Should You Use A VPN To Learn A Language?

If you are learning a language online you will have probably heard that you should be using a VPN to help you, but should you?

Generally it can help, but I also think you can still achieve what you want without one. They certainly have their benefits, but they are not essential. I will go through what exactly they are and why they can be helpful, as well as why you can still be fine without one. 

What Is A VPN?

A VPN is a Virtual Private Network …which sounds complicated, but it’s not. It is basically a bit of software you install onto your computer and its acts as a middle man when you are using the internet.  

Normally when you connect to the internet, you have your device and then the internet. You can see everything …but more importantly, everything can see you. Any site you go on can usually see your IP address, which shows where you physically are and data like this can be used to track you across the internet.

Basically your device has a little flag that it waves around showing everyone who you are and where you are and all sorts of other data. This isn’t good as some internet bad guys can use this data to do all sorts of things and can basically get a lot of private information about you from this.

All a VPN does is stand in the middle and blocks the view. You connect to the VPN, and then the VPN connects to the outside internet. This means anyone looking in on you… can only see the VPN. They can no longer see you, or what you are up to or any of your data

I guess it’s kind of like an invisibility shield that you can stand behind and then you can safely go around the internet safe in the knowledge that no one can see you.  

Why Are VPNs Good For Language Learning?

When you look at what a VPN is, it all sounds very linked to security, which it is, but it can actually help us with our language learning.

Basically to make us invisible, the VPN creates a fake IP address …which really means we can tell the outside internet that we are somewhere we are not.

We can set the VPN to say we are in any country we want. This makes the bad guys think we are in some random country …but more importantly, it also makes the websites we visit also think this.

This now means we have access to parts of the internet that would normally wouldn’t. A lot of sites have content locked to certain regions, so now that you are “in another country” through your VPN …you can have access to this regional content.

Websites like Netflix are not the same all around the world. I live in the UK, and the shows I can see may be different to the ones you can see. If I am learning French, I can set my VPN to France. Now when I log into Netflix, it thinks I am in France …as my VPN is saying that.    

I now have access to all the French shows on Netflix and really whatever other websites may be geo-locked for that country.

You will also find little things change, like all the YouTube adverts will now be in French. This may be small, but if you are immersing and an advert pops up, it keeps you in the same language, rather than interrupted with something in English.

Ultimately, a VPN makes it look like your computer is in a country where they speak the language you are learning and this small change can be extremely useful for getting access to more content.

You Still Get All the Other Benefits

You also get all the benefits of the cyber security. I know this doesn’t really help with our quest to learn a language, but it can be cool to know that you and your data is a little bit safer when you are going about your business online.

VPNs Are Easy To Us

VPNs sound complicated and very technical. Trying to learn a language is hard enough without adding all this extra confusion on top …however, they are actually pretty easy to use.

Normally you just need to download it and then once it is installed it’s easy to use. There is usually a big button that will turn it on and then you will commonly see a map of the world and you can just click on country you want “to be”.

It’s that’s easy, the software will do the rest and deal with everything. All you need to worry about is clicking whatever country you want and then you can act like your computer is in that area.      

Why VPNs Are Not Great For Language Learning

VPNs sound great, but they are not perfect and not everyone uses them when they are learning a language.

You Need To Pay

The biggest issue is that most VPNs, well certainly the good ones, cost. The price is usually pretty reasonable, but you still do have to pay.

You could of course argue that the cost is worth the cyber security benefits you get, but if you are trying to learn a language for free, or very cheaply, this may be a cost you are not willing to pay. 

Streaming Services Don’t Like VPNs

The truth is that streaming services don’t like people using VPNs. It’s not illegal, they just don’t like it and they do often try and stop it.

The streaming services usually try and find out what IPs are associated with VPNs and then block them, as they know these are people overseas and not in the actual physical region they are based.

This means you may be trying to watch Netflix Japan, only to find it does not work, and now you have paid for a VPN that doesn’t actually give you what you want.

Of course the VPN companies will try and make a new IP address, and it can be a bit of a cat a mouse game at times, but this can interrupt your viewing and be a bit annoying.    

You Can Still Find Enough Content Without Them

While you can find a lot of content when using a VPN, I think you can find just as much without one.

The internet is full of things you can immerse with and you don’t need to change you IP address to get at it. Things like YouTube are places where you can find plenty of content with needing a VPN.

Unless there is something that you really want to unlock, such as Netflix, I don’t think you need to get a VPN, I think there more than enough to keep you busy without having to use one.

Do I Use A VPN?

Personally I do not use a VPN. As I just mentioned there is enough content out there to use. I just use YouTube and I can find more than enough on there, occasionally things are “blocked in my country” but it’s rare and usually from big TV networks.

Most content is made by normal people and they are happy for it to be shared around the world, so I can always just watch this.

I also don’t actually have the paid streaming services, such as Netflix, so I wouldn’t even benefit from this anyway. If I used a VPN, I would only be getting the security benefits, it would not change how I go about learning languages.   

Conclusion

Hopefully now you have a better understanding of what a VPN is and how it can help you learn a language, or if you are like me, you might not think it is worth it.

However, at least now you can see the benefits from both side and decide what is right for you and your learning needs.  

(You can read more about – Is It Better To Learn A Language Online Or In Person?)