THE MAGIC OF LEARNING FIVE FOREIGN LANGUAGES WITH THE TUTORS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD: ITALKI
Hello everyone and welcome to this little discussion! In today’s article I’ll be talking about my language learning process. I’ve always had a dream to learn well and to speak five foreign languages. To be able to talk to someone from a different part of the world in their mother language. If you have the same vision or are just passionate about foreign language learning, grammar, speaking, vocabulary, literature etc., here is some advice that may help you to make your dream come true!
Two weeks ago my dad made me realize one thing. I kept talking with him about my passion for the languages and sharing with him every little joy I experienced in the “international space”. And he just said:“If you want to learn more, it’s not a problem. It has always been your dream to know 5 foreign languages. Now that we don’t pay for the dormitory, you can spend this money on the lessons.”
I’m so fortunate that my parents have never hesitated to put the money into my and my sister’s education. After my dad’s comment I decided to finally take a step and go for it. The first thing you have to do is to thing about your time. Do you really have the space to take extra lessons during the semester? What are your goals? Fortunately, I have a good time management. I use the calendar in my phone that I’ve synchronized with the italki app so I can clearly see when I have my lessons. I have one extra exercise book for all my italki lessons. It’s also important to print all the materials you receive from your tutors. You’ll be more organized and you’ll remember more information. Don’t underestimate the preparation for the lessons. Only in this way you’ll use the time of the lesson effectively. I always ask my teachers for some homework. I read articles for the Spanish classes, I do exercises for my Finnish lessons …
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Which app do I use for the lessons and which tutors do I have the lessons with? As you could already notice from my stories or blog, I use italki. My mum started to use this platform about a year ago for English, she told me about it and I decided to give it a try. I love their system. You choose the time of your lesson from the teacher’s calendar. It’s totally up to you when you want to study. It doesn’t have to be every Friday at 4 pm. Sometimes it can be Monday, someties Thursday … you have the absolute freedom.
The most important thing is not to be afraid of talking, of making mistakes. My big inspiration in this respect is Gavin Roy (YouTube channels: Tady Gavin (for Czech) and Small Advantages (for Portuguese)). Each teacher has an introductory video on italki so that you can choose a person who suits you. When I watch this video, the first impression is the most important. My teachers are usually women around the same age as me, I feel the most comfortable with them. Another piece of advice: if you’re a girl, don’t choose as a teacher a man that you find attractive (and it also applies for male students as well, ofc.). Believe me, in such a case you won’t learn a lot, you’ll be more nervous. In a lesson you should feel comfortable to be able to have an open discussion with the teacher.
Who are my italki teachers at the moment?
Spanish: Paula Zuluaga Lopez (from Colombia)
Portuguese: Julieta R. (from Azores)
Finnish: Sabrin Hietanen (from Finland, now living in the New Zealand)
At first you should take a trial lesson (30 min). In this session the teacher agrees with the student on the format of the lesson, on the study material, on the expectations. The student introduces themselves, talks about the history of their language learning, about the goals and favourite learning methods (videos, articles, a book …). The big advantage of italki is that you don’t have to continue with the teacher from the trial lesson if you don’t want to. You don’t have to give an explanation to anybody, you can just choose another tutor. The same is true if you no longer want to continue with your current tutor (well if it was a good one, you should send them a message at least).
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Are there any negative sides?
Ofc. As in a normal life, you can meet a bad tutor who keeps rescheduling the lessons or giving you some awkward explanations why they can’t attend the lesson. On italki all the changes related to a lesson have to be approved by both parts (teacher, student). You usually want to be kind, so you accept the changes. If it happens only occasionally, it’s ok. However, you won’t believe how many times I had to reschedule one of my lessons. I tried to comply with the tutor’s wishes for half a year but at the right moment I said “stop, that’s enough”. I was feeling so sad because I always try to be kind to the people around me but it was such a good decision. I took a break from studying that language for 2 months but now I’m back and can’t be happier. So, please, don’t make the same mistake as me. If you feel that something is wrong with the tutor or the lessons, choose a new one and don’t loose the time or motivation! You can also report the teacher if their behaviour was particularly unprofessional.
Remember you are the person who decides about the format of a lesson. You should do what’s best for you: ask questions, decide about the topics, identify your weaknesses. Open up to the teacher, don’t keep doing the activities you do not enjoy or which don’t push you forwards. You are the person who knows you the best. No one can really know what you feel, what you’re thinking about if you don’t say it out loud.
My English and Italian:
At the moment, I’m not practising these languages on italki because I also have online seminars at my uni (Palacký university, Czech Republic) and I work as a teacher of Spanish and Italian as well. I’ve been taking the lessons of Italian with a native speaker living in my country for about 3 years now. We already know each other very well and work as a good team.
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I usually keep in touch with English by watching films and videos, by reading the books by the writers from overseas. I prefer American English.
The YouTube channels I follow:
- Earls Family Vlogs: with the father who works in the army, now they moved from Washington D.C. to Alaska
- Rachelle and Justin: the father worked in the navy, they document their life as a family of 6
- Melissa Lucy: a university student who also runs her own business and lives a healthy lifestyle
- Vee Kativhu: her channel is mostly about education, she graduated from the Oxford University and now studies at Harvard
I’m already looking forward to the lessons that I have on italki next week. As a student and a teacher at the same time I like observing my tutors’ methods and learning from them. And … let me tell you one more time … it’s just so amazing that thanks to the modern tecnologies we can speak with a person miles and miles away.
Thank you very much for reading, I hope it inspired you and I wish you the best in your language learning!
— How long have I been learning my languages? English: for 11 years, Italian: 8 years, Spanish: 6 years, Portuguese: 1 year, Finnish: 7 months.
— Which languages am I planning to learn in the future? Norwegian/Swedish and Catalan (not now, in 5 years at the earliest).
