Learning English Online using Skype is the Next Big Thing

Canadian company TalktoCanada.com shows international students that online learning over Skype is just as effective as learning in person.

October 19th, 2006

Canadian company TalktoCanada.com shows international students that online learning over Skype is just as effective as learning in person. Online English courses are no longer in the domain of boring software solutions that focus on a computer reading to them.  Now students have the option of talking to an online tutor based in Canada and get ongoing feedback as they progress.  According to TalktoCanada.com Manager Marc Anderson, students are demanding a more interactive learning environment that the web just wasn’t doing for them, business professionals now have the time to spend 30 minutes a day with a tutor while they are at work.  What sets TalktoCanada.com apart from other language solutions is that they can work with students and help them solve language problems the same day they have them and teachers encourage students to share their concerns.

Since opening in February 2006, TalktoCanada.com has seen a lot of low’s but after some huge learning curves is finally starting to slowly achieve profitability.  The company has recently hired a few teachers to meet the expanding workload but is also looking to hire several more teachers over the next few months.  When Manager Marc Anderson was asked about the future of online learning he replied, “students learning online has really come a long way since it first started, students are no longer afraid to take a course online or learn a language with an online English teacher because they know the quality is just as good as if you were actually in a class or in front of your teacher”.  All of this means more business for TalktoCanada.com as more dollars go to private for-profit educational companies offering e-learning.

E-learning is not for everybody, but if you have a headset and a high-speed internet connection you can give TalktoCanada.com a try to hear what all the fuss is all about and you might even be surprised how much you can learn with your teacher.  Paulsen, M.F. 2003 in his book Online Education and Learning Management Systems. Global E-learning in a Scandinavian Perspective is quoted as saying “Online students have better grades: Both studies show that online students have better average grades and a lower percentage of failing grades. This does not necessarily show that online courses were better than traditional part-time courses, but it shows that online learning seems to work very well for students who have chosen to study online”.

The great thing about this new service is that clients can be anywhere in the world and as long as they have an Internet connection they can talk to English speakers from Canada at any time of the day or night. TalktoCanada.com is trying to reach the market that is under serviced by English teachers worldwide.