Have you wondered which suits you better: group lessons or individual lessons? Or maybe you have been asked about this multiple times? Either way, here is the ultimate guide to help you to make a decision or to go over these two options when talking to friends.
Studying in groups
For those who are looking for something beyond learning a language, studying in groups allows us to make friends, share memories and enjoy the best of what socialization has to offer us. So, let's have a look at some of the pros & cons of this modality:
Less artificial and more fun
Learning a language should be a communication-based activity, thus, having the chance to effectively communicate to more people makes studying an idiom a more engaging activity. The discussions will be more legit and spontaneous, the range of tasks which can be done is way bigger and you will probably have more fun if you are prone to interact, though all of these advantages can backfire if you are an introvert and you are likely to feel stressed, intimidated and tired when facing socialization.
A menu of successful strategies
As students we all develop our own methods to practice, memorize and learn new things. Sometimes we ask the teacher for suggestions or google them, but nothing compares to witnessing people succeeding in doing something. When studying in groups we are more open-minded about changing our own strategies whereas we often forbit ourselves even to think about doing it when we study alone. In groups, we feel more prone to drop bad learning habits and to raise the bar, take chances.
Error prediction
You know that moment your teacher corrects your classmate and you think "oopsie" because you know you would make the same mistake? When we study with more people, we can prevent ourselves from making mistakes much more easily because we learn to avoid them with the environment. This, of course, boosts our skill to correct ourselves and eventually our fluency. On the other hand, depending on the number of learners in class, you may have little individual feedback on your performance or even lesser chances to speak and test the things you have been learning.
Studying alone
The ideal alternative for those on a tight schedule, face to face individual lessons can help learners to go after specific goals with much higher chances of succeeding. Here are the best advantages and downsides of this modality:
Flexibility
It is so hard to catch up when you miss a lesson and finding suitable times for your studies is nearly impossible when you are overload with work. Flexibility is an obvious but crucial advantage of studying alone. It is also handy if you feel a little insecure about following "the pace" of a crowded class.
Fewer distractions
Going straight to the point makes all difference when you are pursuiting a learning goal. The digressions and small talks can distract or delay you. With a single student in class, the teachers tend to be more objective and you will definitely do more in less time. However, you must bear in mind you may need to put more effort while doing your homework if you want to learn big chuncks at once.
Personalized
All in all professional (and good) teachers plan their lessons to favor different profiles of learners. A good teacher always try to vary how things are explained so everyone can understand them. If you are the only student in class and you are visual, for instance, there is no reason for the teacher to go for a bunch of "see the big picture" examples a logical learner requires instead of simply showing you a photo on the cellphone. Thus, the classes are likely to be personalized accordingly to your learning style and this will optimize the whole process of learning.
Individual feedback
While you can’t know for sure if your performance is above or below average because there isn't anyone you can compare yourself to, you can definitely profit from the individual feedback the teachers will provide you with. Asking questions, making mistakes, solving exercises, all of these will be facilitated by being the only one the teacher has to assist. On top of that, you will be pushed to produce more as you have nowhere to run when a question is asked.
There is no wrong way to learn. But being more aware of how it is that you learn will certainly lead you to make better choices. Thanks for reading and I hope this helped to shine a light on your decision. See you next time!
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