Since I teach French online I realized many people don’t understand how it works. Some don’t know you can learn French online with a tutor. Actually, they are surprised and some even ask how I get paid…People care about different matters but learning online is not just about technology. Before teaching online I used to tutor offline face to face. And I can tell it’s very different, it’s completely different for me. I also noticed it’s not only a great advantage for the tutor but also for the students.
1-No Time Constraints
Time is something everyone need. To learn French online means you can study where you want (at home, in a café, anywhere with an Internet connection). If you can learn anywhere you don’t need to commute to a specific place. This is a big advantage. You save time and energy, which you can use to study for example. I don’t know how many hours we spend commuting each year, but it’s hundred hours you can save for your studies! So even if you take a 60$/hour online lesson it’s cheaper than offline face to face. Because I think time and energy worth way more than money. Plus, a simple calculation shows that if your hourly rate is 20$ and you spend 1h30 commuting, you are already losing money (and usually commuting is not free). If you are someone who is looking for improvement and productivity, it’s better to spend more money with an online tutor. And you don’t have to manage a chaotic schedule because you will definitely find tutors available at the time you chose.
2-More Options For High-Quality Tutors
The world is big and the problem when you finally find a quiet place to live or retire is that it’s far from everything. If you live in a remote area thanks to the online lessons, you also have the chance to learn french online from the best teachers in the world! And since you have more than just your city’s teachers available, you can find a good tutor among thousands anywhere in the world. This way you can pick a tutor specialized and focus on certain skills more easily. In my case, I specialized in French pronunciation, French Exams preparation and French for Professional purposes. School teachers usually teach what they are told to and they are supposed to be good at everything. Online tutors can do whatever they like and what they are better at, so you have teachers who are more passionate about what they teach (grammar, French culture, written skills….). So, if you look at statistics, you have more options online that if you just pick the private tutors you have around your house.
3-Interactive
A face to face offline tutoring allows you to use computers and tools, but it’s so much better when tutor and student can interact at the same time on a document and save it as they want to. I work a lot with Google docs (not only for PPT slides but also text documents. So far, it’s the best method I’ve found to help students with writing skills. With Google docs, several people can edit the document at the same time.
The second big advantage is that you can save and track all modifications so as you improvement. For conversation courses, I find it also more convenient than skype because my students can interact, add notes and also print easily the new words they learn. You can also share your screen with someone else. Either the tutor or the student can share something, a textbook for exercise, any tool helping the teaching process. So the student can choose a resource to work on or show something he doesn’t understand right away. Some tutors even have a walk around their place to simulate an immersion. For me, it makes the teaching process very effective.
As you can see, there are many advantages to learn French online. Of course, some can say that it lacks non-verbal and body language helping improve the communication. Actually, I don’t agree. For me, it’s about teaching, learning and being the most efficient at it. If someone is looking for socializing and communication it’s better to take group classes or immersion programs. And thanks to online tutoring, I finally met many of my students offline, some are now friends and I think it’s a great experience. When I teach my priority is to focus on the student’s goal. If you have a specific goal, or if you are not sure what to start with, feel free to contact me, or schedule a lesson using the button below. I’ll be happy to help you!