Learning a new language has a lot of benefits — more now than it ever has before. Having this communication skill can be a benefit in every aspect of your life. This is becoming more and more important as the world becomes more connected there are more opportunities to engage with almost anyone on the planet. Here are some reasons why you should learn a language by taking live online foreign language classes.
Why Learn A New Language
- Decision making — Studies show that people make more reason-driven decisions in a new language than they will in their native language. Using a new language allows for distance from emotion and more fact-based decision making.
- Confidence — One difficult part of learning a language is that you are going to make mistakes along the way. These mistakes may even be in front of a crowd. It is part of the process. But when the success comes on the other side, there is a sense of confidence and accomplishment that comes along with it.
- Career — When you are in a competitive career environment, you need any advantage you can get. Language skills are one of the most sought after by employees and that won’t be changing anytime soon. Plus, the ability to speak multiple languages often leads to promotions, bonuses, and higher salaries.
- Traveling — If you are interested in traveling, being able to communicate with the local language can make your trip to the next level. This will make navigation much easier and allow you to connect with the place and people like others can’t. For students, there are lots of opportunities to study and work abroad.
- Your brain — Learning a language has many cognitive benefits. It can be good for memory, problem-solving, critical thinking, concentration, multi-tasking, and listening. It also helps your brain as you get older to avoid mental aging and cognitive decline.
- Culture connection — If you want to connect with another culture, language is the way to do so. Speaking the language allows us to understand and appreciate the traditions, desires, and history of other cultures. This also helps to foster tolerance and acceptance of other people. Studies show that children who study another language will have more positive feelings towards the cultures of that language.
Courses We Offer
At Big River Academy, we have several language options for students to choose from. Here’s a quick look at the courses we have available in live online foreign language classes.
French
French I — French I is an introduction to the French language and francophone culture. All four of the language skills, listening, reading, writing, and speaking will be incorporated as students learn pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar to achieve a communicative purpose in a real-life context.
German
German I — The weekly live class sessions focus on introducing new grammar and practicing conversational skills. Homework will reinforce the grammar introduced each week. This course begins with basic German and extends to intermediate German proficiency through rigorous but enjoyable instruction.
German II — This German II class begins with a short review of the grammar learned in German I then quickly moves on to more advanced grammar. This class will enrich your vocabulary and teach complex sentence formulation, simple past tense, past perfect tense, adverbs, accusative, dative and genitive cases, coordinating conjunctions, prepositions, and imperative.
German III — The German III course is designed to reinforce the fundamentals of the German language in more complex ways and to continue the systematic and sequential acquisition of more complex grammatical structures, vocabulary, and syntax. The course provides practice in listening comprehension, dictation, and writing exercises as well as oral assessments and practice.
Italian
Italian I — Designed for students with little or no knowledge of Italian. Its goal is the development of five skills — listening, speaking, reading, writing, and cultural sensitivity — which will enable students to communicate effectively in the new language. A variety of aspects of Italian culture will be introduced through short texts as well as audio and visual materials.
Italian II — Students in this class have an elementary knowledge of Italian. Its goal is the development of five skills— listening, speaking, reading, writing, and cultural sensitivity — which will enable students to communicate effectively in the new language. A variety of aspects of Italian culture will be introduced through short texts as well as audio and visual materials.
Italian III — Its goal is the development of five skills — listening, speaking, reading, writing, and cultural sensitivity — which will enable students to communicate effectively in the new language. Each meeting will include a series of activities, which will enliven the class, and ensure focused attention on the part of the learner.
Spanish
Spanish I — The Spanish I class will acquaint the students with the essentials of the Spanish language as spoken in Latin America. This first-year high school Spanish course will introduce the students to greetings, verb conjugations, vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammatical structures. They will develop beginning reading and conversational skills.
Spanish II — The Spanish II class will further the study with the essentials of the Spanish language as spoken in Latin America. This is a second-year high school Spanish course. Spanish I is a prerequisite for this course.
Tips For Learning A Language
We know why learning a language helps students today. Now, let’s give you some tips to help you through the language learning process.
- YouTube — You can find just about anything on YouTube. Search out some videos or songs in the language you are learning. You might be surprised how much you understand. And you might even learn a thing or two.
- Listen to the radio — The internet gives us access to virtually any radio station you would want to listen to. It shouldn’t be too tough to find one in the language you are learning so you can hear it being spoken.
- Flashcards — Flashcards have been a staple of learning for decades. They work for almost anything you want to learn and if you don’t have someone to help you go through them, you can do it online.
- Get online — When you want some practice, use a platform like Skype or Google Hangouts. It enables you to get in a virtual room and talk to anybody in the world. Find other people learning the language and work together to get it mastered. Try using an online service like Interpals to find somebody to do this with. You can also get assistance translating words you don’t know by using a website like Google Translate.
Big River Academy
We love what we do at Big River Academy. Our live online foreign language classes are available for this fall semester. If you have any questions feel free to email us or message us on social media. Make sure to like our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram and YouTube to keep up with the excitement at Big River Academy.
