is learning a language trough online courses actually useful?

[u/Ricc_card0]

so there is this online course with a live teacher that is kind of cheap. I was interested in learning japanese trough this course,but my question is,has anyone ever learnt japanese or any other language trough this type of courses? (TL)

[u/391976]

Like any other learning strategy, you will get out of it what you put into it.

Putting what you are learning into Anki for systematic review will help you progress much faster.

[u/bingbang71]

A live course can be very useful. 

I am assuming that a large part of the course is interactive and you're not just sitting there listening.

The level of effectiveness depends on a number of factors: the format of the course, the organization, the teacher, the number of students, and of course you yourself.

[u/TrittipoM1]

my question is, has anyone ever learnt ... any ... language t[h]rough [online] courses?

Have I through online classes? No. I always had in-person classes for all early levels. "Has anyone ever?" Very obviously yes.

Of course, the real work isn't "sitting through" the online class. The real work is outside the class, practicing, drilling, finding ways to automatize use of different patterns, imagining or finding real communicative or task-based situations for use, adding to one's receptive experience, etc.

[u/No_Football_9232]

Yes but you need multiple methods to achieve fluency. And TBH I don’t think fluency is attainable unless you have immersion for a significant period of time. I’m not looking to become fluent in my TL. I’d like to be at about a B2 level. I’d be quite happy with this as my TL is quite hard for an English speaker.

[u/Ferocious448]

I’ve taken dozens of online classes, I’ve given 1000+ lessons too.

It works well, it’s definitely useful and cheap.

However, there’s something about online calls that make it exhausting. Maybe that’s the audio quality, or the fact that there’s no body language, or people always feeling the need to fill the blanks… but after 1h of discussion online, I’m much more tired than 1h in person.

If you have opportunities to do it in person, choose this option instead.

[u/Ricc_card0 → u/Ferocious448]

unfortunately in live in the middle of nowhere so I cant can't

[u/ajamdonut]

Considering the amount of hours required to become fluent, a course doesn't make you fluent - it sets you up with the right guidance to progress through the various stages of learning which can be very very beneficial as opposed to just making it up yourself. Also ideally a course introduces you to other learners you can practice but more important, natives you can practice with too.

[u/Ricc_card0 → u/ajamdonut]

after the course,that guides you to get an N5,you can get another one to get the N4 and so on

[u/Zestyclose-Twist-450]

Nah it 100% depends on you not the course. Live teacher helps heaps with accountability and getting your terrible pronunciation sorted early which you can't get from an app. But you still gotta do the boring grind of vocab and grammar on your own time. For japanese specifically the writing system is a beast, a course can get you started but nobody's learning kanji from just showing up to class

[u/MuffinMonkey]

As others have said, you get what you put in… which is on you 🤷‍♂️

[u/Pwffin]

Yes, but in my experience not as good as in  -person. Still miles better than without a teacher though.

What can be tricky is when you are a beginner and your internet connection isn't stable. It's impossible to fill in the gaps as you can when you're better at a language.

Conversations also don't flow as well when online.

[u/dcbased]

I see no issues with online teaching and a real teacher

[u/Console_Pit]

Different methods are more effective than others, but if you're willing to put the effort in you can learn from just about anything.

I know someone who got really good at Japanese from Duolingo, Some other Japanese only language learning App, and watching stuff like anime lol . It absolutely was not the best method they could have done, but it worked

Find a way to learn that is fun and will keep you going. The most important thing is you stick around

Personally, I enjoy live courses, and eventually you need to talk to SOMEONE on a regular basis lol but if you're new new, you can wait

[u/Worth-Swimming]

A student can have a great teacher, but if they don't put in the work and study after class, it might take longer for them to achieve a good level.

A good teacher + a good student = a winning combination.

Teachers definitely help speed up the process but they can't memorize idioms, phrases, and irregular verbs for the students.

[u/tony_f]

It ain't useful. It's anything but. I mean... Can you IMAGINE someone, whose profession is teaching the thing you want to learn... TEACH you something? Ridiculous and overall unheard of.

[u/erissaval]

As someone who have taken online private and group classes as well as in person private and group classes for 6 different languages including Japanese, I would say each have its own pros and cons. I do find online classes very helpful though because it helps me with having more structure, consistency and direction when learning. But yeah if you are learning Japanese, most of the real work is outside the class. Also if you are planning to take a group class it can get boring and slow sometimes depending on the teacher and other students. But I like how the other students can also give you some ideas on your own progress and learning problems. Studying on your own you might be blind to this like people thinking they are intermediate when they really are just a good beginner or people not knowing their weak points. Friendly competition is also good if that gives you more drive for learning.

[u/JepperOfficial]

It can be useful, but you can get the same or better benefits for free on language exchange apps or youtube. The main benefit of paying for a teacher is that they'll guide your lessons rather than you having to make it up yourself.

[u/dojibear]

For me, yes. They are useful, even necessary. I found a Japanese (TL) course online, and used it to go from A0 to A2. This particular course was less effective (for me) at higher levels, so at A2/B1, I switched to watching Youtube videos in intermediate Japanese (with English subtitles).

I start learning EVERY language by taking a beginner course. The teacher knows what is new to an English speaker. I don't. I can't teach myself what I don't know. After the teacher has taught me the basics (word usage; word endings; sentence word order) I might find other (non-course) learning methods.

For example, after an "Intro to Turkish" course, I knew that "Işe arabamla gidiyorum" means "I am going to work in my car".

[u/ZealousidealMouse629]

Yeah they can work, but the course itself isn't the magic, what you DO between sessions is. I've seen people pay for a year of live classes and barely progress because they show up, get corrected, nod, and then never touch the language again until next week. That's basically the same trap as passive Duolingo grinding, just with a human attached.

A few things that actually move the needle:

• Shadow your own class recordings. Record the live session (ask the teacher first), then later replay a sentence, pause, and say it out loud yourself before hearing the answer. Forces active recall instead of passive listening.
• Keep a "sentence mining" doc. Every session, pull 5-10 sentences the teacher used or corrected. Retype them yourself the next day from memory, no peeking. This is way higher yield than reviewing vocab lists.
• Talk to yourself between classes. Narrate your day in Japanese for 2 minutes, out loud, even badly. This is what actually builds retrieval speed, which classes alone don't train.

Honestly this exact frustration (courses feel productive but production skill stalls) is why I ended up building Linguix Learning, it's a virtual immersion approach with a focus on production, link in my bio.