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Conversation classes - experiences | ||
Tags: Class Learning | Conversation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| mst Triglot Newbie Brazil Joined 4958 days ago 9 posts - 20 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2 Studies: Italian | Message 1 of 14 26 March 2014 at 9:56pm | IP Logged |
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Has anyone tried it? What are your thoughts?
I've been studying French for over a year now with the end-goal of achieving B2 to be eligible for a governement exchange program. I did it and I'll be going to France in August. The problem is that, since I no longer have a proficiency exam looming ahead, the incentive to study in my free time is gone. I want my French to get better so that I can take full advantage of my university course in France. However, the incentive to study by myself is gone, university isn't making things easier and I don't think my 1h weekly classes on Skype are cutting it. A local school (an AF competitor) holds a weekly 3h conversation class, which would give me more hours of French per week, while costing half the price of my private classes. The group is small enough (4 students, myself included) but the teacher is not native (I'm picky about accents) and I don't know how well these classes work. I am afraid I am trading quality for quantity. Next week, I'll give the class a try to see if I like it. In the meanwhile, I'd welcome your thoughts and experiences to help me decide. Edited by mst on 26 March 2014 at 10:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4829 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 2 of 14 26 March 2014 at 10:56pm | IP Logged |
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It seems a reasonable approach. You are giving it a try, and maybe you will be able to
assess the teacher yourself to some extent. Perhaps in the meantime, you might try looking around for a French meetup group or similar, where you can get additional conversation practice, and with luck may meet some native speakers. It might be a good idea (if you are not doing this already) to get plenty of exposure to French radio, which should be good in itself, but it will also give you a chance to compare the way your teacher speaks to the way people in France (at least in the media) speak. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Hungringo Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 3989 days ago 168 posts - 329 votes Speaks: Hungarian*, English, Spanish Studies: French | Message 3 of 14 26 March 2014 at 11:21pm | IP Logged |
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Interesting content and people are the key to maintain your interest. Whatever you are interested in read about it in French, listen to the radio and audiobooks, watch TV and find interesting people on conversation exchange sites.
Personally, I don't think that spending hours with non-native fellow students and teacher would make a big difference. But of course it is worth a try. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5392 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 4 of 14 27 March 2014 at 2:46am | IP Logged |
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I got shuffled into a conversation class before when another one I was interested in didn't have enough sign ups. It was absolutely useless. Part of the problem was that there were way more people (I'd say almost 10) who also happened to already all know each other so it was really tough to get a word in edgewise.
It could be worth it if the teacher/leader keeps it very structured and is good at leading the discussion to make sure everyone gets a chance to talk. Some structure you want to look for - presentation of articles/pictures/clips/etc with questions, conversation-based games and activities, maybe some partner work, presentations, a course method/manual/textbook, etc with feedback about mistakes and whatnot. If this kind of stuff isn't present you're paying for something that you'd otherwise be getting from a Meetup group. If they offer other classes that are a bit more structured (a history class, culture class, writing, etc), I think you may find you'll still get the "conversation" component with a lot more substance and language support. Edited by sctroyenne on 27 March 2014 at 2:47am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7157 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 5 of 14 27 March 2014 at 4:41pm | IP Logged |
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They're good when they work, but more often than not they don't. A gripe that's related to sctroyenne's point about a "clique" or group of students who know each other, is that these kinds of classes can be monopolized by a few loudmouths who aren't necessarily the most polished speakers. No point in learning to use a language ungrammatically.
Conversation practice is good but when most of the fellow speakers are non-natives who are still struggling with vocabulary or grammar or pronunication, it'd only reinforce bad habits or fossilize errors if they practice among themselves. It's better when the learners are in a minority and the teacher leads the discussion firmly so that the learners get the right guidance, with most of the practice between the teacher/tutor and the students. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| napoleon Tetraglot Senior Member India Joined 5017 days ago 543 posts - 874 votes Speaks: Bengali*, English, Hindi, Urdu Studies: French, Arabic (Written) | Message 6 of 14 27 March 2014 at 8:24pm | IP Logged |
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There was a teacher who helped me a lot when I was struggling with spoken English.
I would speak with him for hours. At college. On the phone. At the mall. Everywhere. He is not a native speaker and I do not think my accent is any worse because of it. Had I refused his help then, I would be too shy to speak any English today. Moral: :-) If I have a teacher who is also a native speaker, that's great. But I would not dismiss a teacher just because the language he teaches is not his mother tongue. Better to have a good teacher, (even if he is non native,) than have no teacher at all. Better yet to have him all to myself. :-) Edited by napoleon on 28 March 2014 at 12:24pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5208 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 14 28 March 2014 at 11:04am | IP Logged |
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I went to a few sessions a while back that were a sort of mixture between a conversation group and a class: several learners and a "teacher" who tried to guide the conversation and give everyone a chance to speak. I mostly just found them to be the worst of both worlds: most of the language you hear is non-native, like a meetup, and you have to pay for it and go at an often inconvenient time, like a class. A couple of times it was good because there was a proper teacher who actually corrected mistakes and explained things, but that's rare; more often it was just a native speaker without teaching experience doing it for a bit of extra cash. So I agree with the general verdict that they can work but usually don't. I think you need to have the right combination of a decent teacher, a good group of people, and not too many of them.
4 persons have voted this message useful | |
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5533 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 14 28 March 2014 at 11:51am | IP Logged |
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One option worth considering: You can find interesting French conversation with natives on iTalki for $5–12/hour if you look in the "community tutors" section. Some nice things about this:
1. You get to challenge yourself to keep up with a native, instead of slowing down for fellow students. This is a big deal above B2. 2. You don't have to worry about language exchange partners flaking out on you. 3. You don't have to drive to classes or Meetups. 4. There are a lot of interesting people on iTalki, and you don't need to find an amazing tutor—just somebody who's interested in the subjects you want to talk about. 5. You can do several sessions a week. Even if you could find an amazing class, or an amazing Meetup, that's still only 1 hour/week or 1 hour/month. The prices on iTalki are pretty reasonable compared to most "conversational" classes, and you get to spend all your time directly interacting with a native speaker. 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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