Students taking the LMS-hosted Spanish course told me this was among their favorite classes–ever. They were able to look at Spanish words and understand, más o menos, what was happening in the text, all thanks to an LMS-based course that their principal had arranged for them.

But when I asked the students to read to me, their pronunciation was terrible. The truth was, they weren’t able to speak Spanish. They weren’t used to speaking it. With the particular course these students were taking, they could listen to clips and answer questions, but they were never called upon to speak.

Educators using LMS-hosted courses to teach a language have the responsibility to devote a chunk of each class to actually conversing, not matter how much it might feel like pulling teeth. Additionally, a good LMS requires hearing and repetition of words and phrases.