Take Albanian lessons with a private tutor

Albanian Lessons in the United States

Albanian is a language that has its roots in the Indo-European language family and continues to be one of the oldest languages in Europe. Today, there is a total of about 5.2 million people worldwide who speak Albanian as their mother tongue, but about 98 percent are in Albania. However, in the United States, there are about 250,000 Albanian speakers and it’s primarily spoken on the East Coast in cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit. Speaking the language is considered a very useful skill that could potentially help you get hired by numerous companies as it’s not a standard dialect to speak.

In fact, it has two distinct dialects known as the Gheg dialect and the Tosk dialect. The Gheg Dialect is spoken in northern Albania and Kosovo, while the Tosk dialect is spoken in southern Albania and part of Greece. So it’s quite an interesting language with a rich history and significant changes over the centuries. Learning to speak Albanian is not for the faint of heart, but will come with an incredible education and career opportunities!

The Truth About Studying Albanian 

Studying a new language is never going to be an easy process, but with the right passion and dedication, anything is achievable. Albanian is considered to be in a level 3 category meaning that in comparison to languages like Japanese or Korean, Albanian remains easier to master. But it all truly depends on an individual's learning process and dedication, as it might come to be easier for some than others.

Modern Albanian for example has an alphabet that is Latin-based with a few additions, so this could make it an advantage to Spanish speakers. Nonetheless, in order for you to truly learn the language you must expose yourself to the tongue on a daily basis or at least for 44 weeks in order to get familiar with some of the basics. That includes conversing with locals and training your ears with the Albanian language through music, movies, shows, or even podcasts.

Learning Albanian Takes Time & Dedication

It will take you about ten months of consistent exposure to the Albanian language in order for you to learn to understand the pronunciation and basic terms. Albanian is unique and borrows a lot of words and grammar rules from Greek, Latin, and other extinct Indo-European languages such as Thracian, Illyrian, and Dacian. This is why daily study sessions and consistent practice are crucial to learning common vocabulary. But it can really take you anywhere between three months to two years to learn how to speak, write, and read in a new language fluently.

No matter how much you study a language, there are always going to be new works, new pronunciations, and new sayings to learn. This is because language is ever-changing as new slang is created, and the more you further your education the more words you add to your vocabulary. It’s the beauty of diction and Albanian is no exception to that rule as you’ll spend the rest of your life learning this new language.

Finding The Perfect Albanian Tutor

Part of learning a new language is exposing yourself to people whose native language is Albanian and fully immersing yourself in the history and culture. Normally as a beginner student, you’ll be exposed to more proper words and grammar rules, but with a tutor that is a native speaker, you’ll also learn all the casual words and phrases. Finding a private tutor that offers online and in-person lessons that can cater each class to your specific needs is definitely worth the investment. Lucky for you at Superprof we have a great and diverse team of tutors that offer affordable classes and even include their first lesson for free.

Private tutors are an incredible way to stay consistent and motivated to keep learning as they keep you on track and accountable. Especially when apps like Duolingo don’t offer Albanian courses due to its relatively small number of speakers compared to other European countries. So don’t hesitate to get started and move forward with your education and career opportunities today with the help of an experienced instructor!