Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[longshikong]

I'm a teacher. I've taught English for 15 years. What do you (students) think about learning English online (with a teacher or tutor)? Please share your experience. But please DON'T ADVERTISE HERE!!!

If you study online, tell us what your teacher or tutor does, or doesn't do. How much do you pay? Do you think it's expensive? Did you choose your tutor or teacher? Did you ever complain about anything?

I asked teachers here about teaching online and you can read their response here .

Please everyone, NO COMPANY or WEBSITE NAMES!!!

[longshikong]

From this report, it seems the online language learning market is expected to grow by 10.9% per year from 2016-2020.

But is it better than face to face or just more convenient? I would really like to hear from students. Please share your online learning experiences. Tell us what it was like compared to learning in a classroom. Could you always see your teacher (and online classmates)? Did you have a free trial lesson? Was the free trial lesson much better than the actual lesson? What online or printed materials did you use to study from on your own? Did your online teacher teach you what s/he wanted to teach you or what you wanted to learn? Did you feel you improved?

[Johnee.Springs]

Hi longshikong,

I have no experience so far with an online program, but I would like to share my opinion on this.

For me there are several reasons why I haven't paid for a content so far.

First of all many project cost a lot of money. I would say this is a problem in the digital world, because you have free access to so many sites. If you provide a service that costs something you often don’t get the chance of showing that your content is better than the free stuff.
That brings me to point two: It would be very important for me to have a free trial period. I know many people won’t extend their free period, but I think even more people will try it.
Another important aspect why I haven’t joint an online course yet is that I am looking for a real community. Just like this forum it’s very important for me to enjoy the learning process and of course to talk about normal stuff like politics, sports and maybe your burnt dinner last night. I think online courses should be more like fitness programs. There you have a community that helps you to stay motivated and to find people that are in the same situation. I think this would really complete an English online course.
Please let me know if there are any courses that offer such a community!

And by the way: I’m glad that I've found Dave’s ESL Café. It’s that type of community I was looking for!

Yours Johnee

[longshikong]

Thanks for your feedback, Johnee.

A course and a community are two separate things. If all you want to do is to talk to someone in English for free, you can probably find someone, maybe even a native speaker. The important thing is to start with a topic of interest, a hobby, current affairs, learning English or something. Then find a social media website group of that topic and invite members to chat online. Perhaps someone here can share a weblink to a Skype chat group.

The problem in finding a native speaker somewhere in the world to talk to for free is that what you have to say should be of value to them. Don't expect them to be patient with you if it takes you an inordinate amount of time to express even the simplest ideas unambiguously.