Are Language Schools Worth It? The Harsh Truth

A listener from Brazil – who works as a German, French and English teacher, both privately and at language schools – recently sent in a question that gets to the heart of something I find genuinely fascinating.

They wanted to know: are language schools worth it?

They noticed that students at language schools often finish a certain number of study hours, but aren’t able to communicate as effectively as students who’ve used other methods. Was this my experience too?

It’s a question I really like, because it touches on something much bigger.

If you prefer listening to reading, hit play on the podcast version of this article below. Otherwise, keep reading to find out: are language schools worth it?

Are Language Schools Worth It?: The Real Question

When you ask – are language schools are worth it?, you’re really asking: is there a best way to learn a language? And that’s a much more complicated question than it first appears.

Let’s say, hypothetically, that we had empirical proof of the single most efficient method for learning a language. You line up a hundred people, tell them all to use it, and watch the results. What happens? Not everyone gets the same outcome.

And not entirely because some people are more intelligent or more naturally gifted at languages.

The real reasons are far more varied:

• some people like reading, some like listening;
• some can’t find the time to study, while others have two hours a day on the train;
• some hate studying on their phone, while others only ever use their phone.

The variables are enormous.

That’s the fundamental difficulty with the question of which method is best. And it’s the lens through which I’d look at language schools.

Why Do People Choose Language Schools?

My observation from years of teaching at language schools is that the typical person who goes to one isn’t necessarily choosing it because they believe it’s the most efficient method.

They’re choosing it because they want structure –

• the formal setting of a lesson twice a week,
• the accountability that comes with paying a teacher,
• the company of other students to keep them motivated.

Some simply don’t know how to learn a language by themselves.

You could tell that person: look, you could sit with a self-study course or language textbook for three months and reach an intermediate level in German. And they might say: yes, I understand that, I even agree – but it’s just not me.

That’s a completely valid position. I can relate to it personally. I’ve had ambitions to learn Russian for a while, and I know which method would work best for me. But I haven’t started – because I simply can’t bring myself to add more things to my plate.

That’s got nothing to do with method. It’s got everything to do with motivation and circumstance.

An Imperfect Scenario

This brings me to what I think is one of the most interesting observations about teaching at language schools: you’re always dealing with an imperfect scenario.

The students who turn up in your classroom are, on the whole, going to be less self-motivated than the kind of person who sits down alone for three months and works through a course independently.

That self-directed learner – someone with the discipline, curiosity and drive to study without external prompting – is going to be by far the most efficient and effective.

The person going to a language school, by contrast, is often going because they know they need that external structure to make progress at all.

There’s also the question of what happens in the classroom versus what happens at home. Languages aren’t really learned in the classroom – they’re learned at home.

The teacher gives you input, but input only becomes intake if you do something with it. If students aren’t engaging with the language between lessons, the classroom time has limited impact, no matter how good the teaching.

Group Lessons vs. One-to-One

It’s worth drawing a distinction here between group lessons and one-to-one tuition, because they’re quite different things.

In a one-to-one setting, a teacher can give immediate, personalised feedback – and that really is close to ideal. The lesson can be adjusted in real time to exactly what you need.

Even so, one-to-one lessons still can’t match the sheer volume of input that dedicated self-study provides.

There are only so many hours in a lesson, and the time is divided between speaking, listening, explaining and practising – whereas self-study time can be pure immersion.

Both have their place; just don’t assume that one-to-one lessons alone will get you there if you’re not putting in time at home as well.

So, Are Language Schools Worth It?

The honest answer is: it depends entirely on who you are and what you need.

Comparing language schools to self-study is a bit like comparing two entirely different things – they serve different kinds of learner with different needs, and the more useful question isn’t which is better in theory but which one you’ll actually stick to.

The method you genuinely use – even an imperfect one – will always beat the theoretically superior method you never get started on.

If a language school gives you the structure, accountability and motivation to show up and study consistently, then yes, it’s absolutely worth it for you.

If you’re the kind of person who can pick up a course and work through it independently, that route will probably take you further, faster.

The key is honest self-knowledge: not about which method is objectively best, but about which one actually works for you. Get that right, and the language will follow.

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.