Also, I’ve spent several years failing to learn my second, third and fourth languages, and this article helps explain why. It doesn’t mention my laziness, though.

“The new learning paradigm does not require teachers who are trained in the details of grammar and language teaching. Instead the important qualifications for a tutor on the Internet are; an interest in people, an ability to use one’s native language well, and rich experience to share with learners in English.”

We could go to the extreme and suggest that there is no longer any need for teachers – everyone should just get on with designing their own learning programme, but unless the learner is skilled at autonomous learning and highly motivated this is not going to suit a lot of learners.

On the contrary, in this new learning world there is a real need for people who are skilled in guiding others to fully utilise the wealth of learning opportunities. Not everyone is completely at home on the Internet, and aspiring language learners may be paralysed by the question “where do I start”?

I don’t think just being a “people person” and having a good grasp of one’s mother tongue necessarily qualifies someone to be an Internet language trainer. These are no different from the qualities that we looked for in traditional classroom teachers.

A whole new range of skills is needed, which leads to big questions about the most effective way to train the trainers, and furthermore, how they are to be remunerated. So called “free” language learning opportunities abound on the Internet – free for the learner, perhaps, but often representing a significant labour of love from the person offering the learning opportunity. Is it realistic to expect quality Internet-based trainers to do everything for free?