Video communication has long ceased to be a curiosity, and now it has become commonplace to study English not only in courses, but also via Skype. I have extensive experience in learning English using Skype. Moreover, it was when I started practicing English on Skype that I managed to move from the dead point where I was stuck at that moment. The reason was, of course, not some magic of the Skype program, but the conversational practice that I lacked. In this post, I will talk about online learning English, speaking practice on Skype, and how an English teacher conducted a Skype experiment on me.

My first English lesson on Skype

Note: I write “Skype” with a small letter, meaning any program similar to Skype: with the ability to make free audio and video calls over the Internet.

Classes with an emphasis on speaking practice

The second class format is suitable for students who generally do not need to learn under the guidance of a teacher, but do need help with developing speaking skills, pronunciation and general fluency. They already know at least the basics of grammar, the vocabulary is sufficient for the lesson to be taught entirely in English, but they speak with long pauses, frequent mistakes, and have difficulty constructing phrases.

The teacher refers less to the textbook, classes take place with the student actively involved in the conversation. My first lesson on Skype, described above, took place in exactly this format. We never looked at the textbook, but the benefit from just one lesson was enormous.

In this case, it is better to study with a native speaker. The active, conversational format of lessons is the “strong point” of a popular language site all over the world, designed to find teachers of foreign languages ​​(not only English) and partners for practice. On Italki, teachers are divided into two categories:

• Professional teachers– these are certified specialists with extensive experience in offline and online language teaching. You can study with them both in a conversational format and in a strict academic format. The latter is familiar to them well: many of them are university teachers.
• Tutors– amateur teachers without a linguistic diploma (usually) who will help you talk, point out mistakes, and help improve your speaking skills.

As a rule, “tutors” have lower prices. Despite the lack of a specialized diploma, they are sometimes more experienced and simply more interesting than their certified colleagues. Unlike many online English schools, italki allows you to pay for lessons one at a time rather than in packages. The calculation is carried out in a special currency of the ITC website (italki credits), 100 ITC are equal to 10 dollars.

Pros and cons of learning English on Skype with a teacher

Advantages:

• There is no need to go anywhere or travel. Classes right at home at a convenient time. In a big city, this sometimes means saving money. several hours in a day.
• As a rule, reasonable prices with good qualifications and experience of the teacher.
• In small towns it is often difficult to find any tutor at all, but via Skype you can take lessons from an experienced and qualified teacher.
• The opportunity to learn from native speakers is problematic offline, even in big cities.
• Opportunity to find a teacher of a “rare” language. While English teachers can be found almost everywhere, there are problems with slightly less popular languages, such as French, Spanish, and Japanese, in many cities. Many online schools specialize in English, but teachers (and just communication partners) in many languages ​​can be found on.

Flaws:

• An inexperienced teacher may have a lot of problems with how to show something in a textbook or give an exercise to a student. When I tried to teach lessons via Skype, I had exactly these difficulties. More experienced teachers can easily cope with this difficulty with the help of pre-prepared materials. At SkyEng school this problem is solved with the help of a convenient virtual classroom.
• If you have a very unstable slow connection, a bad microphone, or a glitchy computer, part of the lesson will be spent on “can you hear/see me?”
• If you are not comfortable with a computer, have never used Skype and do not know, for example, how to send a file, how to move a file from one folder to another, how to answer an incoming call, what a “login” and “password” are, then you will have to learn this on the go, again wasting lesson time. Instead of English lessons, there will be computer literacy lessons. Skype lessons require that you have at least basic computer skills.

Method 2: Conversation practice

If in “Method 1” the teacher teaches the student, then practice is no longer study. This is the living use of language, in fact, what we teach it for.

It's simple. We go to some language social network, find people who want to communicate in English, exchange contacts and chat! For example, partners for practice can be found in the already mentioned. The mechanism is simple: the more we speak English, the better it gets. Eaning and mooing during pauses will gradually be replaced by speed and ease of speech, especially if learning is not limited only to speaking practice, but is supported by reading, listening and, very preferably, writing in English.

Pros and cons of free conversation practice.

Advantages:

• Opportunity to practice English with native speakers for free.
• Conversation skills develop very well because you speak a lot and with enthusiasm.
• And all this without leaving home, at any convenient time.

