One of the major benefits of online teaching lies in convenience; teachers and students can save time on commuting, and can participate from the comfort of their homes. This however, won’t suit all; some chose face-to-face classes specifically to get away from the distractions of their homes, and to fully immerse in the class.

Another benefit lost to shifting teaching onto a virtual platform is the ability to interact with their groupmates. For some, the nuances of a live class can never be reproduced in a 2D environment.

“Interaction between students, the language learning experience, the ability to learn from the mistakes of the others, or questions arising from what classmates say; all these are lost online,” Tamás Légrádi, vice president of the Association of Hungarian Language Schools (NYESZE) tells the Budapest Business Journal.

As a skill, a language can perfectly easily be learnt and taught online as well as off. But, as is with other activities, most people need a schedule and also some peer pressure to commit to learning. The proportion of those who can acquire a language without any help is very small.

Highly Committed

“These highly motivated and committed people with one or more other languages under their belt make up less than 5% of students,” says Légrádi. The rest needs some supervision, a study plan, and the occasional push they usually get from a group class or teacher, he adds.

“Like working out, one could do it yourself; however, many opt for a personal trainer to have that extra push,” he explains. Though there are no official figures, Légrádi estimates that today there are about 20-30% less teaching activity than before the pandemic started.

“Initially, some schools were reluctant to switch to online teaching, but eventually many did,” he says.

The more technology-savvy transitioned more easily, and overall, with success, at least that is the feedback NYESZE has received from several schools. Organizing one-on-ones or group chat might have been difficult at first, but most overcame these obstacles.

The only thing that did not prove feasible is a mix of face-to-face and online teaching, that is, when a teacher is holding a class in the school and also online – simultaneously. When the first lockdown was lifted, many returned to the classrooms but they then again had to continue to study online from mid-fall. (Under the government restrictions aimed at combatting COVID, language schools do have the option to teach face-to-face, but a lot chose to hold online courses only today.)

Quality Guarantee

“Good language teachers continue to work in reputable schools, so whether it is face-to-face or online, people know the quality is guaranteed,” Légrádi notes. The expert believes that online teaching will stay with us after pandemic as well, but face-to-face sessions won’t disappear either.

“One class of a two-a-week course may be face-to-face, the other may be held online,” Légrádi thinks.

Student feedback is also positive: Those asked by the BBJ mentioned time-saving, the abundance of digital tools and materials teachers can share more easily, although they add that internet connections can sometimes be tricky and that for teachers, holding a class online is definitely more challenging (or at least requires more attention).

Overall, they don’t think that learning a language online is made more difficult than doing it face-to-face, though the experience is certainly different. When it comes to one-on-one classes, the difference is marginal. Here, just as in a group session, the teacher can share materials and, crucially, their attention is not divided. Some say they may be more motivated to study if they actually meet a teacher, but apart from that, the difference is hardly noticeable.

Taking Tech to Boost Language Learning

Online language learning is not reduced to video chatrooms. Apps have been around for a long time, and are gaining ever more popularity. They are definitely not the best way to study a language from zero, unless someone has a lot time of time and a knack for languages, but they are a handy addition to other learning regimes. The most popular ones use repetition as a method to memorize words, the more sophisticated ones cut scenes from popular TV shows, subtitle them and add a few exercises after each segment.

Many of these apps, including one Hungarian-based company, Xeropan, have seen a surge in their downloads since the outbreak of the pandemic, but they are thought likely to continue to rise in the post-pandemic era as they have proved themselves very convenient.

They do have their downsides, though: most are international and have no Hungarian version or, and the translations are often flawed. But what they most lack is the “human touch”: even if you filled the gaps correctly, or translated (or guessed) a sentence correctly, you will remain somewhat uncertain as your answers are not confirmed or explained by a teacher, users say.

This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of February 12, 2021.