How effective are online language courses at university level?
May 8th, 2010 | 
Author: I want to take Russian at Georgia Tech, but the only class that fits into my schedule is an online course. The catalog says that it meets one hour per week, and I assume the rest is online. Has anyone taken a course like this, and how hard would it be? My concern is the lack of face time with the professor, and possible problems related to the inability to speak with people as often. Never taken college level language, or russian before, but am studying a little ahead of time.
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I took French online. I speak fluent English, Spanish and Japanese. I realized that I was not really learning French. If you goal is to really learn Russian you must go and listen to Russian and make it part of your life. If you don’t give a crap and need it for a foreign language requirement take the online course. It was easy for me that way. It is all about what you want from the course. Language is incredible complex, you can not do it with out submersion into the language. If your goal is Russian fluency take it from a trilingual YOU MUST GO TO CLASS AND LEARN FROM A PERSON.
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To become fluent in the Russian language you need constant practice: conversation with native Russian speakers as well as a lot of listening. The course you describe does not provide this. While you might get a lot of theory studied and grammar exercises completed, your conversational skills will be far behind. If you do choose to proceed with this course, consider finding a Russian native Tutor, who will study with you personally and provide live conversation. Check out http://www.primelanguageservices.com