Is Learning a Language Online as Effective?

When taking Spanish at DePaul last year with little-to-no background, I was surprised to learn that introductory language courses were essentially centered around an etextbook and required a great amount of online work. For me, when learning a language, a hands-on, group project-based approach was always the most effective way. This being due to the fact that this method allows students to practice the language among others that are at the same level. However, with DePaul’s “innovative” way of teaching languages, I was required to read from an ebook and mostly teach myself the language through online tutorials.

For me, this was a great struggle, as online lessons and tests allow students to simply pass without necessarily checking for comprehension. Whenever I got an answer wrong, I didn’t get marked down immediately, but instead was given multiple opportunities to choose the correct answer. Because of this, I wasn’t able to retain information very well.

This brings forth the question, is online learning really as effective as in-person lectures when learning languages? Also, does someone need to speak a language aloud frequently in order to gain fluency? Are the ways that are teaching different languages fluent for developing literacy? Also, are we beginning to teach languages early enough in a child’s education development? Why are we waiting past the prime-age of learning to introduce second language learning?