Take Advantage of Quarantine to Study a Language

We know. The Coronavirus has drastically changed the way a lot of us live in a short space of time. We are all adjusting! Thankfully, though, technology means there is so much of our lives that we can still live online. So if you are quarantined right now, you could retreat under your blankets and come out when this pandemic has passed. Or, you could prepare yourself for the future, and keep yourself occupied in the process. How? By using this time to learn a language! Here is how, and why, this is the optimum time.

Julie, one of our French tutors, and her student in an online French course.

No need for face to face

Thanks to Skype and other video-calling platforms, if you are learning a language, this period of self-isolation doesn’t mean you have to stop studying. Quite the contrary, in fact! Your tutors can continue your lessons harnessing some of the best collaborative technology, at whatever hours suit you both. If you now have extra time on your hands, you can even take on more lessons if you want. Your tutors are in a similar position; this is a mutually beneficial situation for you both!

All the tools to hand

Google Docs, Trello, Dropbox; there are so many tools now available to us that help your language lessons are just as interactive as they would be in a classroom or your favourite cafe corner. If you learn with a group of other students you can collaborate using these tools, then present your study projects through Skype. No getting out of group activities for your just because of the Coronavirus!

Photo via Wikimedia

Realia

Want some real material to study with? You have the internet, so you have it! Want to read something in your target language? There are newspapers and books online. Want to watch a TV show or film? Netflix is your friend. How about a virtual tour of some of the finest museums in the world with virtual tour guides in your target language? You have that too! We can’t leave our couches currently but that doesn’t mean we can’t still see the world!

Something to keep you busy

Look. We don’t know how long we are in this situation for. We need something to occupy our minds, even if some of us are still working from home. Studying a language is a beautiful way to keep yourself active. It isn’t just about memorizing lists of words and grappling with grammar; you’ll get to watch videos from people speaking your target language, you’ll get to talk to native speakers through things like social media, and you will absolutely fall down the rabbit hole of watching memes in your new language. In short, you will be busy, however, you choose to study!

Getting creative

Studying a language can be done in a variety of ways; we’ve already mentioned some ideas above. But what creative ways can you think about picking up some vocabulary? Following your favourite influencer on Instagram to see how they are dealing with their self-isolation? Watching a chef on Youtube learning how to cobble a meal together from all that canned food lurking at the back of your cupboards? Turning your living room into a virtual karaoke bar singing along to songs in your target language with friends doing the same in their homes? A Discord server about a new TV show you are watching in the language you are learning where you have to write in that language to interact? There are so many ways we can pick up a language; throw out those stuffy textbooks and find ways that are more tailored to the things you like doing!

Our Spanish instructor, Cecilia, teaching Spanish online.

Tutors 

Can we say something about language tutors? They are already well-adapted to teaching online, through Skype courses and preparing interactive lessons both for individuals and for groups. They already know how to give you the most well-rounded, useful lessons from the comfort of their home—and yours, of course! Yoru language tutors know the best technology to use, tips and tricks for implementing mini-lessons into your days, and how to find realia that is interesting without so much as standing up. Your tutors, in short, are ready for this period of quarantine because this is how so many of them already work; use that to your advantage!

What language do you feel like learning today? French? German? Spanish? Mandarin? We have native-speaking tutors over the entire world who will happily bring language learning into your home without physically being there with you. They can design a package of study that is perfectly suited to your needs and interests, working to whatever schedule works for you. Even if that means five in the morning in your pyjamas! Why not drop us a quick inquiry to find out more about our courses?