Flaws:

• This is not a lesson, but a conversation. A simple guy from Texas or Delhi is unlikely to want to explain to you the difference between and, and if he wants to, he won’t always be able to. Likewise, you are unlikely to immediately be able to explain in detail how “to drive” differs from “to go” or why a firm sign is needed.
• It’s not easy to find native English speakers on language social networks. They are in great demand. They are sorted out very quickly, and they simply physically cannot communicate with everyone.
• There are some inappropriate people, be careful when communicating with strangers via the Internet.

Is it necessary to talk to native speakers?

But if you need to improve, rock it speaking skills, that is, learn to speak fluently, without pausing or choosing words, without thinking about it, without turning it over in your mind, then it makes no difference who you talk to, as long as the interlocutor has good enough English. By the way, it’s great to practice with your compatriots - it’s easier to find a common language and topics for conversation. True, there is a risk of adopting the mistakes of the interlocutor, for example in the construction of phrases.

Personally, I spoke with everyone on Skype: with a student from Puerto Rico who suddenly fell in love with the Russian language, with a polyglot from Hungary who spoke five languages, with pensioners from the USA, students from Brazil and Bangladesh, but most of all I spoke in English with Russian student Svetlana, who studied in Germany and needed to practice English. Her German was fine, but her English was forgotten due to lack of use. An important factor played a role: it was interesting for me to talk with her. When you speak English with interest, forgetting that you have switched to another language, your skill grows by leaps and bounds (the same goes for reading, listening, writing).

With native speakers, you will develop not only speaking skills, but also listening comprehension of English. Of course, the native is different from the native, some people cannot connect two words, but if the interlocutor speaks their native language competently, you will better understand living, real English speech, with all its linguistic and cultural subtleties. In most cases, the difference between the speech of a native speaker (literate) and a foreigner is very strong.

Conclusion

1. Study remotely with a teacher without leaving your home. There is no need to follow the convoy to the capital in search of knowledge.
2. Practice speaking with other language learners - no matter how far apart you live.
3. Communicate in English with British, Americans, Canadians and other native English speakers.

All these three possibilities just 20 years ago were simply didn't exist. We live in a golden era of language learning, when literature, audio and video materials, and even communication in foreign languages ​​are available. Take advantage of this and good luck in learning the language!

Friends! I don't currently tutor, but if you need a teacher, I recommend this wonderful site- there are native (and non-native) language teachers there 👅 for all occasions and for any pocket 🙂 I myself took more than 80 lessons with the teachers I found there! I advise you to try it too!

Dear readers!

I've been studying via Skype for six months now. If it weren’t for my husband, who kept telling me about Skype for about a year, and the BP website, who sent me an application for distance learning during the summer holidays, when there weren’t many students, I probably would never have started. I was scared by everything - from buying headphones with a microphone and the technical side of the lesson to how I would look on camera?

Preparing for such classes at first took more than two hours, choosing the right board, looking for all sorts of additional programs for lessons. How I prepared (and am preparing) for classes via Skype:

1) After testing, I choose a textbook in accordance with the age and level of the student.

2) I determine the purpose of each lesson and what skills we will develop.

3) I select material for a specific lesson, throwing out everything from the book that I don’t like and adding my own.

But now, when preparing a lesson, I feel like I’m in the shoes of the authors of the textbook, and sometimes my imagination runs wild so much that you regret that there are only 24 hours in a day, otherwise I would have done such a lesson!

Technologies

As for the technical side of training via Skype, I use the virtual whiteboard Idroo, it costs relatively inexpensively - 10 euros per month. You can also use it for free, but then you are allowed to create only 10 boards. If you have one online student, this is enough. And if you study en masse, it’s better to pay for a subscription.

Some teachers study without virtual boards, simply cut out the necessary exercises from the textbook and send them to the student, but, in my opinion, the board is much more convenient. Let's take a look at it:

On the blue panel at the top there are tools that allow you (from left to right) to move images and inscriptions, draw with a pencil, underline, highlight in a frame, write, create formulas (I’ve never used this, but who knows), erase material and move the board, and also use a pointer to show the student where to look for the hamster.

