Where to Study English

To learn a language, you definitely need the motivation and desire to start. You possibly already have a couple of days a week which you want to dedicate to studying English. We imagine that you have already started looking for methods, vocabulary books, audio files, and videos to help you with your new goal. Now, the only thing left is to decide where to learn English.

There is so much information online and so many sites with comments so diverse that it can really be difficult to know which of them you will trust with your learning hours. You want to always have the best, but with so much out there, deciding between all of the different offers is not so easy. You may even think about leaving the decision for later. In this article, we will show you what options for studying English are available to you. Remember that it is important to make a good decision because this will make up part of the success of your learning. Let’s begin!

Three Criteria for Selection

Before choosing a specific place to study English, it is important that you take into account three particular criteria, in order to invest your time and resources well.

The first is the price. This is very important because you will definitely want to know approximately how much you will be asked to pay per month to keep your budget under control. On the other hand, you will want to obtain the best quality for the price you will be paying. In addition, you must take into consideration the cost of transportation, if you need to move out of your home to take the English course.

The second is the teaching method. Maybe you are not an expert in the teaching or learning of languages, but you do know which activities and materials help you learn. For example, if you are an aural and visual student, it is better to look for an English course in which these types of materials are used to facilitate your learning.

The third should be the time you want to invest. Just like the previous criteria, this is very important because it is necessary to establish how much time you want to invest in the course. To this, you must add the one the time you need for personal studies because this will help to cement the knowledge and acquire communicative skills.

Now, let’s look at the options you have available to study English.

1. Hire a private tutor.

Depending on your personal situation, this may be an attractive option. With a private teacher, you can learn everything from the most basic to the most complex. You can choose the best teaching and learning methods, schedules, and class times with them. In addition, you can decide if you want to invest a little more time on a specific topic and resolve any questions immediately.

As a personalised service, the price can be high, but this option offers flexibility and a tailor-made course.

2. Sign up for an English school.

You can also consider attending a course at a language school. In general, you can find a good selection of courses and schedules. This gives you the advantage of being able to choose the course that best suits you, after taking a placement test, of course.

The groups are usually small to allow for a good amount of interaction. In an English school, you will not be able to personalise your course, but the school will propose a learning method that will help you obtain results.

The price will depend on the type of school, the number of hours per week, and the schedule. Remember that in addition to paying for the course, you must consider the time and the price of transportation to the school.

3. Take courses at a university.

Most universities have a language school that offers English courses for both their students and outsiders. In this case, the number of students can be higher and you will have to be a little more independent in your learning. The advantage of these courses is that they will follow a good method and will offer many learning activities that will make sure you get results.

You should keep in mind that the schedules can be quite restricted, but the price can be more accessible than the previous two options. In general, universities ask you to pay for the whole semester before starting, so you should consider this aspect when budgeting.

4. Study English through apps.

If you do a simple search in the app store on your phone, you will see that there are applications, both free and paid, that promise to help you learn English. This is true, they can help you learn vocabulary, grammar, and communication skills. However, it is no secret that great results are rarely achieved through applications.

You can review a lot of vocabulary and grammatical structures using apps, which is valuable, but learning English is much more than that. In any case, these applications are a valuable resource that supports practising English and offer the advantage of allowing you to take advantage of any free time to learn or revise your English.

5. Study online.

Finally, this option is a very popular one nowadays. Thanks to the internet, we can all learn from anywhere. This offers great flexibility both in terms of location and schedule. On the internet, a vast number of courses are available, so you may find it difficult to choose.

Before opting for an online course, you must keep in mind that it is important to establish a study schedule and to respect it. The student’s autonomy and responsibility here is essential. As the course is always available, there is a risk that the student can postpone studying for many different reasons.

With online courses, it is important that you take into account the learning method that they propose and choose the one that seems best for you. Most courses offer you a trial version to help you make your decision.

If you are interested in experimenting with this last option, either because of timing issues, to avoid travel, or for its flexibility, then you should consider the online course from ABA English. This is an English academy that has developed a proven natural method in which its students learn English just as they learned their mother tongue. The course also offers 144 free video lessons and the same number of short films that will allow you to learn both grammar and communication skills in a fun, interactive way, at any time of the day and at your own pace.