While many people choose to learn languages through watching movies, or listening to music, there is a more efficient way. Finding a good tutor/teacher can enhance your learning tremendously.
Why hire a tutor in the first place?
A big part of learning a language (and anything for that matter), is getting feedback. Having someone point out your mistakes and offer ways to correct them is one of the most effective ways to improve your language skills. You could spend weeks, months, or years making the same mistakes out of habit. Having someone you know you’ll speak to at scheduled times during the week encourages accountability and makes it easier get constant feedback.
It makes learning stick
Interacting with another human being is an emotional experience. Be they friend, family, or teacher. Your emotions play a big part in you retaining memories and information. When you speak to a tutor, there is a higher level of emotional involvement compared to watching a film or reading a book. You may be nervous, excited, or curious about something and want to ask them. Whatever your emotional state is at the time, what you feel while speaking to your tutor will help solidify the new information you’re learning into your memory. Why? Because…
You will be learning in context
Many times, when we set out to learn languages, we might search YouTube for basic phrases. Or, we might buy a phrasebook or learn from vocabulary lists. Many times, these methods are devoid of context. We need a reason to use those phrases we’ve learned. Speaking to anyone, not just your tutor, puts the language in context and gives you a reason to use the language in a practical way. Suddenly, asking about the weather or asking how someone’s day went becomes a lot more relevant to you. When you combine learning in context, with the emotional experience that comes with interacting with other people in real time, you create a fertile environment in your mind for the language to take root.
They can cater to you
Over time, the relationship you have with your tutor will grow. They’ll learn to adjust to your level, speak slowly when you need them to, and steer the conversation in a way that allows you to push your speaking /listening skills. This level of personalized attention is really hard to duplicate. Not only do you get to speak about topics you’re interested in, but you’ll also have the chance to speak on topics you’re not used to. This pushes your comfort zone and can enhance your language skills even more
In closing
No matter where you are in your language learning journey, hiring a tutor at some point can be a huge benefit to your language learning journey.
