Test-takers who first know about the Duolingo English Test find it not easy to prepare for the test, especially those who are not yet fluent in it. Thus, Preparation courses are truly vital in supporting test-takers to aim for their desired scores, which could be up to 125 overall or even higher.
When Covid-19 first hit our planet, it completely changed our perceptions of online learning, which’s irreplaceable nowadays even though the status of Covid-19’s getting better thanks to its advantages.
However, lots of test-takers cannot identify differences between live and on-demand classes. In fact, they see both as one – online course. It is understandable because we need to use the internet to study, which means online. However, in order to get the most out of each type of online course, test-takers need to fully comprehend their pros and cons. We will compare these two types of online courses.
Live training courses
Advantages
1. Real-time interaction
Studying with trainers lively gets us answers to our questions right away as we are communicating directly during lessons. Therefore, we have real-time interaction that encourages and motivates us to discuss face-to-face with our trainers.
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2. Thorough feedback
Feedback is irreplaceable in any lesson or type of learning. Live classes are no exception. Nevertheless, live courses offer thorough feedback as we discuss it with our trainers. Besides, if we aren’t sure about anything, we can ask our trainers immediately to clarify all concerns.
For example, if a student takes a live DET training course with trainers at TADE Hub, our trainers will identify and point out all pronunciation, grammar, and spelling mistakes to help students improve their skills.
3. Detailed guide and explanation
All materials are built in a detailed way and trainers guide students in every single step of their preparation journey to make it less stressful and more exciting. Most importantly, students get an immediate explanation of any concerns they may have during the lessons.
Disadvantages
1. Inflexibility
Again, all live lessons have fixed study schedules that students cannot do otherwise. DET course-takers need to follow their schedules strictly if they don’t want to lose all benefits. Unlike on-demand courses that course-takers can study whenever they have time.
2. High costs
This is a fact, live lessons are way more expensive than on-demand courses. Why? Let’s think of it this way. If a trainer records their training videos and sells them as on-demand courses, they just need to do it once. However, if trainers take live classes, they need to do it over and over again, which costs them time and lots of energy. Consequently, live classes are way more expensive than on-demand ones.
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3. Interruption issues
While studying live classes, we surely need an amount of uninterrupted time. Nonetheless, there are always issues such as the Internet connection, noises, house members, and even some hiccup matters causing us to stop our lesson temporarily. Yes, if we stop temporarily for a couple of minutes, we will lose lessons during that period.
On-demand learning courses
Advantages
1. Flexibility
Unlike live classes, DET on-demand learning courses allow us to study at any time we want. We simply turn on our laptops and resume where we left off last time. Furthermore, we can actually study while taking a bus or going anywhere that we have time to utilize.
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2. Cost-effectiveness
It’s completely the opposite, as live classes and on-demand courses are super cheap. Course-takers can access all training videos and files for months with only a few dollars. To students who want to save costs, we strongly suggest this type of online learning.
3. Engagement
There is a misconception of on-demand courses that we don’t have engagement. No, that’s not correct. We do have engagement that comes from the video content, classmate discussion, and feedback.
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Disadvantages
1. Lack of thoughtful feedback
Yes, we do have feedback if you have questions or share your assignments. Nevertheless, it’s not as thoughtful and detailed as feedback in live classes. Most of the time, in on-demand courses, trainers shall offer general feedback to help course-takers identify their mistakes.
2. Lack of immersion
In most on-demand classes, course-takers don’t have enough practicing questions or environments to apply theories to practice. However, in our DET on-demand course, course-takers have thousands of practice questions, and the DET Practice Platform using as an environment to apply all strategies to practice and improve their scores.
3. Need strong self-discipline
No doubt! We need strong self-discipline to pursue our goals, especially when it comes to taking on-demand courses. There is no one who reminds us what and when to learn. It is all about our self-discipline to plan out our schedules and follow them until the very end. Nonetheless, it will be a bit easier if students have classmates who are pursuing the same goals, which is truly motivating and encouraging.
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To advance your skills and increase your scores, don’t forget the DET Practice Platform, which offers thousands of practice questions besides instant feedback for all question types. Particularly for Speaking and Writing answers, the platform evaluates your results based on Fluency, Grammatical Accuracy, Lexical Sophistication, Lexical Diversity, and Acoustic Features (Pronunciation). Read this article to have a deeper understanding of all grading elements.
