Did you learn alone or with other students?

[dorannmwin]

For me, I found that it was very important to be in a setting with other students. The reason that this was important for me is because then I was able to have conversational practice that I would not have been able to get if I was learning alone.

I really do believe that is one of the reasons that I was able to learn Spanish a lot easier than French was for me.

[Emmanuel]

A little of both. I learned some french from my mother at home. Once I went to school, I learned among my peers. These days, I practice by speaking to friends and strangers alike.

[Mafdet]

When talking about German, the language that I'm currently trying to learn, I've started to learn on my own. I've used books and online learning sites. However, recently I've started to learn together with other friends and I think it is a lot easier when there is someone else that you can talk to and that you can learn together with. It helps with practice and also with motivation.

[Pink Glitter]

Right now I am learning alone. In the past I have taken classes and this was not the best way for me to learn. I like being able to study at a self paced rate. This is what works best for me.

[Dora M]

I did both. I learnt in a class with 15 others. And some years later I studied by myself at home with audio tapes and textbooks. I had a language partner on Skype to practise with, and that went very well. I would send him my completed tasks from the textbook, which he corrected and returned to me. I made quick progress and can now speak and write in that language really well.

[JohnSword]

I used to learn with other students. I find that I'm able to pick up a language better if I have like-minded people to study and practice with.

At the same time, some people learn better when he/she learns alone. It's really up to personal preferences.

[Gelsemium]

I've learned with other students at school, but I've always studied hard at home. I think this is the perfect combination, learn and interact at school and consolidate the knowledged studying by yourself.

[Emmanuel]

I began learning french at home from my mother. Once I was old enough, I was put into a french school where I continued learning among others my age. I basically picked up english as I went along. Living in a bilingual city definitely helped.

[skywatcher]

I've done this with a bit of both. I'm basing this on my being a native Filipino speaker with English as a second language. Since English is a required subject here in the Philippines (since it's also the official language, Filipino being the national language), I've learned perhaps majority of what I know with my classmates. Perhaps the thing I learned by myself were the more creative stuff like sentence construction and experimentation.

[babyleans]

i'm learning alone. i know its not the best method out there but right now thats what i can afford. its taking too long and i sometimes think of giving up but i recently made friends with a venezuelan guy so hopefully he can help me with that.

[Pink Glitter]

Studying other other subjects with ther people has helpd me to learn better. However when it comes to learning another language , I need to work by myself to bulid a basic understanding. Then I can practice with other students.

[lizbeth19hph]

When I first studied the English language, I studied in a classroom setting until high school but when I started learning other languages like Arabic and French, I just studied all by myself by reading the books that I bought about teaching the languages.

[003]

I was in a class when I took my first courses in the languages that I am learning. We were about 10-20. The paradigm was effective as I could say that I've learned. But not all the time, I could be with my classmates, so I have to be alone studying. Moreover, it's not necessary that all the time you have someone to study with. There are times when you have to be alone to concentrate and not disturb someone else.

I also study during school breaks by myself.

[TheStoryteller1]

A little of both for sure. Generally I like learning alone until I'm at least semi-proficient. I learn better that way. However I have found that I only really became fluent in English when I was in international university with a lot of English-speaking students and that was the only way to communicate with them.

I am now suddenly surrounded by a lot of Spanish speaking people, so I think that's the perfect chance to learn Spanish well, finally.

[Rosyrain]

I learned Spanish in school in a classroom setting and this really helped out.  If one student was not understanding a concept, we would all pitch in and help out.  You can't feed off other people if you are trying to learn the language alone.  The group setting also helps out so you can ensure that you are pronouncing the words correctly and can start to have a conversation with others in your new language.

[trenchant]

I prefer learning in school, because of the fact that you'll be surrounded by other students.

It helps me feel more comfortable, surrounded by other people that are also in the process of learning and working out the kinks of learning a new language.

[Lasonax]

I find that it doesn't really matter for me. The only language I have not taken classes in that I am/have studied, is Japanese, and I'm doing pretty well all on my own to be honest. It would be superb to have a teacher to ask and all, but there are usually enough helpful people online that can help me if I run into a problem.

Of course, practising with other students is crucial if you want to learn how to speak well in a language. It's hard to practise speaking all on your own...

German class for me was mostly learning on my own, since I was pretty much the only one in the classroom that was on my level. I was very good at languages even then, and I had a very easy time learning things. My classmates in the german class did not however, and most of them were insanely bad at German. So, because of that, I often had to study something on my own while they were working with something else, that i had already learned a good while ago. I may be exaggerating on how often that happened, but it wasn't strange that I already knew what the teacher was teaching us, and I was just there because i had to (repetition is never bad... and of course, I HAD to be there) and to answer all questions if there were any. Eventually i stopped answering the questions though, as my teacher realised that I always knew the answers... And she wanted the others to answer aswell, of course.

[Canadien]

I've only taken serious French courses while in high school and university, and all of those have been in a classroom setting. While it'd be nice to have a one on one tutor, with sole focus on just your own language development, it's simply not always practical. Plus, the conversing and working with other students serves as a bonus to keep your language learning going. Being in a classroom setting also forced me to keep learning and maintaining my French. Knowing that exams, tests, and assignments were upcoming would help keep me motivated on learning the language and would help prevent me from slacking off.

Despite this, I'd certainly be interested in taking a break from classroom lessons and going and immersing myself in the amazing culture of France!

[Gelsemium]

I think that learning at school in an integrated educational environment is way better because we can learn from the teacher and interact with the colleagues, I think this is far easier than learning alone. I've studied at school.