The most fun thing for me in Idroo is to draw and draw in class; joint creativity unites and relaxes as much as a cup of tea. The first picture shows a dictation based on the words studied and wordsearch compiled using this site. The second picture is training of the there is/there are structure using an image of a room, and then reproducing it using the written clue words. Most teenagers take such tasks with a bang, but many adults suffer and blush while trying to scribble a cat on the board.

There is a chat available on the right side of the Idroo panel, but I don’t use it, I write everything directly on the board. There is also a call function, but I have never used that either.

Even at the beginning of my Skype journey, I tried the virtual board Realtimeboard, it has a nicer interface and has more features - you can upload both video and audio there, it is constantly updated and improved. It turned out to be a little difficult for my students, so I switched to Idroo. Now I'm going to return to Realtimeboard, because it offers more fun for the same money.

Update: I no longer use Idroo for classes, now I'm working on Realtimeboard, you can read it here.

I also use the learningapps application for online lessons, in which I create exercises to repeat the material - wordsearches, crosswords and matching exercises.

You can prepare/cut tracks for online classes (I cut online), select videos from Youtube. It all depends on the needs of the student and the flight of your imagination.

Pros and cons

As you can see, an online lesson provides more opportunities to use modern technologies. And another huge plus is tea with cookies in a cozy kitchen... oh, that is, the student’s eyes do not run wild from the stacks of papers printed out for the lesson, he does not ask “why don’t we do this in the book?”, does not leaf through the textbook 2 minutes, remembering how in Russian this cursed page one hundred and thirty-five is (although searching for a page has its own plus). All necessary material is displayed on the board, which the student can view after the lesson (if the teacher has not deleted it, of course).

Otherwise, an English lesson via Skype is not much different from a “live” lesson. It’s a little more exhausting, but that’s me personally; many friends say that Skype works better for them.

The easiest way to learn English online is with adults 20-35 years old. Few children under 12 know a computer well, so during class you sometimes have to be distracted to explain how to turn on a track, find a Skype chat, or view a sent picture. But not all adults are also familiar with technology; even those who spend days on social networks may not know how to open a link that was sent to them in a chat. Some people are embarrassed by their computer illiteracy, so here you still need to be patient and delicate in your explanation.

If it’s really difficult for a student, you can ask to show your screen on Skype (that button in the form of a plus sign) and tell them how to register on the board or find this or that tool on the panel.

Prices

Studying via Skype is usually cheaper than studying in person. And not only because both the student and the teacher do not spend time or money on travel, do not print anything and do not buy textbooks. Price dumping by teachers from the regions also has an impact. Prices for English lessons in the regions are much lower than prices in big cities, sometimes by a factor of 5. Therefore, lessons via Skype for teachers from the periphery are very profitable. Same as for the student.

Do you teach students via Skype?

What technologies do you use for these activities?

I look forward to your comments!

English via Skype

Distance learning is becoming increasingly popular, and learning foreign languages ​​via Skype has long been a rarity. There are many centers, schools, private tutors and specialists who provide this service for everyone who wants to learn Italian, German, French and other languages, but English is the most popular language among students.

Online classes allow you to learn English with a specialist from anywhere in the world. To get a lesson, there is no need to go anywhere, you just need to sit down at a computer with Internet access and turn on Skype. Of course, classes with professionals are not free, but some tutors provide the opportunity to take a free trial lesson so that the student can verify the quality of the services provided. Let's review the most popular services for learning English online.

EnglishDom

About school:

Go-international distance school for learning English via Skype is aimed at different target audiences. In particular, individual language and speech training is offered in the following programs: preparation for moving abroad, increasing the level of proficiency in spoken language and English for professional activities, passing international exams (FCE, CAE, ELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, ILEC, ICFE), etc. d. The quality of lessons is guaranteed by teachers with extensive experience.
English via Skype at Go-international Cost of education: The Go-international online school has relatively affordable prices; when paying for packages of 5 or more lessons, the cost of one lesson varies from 565 to 695 rubles, depending on the chosen program and the number of lessons in the package. Each lecture via Skype lasts 45 minutes.

Pros:

• Free materials provided
• Free demo lesson (45 min.) with a teacher
• Opportunity to get a discount on the promotion “Bring friends and get free classes!”
• Professional preparation for international exams
• Individual approach to each student
• Quality control of school teachers' work.

