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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5329 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes  Speaks: Spanish* | Message 97 of 108 03 March 2013 at 5:47pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't wish to derail this thread, but unless your goal is to start saying "hello" and "goodbye" right away, a private tutor is far from being the most efficient method of language learning, if we define efficiency as the amount of a language you can acquire within a given time period. Well-chosen, substantive, quality materials provide you with a much larger chunk of a language than any live study session can. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5414 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 98 of 108 03 March 2013 at 9:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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Neither do I want to hijack this thread, but I just wanted to point out that in the two cases of child prodigies, they worked exclusively with private tutors and not in group classes. In the video I saw of Wendy Vo, Saturdays were dedicated to a steady stream of tutors who came to talk with her and teach using all kinds of materials.
But on a general note, I have no doubt that well-chosen, substantive, quality materials are useful. Is anybody against that? But am I to believe that @Juan prefers to forego the services of a live tutor who can complement those great materials? All I can say is that I love my tutor that I meet once a week. The rest of the time I'm not exactly sitting on my hands. I'm using all those great materials. Why do I like a live tutor? First of all, I get to talk about what I want to talk about. I can have real conversations. I can practice the speeches and presentations I have to give. Second, I get instant correction. My pronunciation has improved remarkably because someone actually tells me what I'm doing wrong and how to correct it. And finally, someone actually shows me how to speak in a more natural and idiomatic way. Maybe I try something on I heard on television but the tutor shows me how to use it correctly in various situations and in varying dialects. A tutor doesn't replace books, methods, the Internet or studying grammar, but for actually speaking the language, a tutor, in my opinion, is the best way to go if one can afford it. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6581 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 99 of 108 03 March 2013 at 9:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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Only if you need/want to speak from the beginning. If you are forced to speak too early, you'll be bored/frustrated/nervous/shy.
I think you don't need to convince anyone here that a session with a tutor is better than a typical class. But note that we don't know much about the children's motivation - their parents are the ones who want them to learn many languages. Yes, for a child a tutor can be a good idea for staying organized/not giving up, but most motivated adults can do without one just fine. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| htdavidht Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4607 days ago 68 posts - 121 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: French | Message 100 of 108 03 March 2013 at 9:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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What about immersion?
I mean, if you think 1 tutor is good, imagine how good is 2 of them... now imagine some 2000 of them. Imagine how it would be if instead having someone talking to you in the TL 1 hour at week, you have 2000 people talking to you on the TL all the time. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6581 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 101 of 108 03 March 2013 at 10:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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For kids immersion beats everything, yes. Adults can create their own immersion - including an "immersion" into their native language while living abroad.
Also, while I practise a sort of "multilingual immersion" (like AJATT but All Foreign Languages All The Time), it can be difficult or even impossible to learn more than one language at a time this way. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5414 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 102 of 108 03 March 2013 at 11:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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Let's not mix things up here. Immersion is wonderful but if we're talking about a tutor, we're talking about a professional who is being paid to work with you. I'm sure motivated adults can do without one. I've clearly stated why I enjoy working with one. It's my weakness, an expensive one but I enjoy every minute of it. If you don't want your pronunciation or your grammar corrected, you'll save a lot of money.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6581 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 103 of 108 03 March 2013 at 11:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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It's not necessarily about money. For me it isn't at all.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5414 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 104 of 108 04 March 2013 at 12:12am | IP Logged | ||
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I think for adults use of a tutor is a personal choice. Some people, like myself, use them because we appreciate that outside help. Other people don't need or value that help because they can do just as well without constructive criticism. In the end, it's the results that count.
But to come back to the thread, I think it's quite clear here that tutors are necessary to engage the young learner and to focus on pronunciation and verbal interaction. What's the alternative? Edited by s_allard on 04 March 2013 at 12:12am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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