Language schools face a specific challenge with online teaching: effective language learning requires speaking practice, and speaking practice requires conversation partners.
You can't learn to speak Dutch or English or Spanish by watching a teacher talk. You need to practice — in pairs, in small groups, with feedback and correction.
This makes language schools uniquely dependent on breakout rooms. And it makes the limitations of general-purpose video platforms especially painful.
Why Language Schools Need Better Tools
In a typical language class, a significant portion of time is spent on conversation practice. Students are paired up or grouped to practice dialogue, role-play scenarios, or discuss topics in the target language.
A good language teacher during this time is:
- Listening to conversations across the room
- Noting common errors for later correction
- Stepping in when students are stuck
- Encouraging quieter students to participate
- Assessing pronunciation and fluency
This requires awareness of multiple groups simultaneously. It's exactly what mainstream platforms don't provide — the ability to hear multiple breakout rooms at once.
What Language Schools Actually Need
Based on conversations with language school owners across Europe, here are the features that matter most:
Multi-room audio monitoring: The ability to hear several conversation pairs at once. This is non-negotiable for effective language instruction.
Quick room switching: Moving between pairs should take seconds, not multiple clicks through menus.
Invisible observation: Students practice more naturally when they're not sure if the teacher is listening. The option to observe without being seen helps assess authentic conversation ability.
Easy re-pairing: Language teachers frequently shuffle pairs — new conversation partners keep practice fresh. This should be drag-and-drop simple.
Recording for self-review: Students benefit from hearing their own conversations. Session recording that's easy to share helps reinforce learning.
Platform Comparison for Language Schools
Zoom: The most widely used option. Breakout rooms work, but with significant limitations. You can only hear one room at a time. Students can join via link, which creates management overhead. Works acceptably for occasional pair work but becomes frustrating when conversation practice is your core activity.
Microsoft Teams: Similar limitations to Zoom. Often used by language schools connected to corporate training programs. The integration with Office 365 is nice, but doesn't help with the core teaching workflow.
Specialized language platforms: Some platforms are built specifically for language learning (like italki for one-on-one tutoring). These often lack the classroom features needed for group instruction.
Education-focused video platforms: Platforms like Simpleclass, designed for small-group education, typically offer the monitoring capabilities language schools need. The trade-off is that students may be less familiar with them.
Making the Decision
For language schools, the decision often comes down to: how much of your teaching involves breakout room conversation practice?
If it's occasional — say, 10-15 minutes per class — the limitations of mainstream platforms are manageable. You hop between rooms, accept that you'll miss some things, and make it work.
If conversation practice is your core methodology — as it is for most communicative language teaching approaches — those limitations become a daily frustration. The inability to properly monitor practice means you can't do your job effectively.
GDPR Considerations for European Language Schools
Many language schools in Europe work with students from across the EU, including minors. This makes GDPR compliance essential.
Key questions to ask:
- Where is student data stored? EU servers are preferred.
- How is recording data handled? Who has access?
- What happens to data when a student leaves?
US-based platforms can be used in compliance with GDPR, but it requires careful attention to data processing agreements and sometimes additional configuration. EU-hosted platforms simplify this significantly.
Our Recommendation
Simpleclass was built with language schools as a core use case. Our breakout room monitoring lets you hear multiple conversation pairs simultaneously, observe without being seen, and move between groups instantly.
We're a Dutch company with EU data hosting and straightforward GDPR compliance. Students access classes through invite-only accounts — no open links, no "Zoom bombing" concerns.
Try us with a 7-day free trial. Run a real conversation practice session and see if the workflow fits how you teach.