Study, Communicate, Develop: How Do Language Communities Help Know Foreign Languages Inside Out?
Self-study of foreign languages has many advantages. You can adjust your schedule to your life rhythm and choose the most suitable pace for learning. You are free to choose which books to read, video lessons to watch, audiobooks to listen to, grammar and vocabulary materials to practice. However, self-study also has a notable drawback. One day you might feel the lack of real-life communication to fine-tune your speech. Online language communities help “self-studiers” improve their speaking skills in an ongoing and interesting way.
What is a Language Community?
A gathering of people who are studying the same foreign language is called a community. The idea is realized in the form of online language courses or offline classes and meetings. There are different reasons why people choose such a format for mastering the language. Some of them are looking for community support. Others just want to find pals to polish up their speech skills. Anyway, the aim is to learn languages together and get rid of monotonous boning up in complete isolation.
5 Reasons to Joining a Language Community
If you still hesitate whether to register at one of the language exchange platforms or not, consider the following benefits that it gives.
Sharing common interest
You are surrounded by like-minded people who have the same goal – to become proficient in the subject they learn. The participants share the materials, talk over grammar rules, and practice pronunciation together.
Efficient brainstorming
One of the most productive ways of learning foreign languages is brainstorming. It is held in the form of a discussion in large or small groups of people. A teacher sets a definite topic for meaningful dialogues. Students give feedback by answering questions, expressing their opinions, and suggesting solutions.
Communication with native speakers
The communities often invite people whose native tongue is English, German, French, or Spanish. By video-chatting with them you will be able to hear real-life pronunciation, remember new slangy words, and get tips on how to sound like a native.
Interactive co-studying
Today co-studying is a trendy way to learn languages. Students opt for studying together rather than on their own. They organize corporate co-working spaces to create a comfortable and easy-going world of knowledge.
Career perspectives and community support
Socializing with members of language learning groups opens up perspectives for a prosperous career. You’ll be able to build up relationships with new people. Later on, community friends might help you to gain a job of your dreams.
The Worthiest Language Communities
On the Internet, you can easily find a large collection of valuable online language communities. Choose the one you like and join the fun.
- Italki
The chart-topping online language courses with over 3 million members. Over 5,000 qualified tutors are at your service. So, you will never feel alone and can easily become fluent in any language. Over 5,000 experienced tutors are at your service. A lot of self-studying enthusiasts and native speakers are ready to become your language partners. The Italki platform offers tons of related articles, useful tips, interesting discussions, and online chats with participants from all over the world.
- Preply
Preply is the most well-known English learners’ platform. The website covers all possible and impossible facilities for eager students – watching movies and TV shows, reading articles online, and listening to English music. To achieve better results, download the Preply application and dive into a friendly online studying environment.
- Linguaholic
Language and speech community with 4,500 members. More than 10,000 posts related to English studying are available on the website. Mix with other ‘lingaholics’, talk over the diversity of suggested topics, read the literature of different genres, discuss vocabulary and grammar, find useful apps and resources.
- Polyglot Club
The free speaking club welcomes all “newcomers''. At Polyglot Club, you can hire a teacher or an interpreter, take part in numerous events, use video chat for feedback, find new friends, and develop your speech skills. The special feature of the courses is to organize real-life events devoted to foreign language discussions and activities. To get to the meeting point comfortably, apply for Rental24h.com. The company offers group travel rental vehicles at reasonable prices. Check this website to choose from the variety of USA minivan rental offers. Download this app for more convenient searching of group travel rental vehicle deals.
The list of other popular language learning forums includes HelloTalk, Tandem, MyLanguageExchange, Bilingua, The Mixxer, Speaky, Meetup, and Reddit.