Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bryan]

I know this may offend a board full of language instructors, but it seems that the people who best learn languages, and learn them quickly, do not choose to pay for classes. If you look at the forums at How To Learn Any Language .Com most of the polyglots are against taking classes. Mithridates on this forum self-studied, I think. Providing one has the necessary motivation and drive, self-study might be superior.

The problem with classes is that they are not designed specifically for you, so they do not cater to your pace. They often cost more money than self-study even when you purchase expensive study materials. Often, classes are full of people asking questions that you already understand or don't need to know, since the instructor needs to divide his/her attention between several students. Note: I don't want to included private 1 on 1 classes in this category.

My own history includes several years of French with no real fluency, but that's probably because I didn't have an interest in the language. If I did have an interest, then I would be studying and grasping the material that the class would be traveling at a snails pace, and showing up would simply be a formality. Some of the public school teachers here may have a similar experience with their students. They see most students twice a week for a couple years with no real improvement (their level of motivation is another issue).

In the end it looks like the determining factor is motivation, and that a person will succeed in language learning whether they join a class or not as long as they are motivated. Therefore, I'd like to hear more about the positives and negatives of either method. Honestly, this thread is not entirely academic--I am making it to get practical guidance as well.

[Edit: By independent study I also want to include conversational language exchanges whether conversing with people for practice in real life or on Skype. A private 1 on 1 lesson might be great for that too. Obviously, one must learn their conversational skills through contact with another person.]

A question for some people might be: Why do you choose to pay for Korean language classes? Or why did you choose to self-study instead?

[uberscheisse]

i have been studying japanese for about a year, and i have to say that having a regular class/teacher has been great for me. he gives me assignments and i do the homework.

i'm generally undisciplined but i have 2 hours of free time at work every day, and i'm able to study that whole time. it's about the only interesting thing to do in the staffroom, and it gets the japanese staff all excited.

people i know here who are fluent - all are dating/married to japanese people who are not that adept in english. love/sex can be a great incentive to get it together and study.

[PeteJB]

I learned a lot of Korean by myself, but I later discovered ONLY by taking classes the mistakes and misunderstandings I had made during that time. I think, having classes AND self study is the proper way to do it. If you don't have time for both, then it's up to the person deciding what they want to do.

[Bryan]

[ajgeddes]

I think the most important thing that a class does is it gives you a chance to talk about non-daily conversation topics and someone to help you work it out. That was what it did for me. I did self-study for a while, but my speaking was crap. I spent all day speaking English and then would go home. There was no chance for me to really practice the full extent of my studies. After taking classes (which were really good classes) my speaking took off and now I rarely have problems unless talking about complicated things.

[cdninkorea]

From my personal experience and that of other's I've talked to about the subject, it seems, generally speaking, that classes are better for those less motivated.
Why? Because there's a teacher to grade you on assignments and tests, and the possibility of failure provides a powerful incentive.

Classes have other benefits though too: there's much to learn from the tangents that the teacher goes on (if they're related to the subject matter). Teachers can answer questions that may arise, and let's also not forget that a good teacher can be a big help even for the highly motivated by explaining things effectively and in a way that makes sense to students.

[Scotticus]

[Bryan]

[the_beaver]

Motivation is the number 1 indicator of success in second language acquisition and it stands to reason that people who study by themselves do so because they are motivated.

However, studies show that there is a tendency for students taking formal classes to improve more quickly and to reach a higher level than students who study only on their own.

[cdninkorea]

[jkelly80]

Classes are good also b/c you have the opportunity to explain things like grammar and tenses and such, which help to solidify the concepts, and to also ask questions from others. Even if they're wrong, discussion is very helpful, at least for me.

[samd]

I took my first classes last year, free at the Korean Cultural Institute, after a year and a half of hard solo study, and they were great. They remotivated me, gave me a new perspective, gave me confidence, and fixed up some errors, especially in pronunciation.

But in the end the whole experience made me think that self study was the way to go, with maybe the odd private lesson along the way. This is because I still had to study on my own to learn the new material and vocabulary, and my motivation is there anyway.

I think as long as you have avenues for speaking and listening practice, girlfriend/friends/coworkers/students, self study is better. Especially once you get to an internediate level.

Maybe for beginners classes would be more effective as it's more difficult to get speaking and listening practice everyday when you can say or understand anything.