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you cannot really learn a language online, but you can improve one.

many online courses will give you plenty of practice in the basic skills, few of them have the community side in place to successfully emulate the experience of learning with a group of like-minded people.

the social community should be the absolute centre of any school or course, and not something tacked on at the end.

People need to get together and talk to each other, to laugh and share and discuss – you simply don’t get this in an online tutorial with a teacher. So yes, by all means have good solid exercises, games and everything else – but don’t bother opening an online school, or engaging in distance language teaching unless you give people a chance to talk to each other.

I would be looking for a company that has been around for a while, long enough to prove that what it offers is good enough to survive. I would then be looking at if they are recognized by an institution for the work they do.

I’d ask to talk to a real human being at the other end of the phone who could answer my questions in the language of my choice, and I would find out about the organization – who they have working for them, who the writers are, who their big clients are. I’d have a sample class and a sample tutorial.