Language tutors have been improving language learning techniques for many years. Whether you opt for online tuition or in-person language lessons, there are four essential pillars of language learning:
- Mastery of the written language: Only once you have mastered this will you be able to communicate in writing correctly, without making grammatical and spelling mistakes. This part is usually aimed at people who need language lessons to pass an official language exam or who need to write professionally.
- Proficiency in the spoken language: Speaking the language fluently and being able to put into words what you think and feel is essential. Normally, people who want to learn a language by travelling already have some knowledge of the spoken language. However, they may need a tutor to help them improve their pronunciation and increase their vocabulary.
- Reading comprehension: This is especially useful for the initial part, where reading helps reinforce vocabulary and over time you will be able to read a new language without looking for the translation. You can count on your language tutor to provide you with texts according to your level during English lessons or whichever language lessons are taking.
- Listening comprehension: This helps students get used to different accents and ways of speaking. It is very important to notice the difference between American and British English, for example, and to be able to understand a language no matter who you are talking to. When finding tutors, make sure you choose a tutor with the accent you want to learn.
Once you have covered these four points in your online tuition, you can say that you have mastered a language perfectly: you can read and write, speak and listen at a fluent level - congratulations!
Practise a new language online
To incorporate a new language into your daily routine, you can spend time reading and using language apps. But we all know that the key to learning is to actually practise the language. That's why it's so important to learn languages from a young age.
It may seem difficult at first without the help of a private language tutor, but you can seek help and try talking to native speakers to practise English, Spanish or whatever language you want to learn. There are many ways to learn languages online:
- Self-taught language learning. Nowadays, there is a lot of material available on the Internet to learn languages for free. This method is ideal for those who have a basic level of the language and want to improve grammar, but it is not particularly effective for pronunciation.
- Online language learning apps. Apps like Duolingo are famous all over the world for the possibility to learn a new language with simple methods. With the help of sounds, visual clues, quizzes to increase vocabulary. The advantage is that you can learn at any time from anywhere.
- Language courses. Language courses offer proven approaches to learning a new language. However, they require a great deal of time and commitment, and are often more expensive than private tuition.
- Immersion techniques and additional materials. Language learning materials are essential for online language learning. You can listen to a podcast, news or a YouTube video in English, for example. Take advantage of your commute to work or school to listen to different pronunciations and practise your listening skills.
- Find conversation groups. The easiest way to master a language is to practise. You can practise conversation with native speakers in informal meetings or in online tuition.
Find private tuition for all languages and levels.
Can I become fluent by learning a language on Duolingo?
Online language learning apps, such as Duolingo, help as an extra resource, but they alone cannot make you proficient in a foreign language. This is because in order to have a high level of proficiency and pass official language exams, you need to actually speak the language with a native speaker or a qualified language tutor.
Hours of practice count a lot when it comes to increasing your comprehension and only in active conversation can you test your skills. So, like most learners, you can use Duolingo as a complement to your language tuition.
In this way, you will be in daily contact with the language and retain the content you have learned with your online language tutor. According to official tests, you need to know 4,000 words to be able to converse in a new language and 8,000 to have native fluency. Look for the word indicator in your app history and see how many words you have learned so far.