“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr. Seuss
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A couple of weeks ago, I started this series of articles aimed at helping people make the right decision when choosing their English teacher. There are several factors that need to be taken into account when deciding on the best teacher for you, including your level, objectives, time, and budget. These factors can tell us whether we should attend classes with a native or bilingual teacher, take in-person or online classes, private conversation classes or follow a course in an academy.
Today we are going to look at the question number 2:
«Which are better – classes online or in person?»
Like many people, my work life changed completely because of the pandemic. My pre-pandemic classes were all in person at my students’ place of work. However, when the pandemic hit, I was extremely fortunate that I could keep teaching because the majority of my students were willing to continue their classes online. At first, I thought it would just be a temporary change, but two years on and my students are still happily taking their classes online.
What my students and I found was that the online classes with a webcam were just as interesting and enjoyable and varied as our in-person classes. My lower-level students were a little bit nervous at the beginning as they were worried it would be more difficult to understand the class with the computer audio. But in the end, it wasn’t a problem. The main difference I found was when students preferred not to turn on their webcams (probably because they wearing their pajamas!), as the classes were purely audio and this made it quite a bit more challenging for the students. We all know how tricky it is to understand someone when we can’t get clues from their facial expressions or gestures! But for students with a higher level, it can be an interesting option to help improve their listening.
Online classes have the added benefit that you have a lot more flexibility in where and when you take your classes. You also have a lot more options when it comes to choosing your teacher, as you are not restricted by their geographical location. In fact, this is one of the best things about the Breeze Lingo platform. We have teachers from all over the globe which means you can get used to a wide variety of English accents and dialects. It’s like travelling the world without leaving your house!
You can also save money by taking classes online as you do not have any travel costs or have to keep paying for coffees (or beers) so the waiter lets you take your classes in his cafe!
So, just to sum up. In my experience, online and in-person classes are equally effective at helping you learn English, whatever your English level or learning objectives. Online classes have the added benefits of increasing the variety of teachers you can choose from and giving you a lot more flexibility in where and when to take the classes. They are also more economical, so with the money, you save on transport costs and coffees, you can spend it on taking one or two more classes extra every month.
I hope you find this helpful when looking for your next English teacher. If you have any questions, as always, you can ask them in the comments section below or contact us by email or social media.
Happy learning!