Minuses:

• Payment for classes is carried out only in packages (5, 10, 15 and 20 lectures)

Reviews:

On the school's website you can find many reviews from real students about highly professional teachers. Grateful students are satisfied with the preparation for international exams and the improvement of their language level after completing the course. Judging by the reviews, the narrow specialization of Go-international only benefits the school and students. This online service is often recommended to friends.

« Dmitriy: Everything suits me. The coordinator responds quickly. Everything has been worked out very clearly... So far, there is nothing to say except positives.”

Contacts:

Wrabbit

Online language school Wrabbit offers individual lessons via Skype with professional Russian-speaking tutors - for beginners or native speakers - for those who already know basic vocabulary. Various corporate and group training programs are also offered. In addition to English, you can study Spanish, German, Italian and French here. The Wrabbit service helps students break the language barrier and improve their speaking skills.

Cost of education:

In this online school, prices for training are also quite reasonable, starting from 500 rubles per lesson. So, a lesson with a Russian-speaking teacher will cost 500-550 rubles, and with a professional native speaker - from 600 rubles per lesson. The price also depends on the duration of the lesson - 45 and 60 minutes.

Pros:

• Free trial lesson
• Large selection of native speaking tutors
• Affordable prices
• Various payment methods
• Good lesson planning system.

Minuses:

• Small selection of Russian-speaking teachers

Reviews:

Unfortunately, there are very few reviews about Wrabbit on independent resources on the Internet, but on the school’s website you can easily find many reviews from grateful students with whom you can contact and find out everything first-hand.

victoria vydrina: « When a teacher finds an individual approach to a student, this is very valuable, when he carefully creates a teaching system for him - it’s professional, and when he also has a sense of humor, it’s also easy and fun.”

Contacts:

Ninnel

For 6 years now, Ninnel Distance Language School has been providing services for individual online teaching of foreign languages ​​via Skype: English, Italian, German, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. During this time, over 2,000 students successfully learned, without leaving home, languages ​​for living or conducting professional activities abroad, passed the international IELTS and TOEFL exams, and learned a foreign language for self-development. Teaching is conducted exclusively by professionals in their field, including teachers who work with children.
Online school of foreign languages ​​Ninnel Cost of education:

At Ninnel School, a fee starts from 1 lesson. The cost of one lesson is from 560 rubles for 1 lesson lasting 50 minutes, and from 800 rubles for a lesson lasting 80 minutes. The price also depends on the language level: beginner, intermediate, advanced or with a native speaker. A family discount of 5% is provided, and a discount for long-term studies of 3%-5%.

Pros:

• Possibility of lesson payment - from 1 lesson
• Free demo lesson
• Affordable prices
• Opportunity for children to learn languages
• You can get your money back if the result is not achieved
• Classes with Russian-speaking tutors and native speakers.

Minuses:

• Small selection of native teachers
• There is no certificate issued upon completion of the course.

Reviews:

On the Internet, on independent resources, you can easily find a lot of positive reviews about the Ninnel school, however, on the school’s website, not only text messages from grateful students are available, but also video reviews, as well as a detailed description of how it all began and what the result was achieved.

Irina“I am studying German with Elena Otsareva, I am very pleased with the results, after the 9th lesson (2 times a week) I can already carry on a conversation on some topics, I understand questions and answers by ear.”

Contacts:

Melene

The language center for learning foreign languages ​​via Skype Melene specializes in individual online training with professional tutors in 5 main areas: English, Italian, Spanish, German, and French. Teaching is possible at any time convenient for the student. The teaching staff, in addition to Russian-speaking specialists, also includes native speaker tutors. Training is provided at all levels, from elementary to the highest, and also prepares for international exams IELTS, ILEC and TOEFL, Start Deutsch 1 and 2 levels, TestDaF, DELF and DALF, DELE, CILS.

Cost of education:

The price for one 45-minute entry-level lesson is from 530 rubles. For a 60-minute lesson you will have to pay 630 rubles if you pay for a package of 10 lessons, and for intermediate and advanced levels - already 730 rubles. A 90-minute lesson will cost less than two 45-minute sessions.

