Language Learning Classes -- Right For You?

Many people who wish to learn a language often consider taking a language class or course. By going to session after session, one can use one's study group to learn more of the language. However, the real question is whether or not this is the best or cheapest way to approach the subject. In this article, I hope to shed some light on the class learning approach to language studies.

Also, if you are interested in the fastest language learning method around and want to know all the tips, tricks and techniques I have learned over the past 10 years that will have you learning a language faster than you ever thought possible, then definitely take a look at my language learning book now. You're wasting your time unless you have this information.

Anyway, let's continue on to the subject. People expect that if they put down money for a class, show up week after week, they will somehow become fluent in the language. I don’t think I’ve met a single person who has become “fluent” in a language by taking a class or who has come even remotely close to being proficient in a language solely by taking a class.

There are a few problems with classes. One is the teaching method that so many of them employ. Mainly, it’s taught that studying vocabulary lists, memorizing grammar rules and applying them is how one becomes able to speak a language.

I’ll talk more about why this is an extremely inefficient method later but it seems that nearly every class I have ever taken employs this method in one way or another.

Usually it starts off with using a textbook and moving through chapter after chapter, studying a vocabulary list each time and learning some new grammatical rules. We’ll see why this is a problem soon.

Additionally, from a time usage standpoint, language classes are highly inefficient. Often class time is spent settling in or going over homework or a teacher answering a question for another student which you already know.

Also, inevitably there is going to be time that the teacher is focusing his or her attention on a student in the class while your mind wanders off somehow. Again, this is wasted time and doesn’t help you move towards your goal of becoming proficient in a foreign language.

Other problems with classes are their focus on homework and tests. Most classes are required to provide you with some sort of feedback at the end or if not, the teacher somehow feels that giving tests is the “proper” thing to do in a class.

These tests are actually a waste of time and energy since for your own personal goal of achieving proficiency, measuring your knowledge in a contrived way (by using very limited bounds such as the vocabulary list of a particular chapter) is not in any way helpful.

Also, if you choose to study for these tests by cramming in the words a day or two before the test, you will find that you lose them very quickly afterwards. Again, this results in more wasted time.

Additionally, we cannot forget the wasted time it takes to get to and from the class. If you simply studied by yourself, you could gain a lot of use out of the traveling time and out of all the wasted time in class mentioned before. Time taken for tests and reviewing homework is inefficiently spent when compared to the possibility of moving forward towards your goal of becoming better in the language.

It’s also important to keep in mind that these types of language classes can in some ways hinder your ability to advance in the language. If you are in a classroom with a bunch of other non-native speakers, you will hear a good amount of them speaking the language you are attempting to learn. Since you are all beginners, you will inevitably make mistakes. And, also, since you are all beginners, you will not be able to tell what is correct and what is not correct in your new language.

As a result, listening to non-native speakers speaking the language will reinforce an improper accent and will also reinforce improper grammatical structures and improper vocabulary usage.

This is a shame in situations where all the students are forced to talk to each other in the new language. While the intention of getting learners to practice the new language as much as possible is good, this practice actually damages a speaker’s ability in the new language.

Again, speakers will make errors and speak in an unnatural accent which will only reinforce these mistakes in one’s ability to speak the language. I, myself, have been in situations like this where students began to use constructions in the new language that made sense from an English grammatical standpoint but if used with a native speaker would make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Ultimately, the amount of money and time spent in classes could be much more efficiently used. Also, the truth is, just attending a class won’t get you anywhere near proficient in your new language. Even if you do attend a class, you will soon learn that you’ll need a lot of study outside of class as well if you want to get anywhere.

If your class met for an hour each time, you could expect 30 to 45 minutes of that class being active studying on your part and that’s on the upper end. So even if your class met for an hour per day for five days per week for ten weeks, that would only be 25 hours to 37.5 hours of study. As we went over in a previous section, 25 to 37.5 hours is nowhere near the hundreds or possibly thousands of hours required to become proficient in a language.

Classes that meet for a lesser amount of time or more infrequently are even worse. I once attended a Japanese class that met for three hours on Saturday every week. Because the gap was so long between lessons and the lessons were so short in themselves, the progress people made was little more than a standstill. I met people there who had been attending class for seven or more years and who had still not advanced past “beginner” status. They could not even begin to understand children’s TV or even think to order a pizza in the language.

The best way is to forget about classes entirely and spend your time and money more efficiently. You will also find that you’ll learn the language a lot quicker, too. I highly recommend taking a look at my language learning manual which will teach you the tips, tricks, techniques and method that I have discovered over the past 10 years to get you fluent faster than you ever thought possible. So, definitely go take a look.