I’m transferring colleges at the end of the school year, and it’s looking like I’m going to transfer to a school without any Japanese program or classes. The college I’m at currently has JP classes, but no major or minor program. Having the classes twice a week for 2h30 gives me a lot of motivation to continue to study and eventually take the JLPT.
Going to a college without any JP classes has me worried that I will lose my motivation and get rusty, especially in regards to my speaking and listening. While I do a lot of study outside of class, I feel like having the class keeps me grounded and diligent.
What I am aiming to do is replace the time I would spend in class with a program like Italki instead. I’m considering spending 2 hour sessions twice a week to maintain the sort of situation I have going on at school.
For anyone that has done Italki or is doing Italki, what are your thoughts about it? What do you think about professional and community tutors? Has it been helpful for you? Why are you doing Italki?
Those are just some general questions, but really any advice or insight you could give about Italki/other programs would be much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read this!
I haven’t been able to do regular italki lessons lately (and I just did a couple of lessons) but I like the format better than a classroom setting. In my experience a classroom has a more fun interactive environment but its not customized to individual pace (too fast or slow is not productive IMO). In terms of progress, I think a lot more can be accomplished in a shorter period of time with the right teacher (another bonus, you can shop around for the right fit!).
Its likely a lot cheaper too (if you go to school in US that is). I’m not sure how much you are paying for credit/hr but I assume 15 wks x 5 hours per week = ~75 hours total. I think you can get 75 hours worth of private lessons for ~$1500-1700 for a professional teacher (not tutor) versus whatever you paid before (not sure if 3 or 4 credit course). They run deals on lesson packages and teacher rates are not all the same. I’m sure the schedule flexibility is bonus as well. For me, I’ve waiting for the right time to start again but right now I have too many commitments at once.
I switched from italki to cafetalk because with cafetalk you can search for specific lessons that fit you needs and specific area of the language you would like to focus on (ie kanji, grammar, conversation skills, etc). When I used Cafetalk I preferred Professional Tutors because they usually offer more structured lesson while Community Tutors usually offer informal tutoring only.
Couldn’t agree more! In my 2010 class this has become really apparent. We do a lot of talking and goofing around, but the learning has slowed down dramatically and I’m eager to get ahead. I think it will be much cheaper too, and the college I’m transferring to is going to save me a ton of money (living with family and what not.)