Pros:

• Possibility of lesson payment - from 1 lesson
• Paid lessons do not expire over time
• Preparation for different language levels and international exams
• Huge selection of teachers - about 50 tutors
• Convenient payment system.

Minuses:

• No group classes
• High cost of classes with native speakers.

Reviews:

This is the only language center that does not have negative reviews on the Internet. All students are satisfied with the results and do not regret the money spent. Judging by the reviews, all stated conditions are strictly met. An excellent school to start learning English or other languages.

Andrey:“It’s great that I study at your school! The payment system is convenient and well thought out. I don’t need to buy packages.”

Anastasia:“Natalia is a wonderful English teacher who knows how to approach her students and make classes not only interesting, but also effective. In 2.5 months she prepared me for IELTS, which I successfully passed with a 7. Thank you!”

It is a two-way process. Its result depends, on the one hand, on the teacher and the organization of the educational process, and, in the case of students learning a foreign language via Skype, on the correctly selected materials. On the other hand, much depends on the correct perception of information, interest and abilities of the student himself.

Reflecting on what instructions should be given to a student learning another language so that, for his part, he can simplify and speed up the learning process, we decided to write an article with 10 most important points that everyone who wants to master a foreign language should adhere to.

1. When learning a foreign language, take your time

So, first of all, I would like to make it clear to every person interested in language that a foreign language needs to be learned slowly. If you think that a language can be learned in six months, then we hasten to dissuade you from this. Alas, in six months you will not start talking and will not be able to translate into a foreign language all the information accumulated over your life, which currently exists only in Russian. Set yourself up for a long period of study over several years if you really want to master the language. Only long and stable training will give good results. In order to master only one of the levels of a foreign language (A1, A2, B1, etc.), you need to study for at least 3 months quite persistently and, at the same time, devote time to the language almost every day.

Of course, in six months the teacher can give all the necessary and most complete information, but the student is not able to assimilate it and consolidate it.

At the same time, it is important to understand that learning foreign languages ​​on Skype is not as common as it usually happens in language courses offered by various schools in your city. An intensive course is a very short language course, which makes it attractive, but it is based on an incomplete, shortened program. Such a course serves only to achieve certain specific goals: for example, for a trip to Spain for 10 days, where you will only need knowledge of a reduced vocabulary and a very narrow understanding of grammar.

2. Exercise consistently

Classes must be stable. Even if you study a foreign language for six months without stopping, and then stop studying for a month, several months of your studies can be considered in vain. In addition, when resuming classes, you lose time, repeating forgotten material and restoring the skills acquired over six months.

If you learn foreign languages ​​with great inconsistency and interruptions, no teachers and modern techniques will be able to help you fully realize your goals.

On the other hand, when you often miss classes, cannot understand any topic, mark time in the same place, you will constantly get bored of learning the language. Make sure that your classes are constant, and seeing your results, you will become even more interested in learning.

3. Practice on your own as much as possible.

Another key to successfully learning a foreign language is persistent independent study. The greatest responsibility for the effectiveness of learning lies on the side of the student - memorizing the material, understanding and assimilating information. To do this, you need to devote a lot of time to independently mastering educational material, constantly working on memorizing vocabulary and grammatical structures, and honing verb conjugations.

The well-known sports method “shadow boxing” also helps well in learning a language. It implies that you must say each new word or phrase out loud several times and consolidate them in sentences invented on the fly. Improvise and talk to yourself. Take a standard grammatical structure and build similar sentences from it, substituting different words. And all this without the help of textbooks or specific tasks - do it for yourself. This method is very effective, and using it, you will feel the results very soon.

4. Get your knowledge in order

When you learn a foreign language, there should be impeccable order on your desk, as well as in your head. Cleaning your room and your workplace, of course, is not the subject of foreign language teaching methods, but, however, try to avoid chaos and disorder and get used to neatness. We, as foreign language teachers, are more concerned about order in your heads. Follow this order. Maintaining order in your head means trying to understand each topic covered, consolidating it, not forgetting past lessons and not allowing your level of knowledge to decline.

The learning process is a gradual process. Language materials are presented according to the principle “from simple to complex.” If you miss any important point and lose the necessary link, you can very easily get confused in such a vast material. Try not to get confused or lose the thread. Your knowledge should be strictly organized and placed on the right shelves.

