time to learn about other cultures while you are also learning English. Or at least, learn how to phrase those questions and hold conversations about it!

Spanish is also another major world language. So many countries speak Spanish and there are a lot of native speakers as well as people who speak Spanish as a second or third language.

Having both English and Spanish opens your world!

Lastly, each lesson is customized to you. There are no duplicates. Each lesson is unique to you every week/day/class.

Ready to book a class with a native teacher or someone who has studied the language for years?

Try a free 30 minute discovery with one of our certified teachers and book a session!