I’m always looking for something to complement my weekly classes at Alliance Française, anything that will help me practice what I’ve learned and anything to get me speaking more French. Je parle un peu françias. The YouTube algorithm must have known this because it started recommending videos of creators who had completed the Lingoda Sprint.
Everything seemed promising. The sprint would consist of 30 classes in 60 days ~ averaging one class every other day, no more than 5 classes in one week along with other rules in the sprint. It was definitely a challenge but I thought, hey it could only help. If I completed the sprint, I’d receive 50% of my money back!
Spoiler: I did not complete the sprint successfully. These are a few things (which I knew of, lol) but I wish I had considered them more carefully.
Time Management: average is one class every other day
The biggest reason I wasn’t able to make the sprint work was due to time management. I know there will be people that say, we have a good 16 free hours in a day… there’s plenty of time to be productive, plenty of time to plan accordingly & I’d half agree with that. No matter how much one plans, sometimes there are unforeseeable circumstances we have to tend to; I was added to a last minute meeting for work that was required for my team. I missed one class which ultimately disqualified me from the sprint.
Lack of flexibility: unable to cancel class unless it’s 7+ days out
This actually goes hand in hand with time management. For those of you who don’t know me, I have a Type A personality, in the best possible way, ofc 😊 I planned my classes in advance, and tired to schedule them at the same time each day so it was easier to consistently block off my calendar. The real issue was, that there was no flexibility in rescheduling a class unless it was 7+ days out; this seems reasonable in the most ideal circumstances but like I mentioned, sometimes there are unforeseeable circumstances that one needs to tend to. So when scheduling classes, there are two options
- Book in advance for the most convenient days/times; accept that no changes can be made unless 7+ days out & hope that your schedule permits
- Wait to book on a more sporadic basis; accept that the days/times that are most convenient may not be available
Tutor consistency: new tutor for almost every class
This is where I really struggled. Some may file this under the positive column in their pros & cons list – I certainly didn’t. I am a creature of habit and I found it difficult to have a different tutor for almost every class. Given that I’m still very much a beginner in my language-learning journey, it was a hard adjustment – adjusting to their teaching style, their mannerisms, and their accents. Again, some would argue that this is more beneficial, being exposed to different speaking styles and maybe it is in the long run. I just know that this increased my stress levels a bit more than I would’ve liked.
I still have one more month in my sprint but since I no longer qualify for the refund, I’m going to take my time with my lessons – perhaps parse them out to 2x a week instead of the 3-4 I had done previously.
This should go without saying but…with everything else I’ve written on this blog, these are my opinions – others are entitled to theirs, and you are entitled to yours. If you’re considering the Lingoda Sprint, I highly highly HIGHLY recommend you read through all the rules. If you decide to move forward with it, I wish you luck!