5. Always repeat each topic

Always review past material and never forget what you have covered previously. Even if you are learning the language for the second year, still go back to the very first lessons and repeat them. The fact that you do the exercises correctly and quickly grasp new material is not enough. When learning a foreign language, it is very important to internalize the information in your mind, and this is achieved over a long period of time, like domesticating wild cattle. You can tame a foreign language only by constantly repeating and repeating the material you have covered many times.

6. Always write down important information

If you hear a new word or expression, be sure to write it down in your notebook. You don't need to create a separate dictionary for this. All information can be entered into one workbook, which you use in class. Don't forget to review these words and expressions from time to time so that they are in your active stock. Remember that every new word you learn is a step towards fluent speech in a foreign language.

If you suddenly remembered some long-forgotten or accidentally heard word, but can’t remember its meaning, or read something new in a book - don’t be lazy, be sure to write it down!

7. Don't be afraid of difficulties

People learning a foreign language are often afraid to start reading books in the original, watching films in the language, etc. This happens due to their lack of confidence in their knowledge and abilities, due to the thought that they will not understand anything. Such people should cast aside all their doubts and turn on a film in a foreign language. Watch, read and be interested in what you haven’t gone through yet. You won’t persistently refuse to talk, for example, with a Spaniard in Spain, explaining your reluctance to speak by the fact that you haven’t been learning Spanish for very long.

If you don't know some words while reading a book, use a dictionary. If you didn’t hear or understand something while watching the film, rewatch this moment several times.

Don't be afraid to go into places where you don't yet have much knowledge.

8. Don't be afraid to start conversations with foreigners

Another phobia associated with lack of confidence in one’s knowledge makes itself felt when coming face to face with a foreigner and having to communicate with him in his language. We want to encourage you right away: they are not used to laughing at those who make mistakes when speaking their language. Any knowledge you have will be received very positively by him, no doubt. You don't have to try to imitate the pace of his speech and get nervous if you can't speak as well. Communication should be fun for you, not stressful.

9. Don't speak Russian with foreign words

A foreign language is not exactly mathematics. Sometimes it seems that the main principle of learning a foreign language is to memorize grammatical structures and then substitute different words to make sentences. Some even think that instead of Russian words you just need to substitute foreign ones, and thus foreign speech will flow from your lips like a stream of fresh air at dawn. No, this is absurd.

10. Never despair

Don't think that learning a foreign language depends heavily on age. No. If you are interested in the language and follow all our tips, you will definitely achieve a good level, regardless of your age or anything else. We know that when learning a foreign language, as in any other human activity, there are ups and downs. Prepare yourself for the fact that not everything will be easy right away, but be sure that anyone can learn a foreign language and cope with all the difficulties. Maybe someday it won’t be very exciting and even boring to study, there will be a lot of doubts about your abilities - don’t despair and remember that if you want, you will always have results!

Today it is difficult to find an Internet user who would not know about the existence of such a program as Skype. This application is usually associated with free Internet communications and video conferencing. In addition to free Internet telephony, group chats and file sharing, the Skype program also has other useful features that are not known to all users.

For example - study English via Skype with a native speaker for free. How can this be implemented in practice? After all, it is not very polite to directly contact any English-speaking Skype user and demand communication.

How to find an English-speaking interlocutor on Skype

This opportunity has already been provided and all problems have been solved! Proceed according to the following plan.

There, in the Skype community, you can find a native speaker of the language you are studying, and there are also special language clubs. You will learn the language with an Englishman, and in gratitude this foreigner will study your language - after all, you are also a native speaker of your native language? And someone in other countries is very interested in your ability to speak your language perfectly and absolutely without an accent.

Alternative language teaching via Skype

If you just ask the phrase in Google search English via Skype, then you will be offered other options for learning languages ​​outside the Skype community. These are various online language schools or courses where you will be offered a limited number of Skype lessons for free. After completing the free course, you may want to continue training for money.

The advantage of paid training is that they take things seriously. You can chat on Skype for free for years with an English-speaking interlocutor and still not master fluent speech. And vocational schools use special techniques that allow you to master the language in the shortest possible time. In general, the choice is huge and, if desired, you can find language courses that are suitable for your level of knowledge at minimal cost or even completely without payment.