5 benefits of online English classes for kids:
Let’s get straight to the point — English is one of the most important skills for children today. It opens up multiple doors, it enables them to access a significantly larger portion of information online, and it ensures they will have many more career options in the future.
At the same time, online learning has become significantly more accessible and effective, especially for young learners, and many parents choose this approach over traditional language schools and private tutors. Here’s what makes online classes so effective and why children can benefit from them.
Flexibility and convenience
Online English classes enable kids to learn from home without any need for commuting, which eases the process significantly and reduces stress associated with lessons. Children get to study in their own room, which feels significantly more comfortable and safe, and that, in turn, brings better results — young learners aren’t as anxious and scared of saying something wrong.
This way, parents can save time and get more control over scheduling, while kids get to take lessons at times when they are most focused — online sessions are often more adaptable for children with busy schedules or those balancing extracurricular activities.
Access to expert teachers
What makes online platforms irreplaceable is the fact that they connect children with teachers from around the world. Getting international expertise is invaluable — native speakers are unparalleled when it comes to helping improve pronunciation and cultural understanding. This helps greatly not just in the moment, but in the long run as well — a person who is familiar with these nuances will be able to leave a good impression wherever they are, from job interviews to casual meetings.
Unlike with land-based institutions or private tutors, parents who rely on online classes can choose from dozens of teachers to find the one that matches their child’s learning style. To put it simply, there is nothing more accessible and convenient than online studying — and that is probably the main reason it became so popular over the last few years.
Personalized learning
Online classes for kids often use placement tests to match lessons with children’s level, and teachers can quickly and easily adjust the pace based on the kid’s strengths and weaknesses. Even more important, one-on-one or small group classes allow for much more interaction and attention — essentially, there is no difference between having a private tutor come to your home and interacting with them online. The latter, however, saves everyone the trouble and enables shy kids to progress faster than in traditional large classroom settings.
Engaging tools
Nothing beats visual aids, video games, and songs when it comes to making English lessons fun and exciting — and keeping them this way is absolutely necessary to ensure that kids pay attention and feel interested in studying further.
That is why so many platforms gamify lessons to keep kids motivated — for example, instead of memorizing vocabulary lists, kids play interactive games that reinforce words naturally. Finally, various game mechanics motivate kids to keep coming back to the platform and study new topics to get rewards and great new experiences.
Cost-effectiveness and long-term value
It is no secret that online classes are much more affordable than private tutors or language schools, and that is doubly true if you consider how much money is spent on transportation and materials.
Subscription models don’t just make it easier to budget — they provide multiple long-term benefits from improved school performance and better communication skills to future study and career opportunities. Investing a small amount of money in early online English lessons ultimately results in better academic outcomes later, and the kids feel much less threatened by English classes since they often confidently outperform their peers.
Additional advantages
There are a few additional benefits to online English classes that should be noted as well. Online studying provides a safe learning environment at home — there are no risks involved when compared to transporting a kid and leaving them somewhere for prolonged periods of time. It can also connect kids from different countries, which can ensure better cultural understanding and develop social skills alongside English. Finally, using an online platform increases digital proficiency, enabling kids to better understand modern online technology and adjust to it in no time.
KwaZulu-Natal coalition in jeopardy as MK party motion tests relations between ANC and IFP:
The future of the KwaZulu-Natal government of provincial unity hangs in the balance after Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party submitted a motion of no confidence in premier Thamsanqa Ntuli which could succeed, given the strained relations between the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the ANC.
The traditional political foes have enjoyed more cordial relations after forming a governing pact in the province when the ANC lost support in last year’s general elections, but the MK’s submission against Ntuli, the IFP’s provincial chairman, could test that.
“Under premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, governance has lost direction and administrative control over provincial departments has been rendered weak,” reads the motion submitted to speaker of the provincial legislature Nontembeko Boyce.
Despite being on the opposition benches, the MK party is the largest party in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, with 37 seats, after the ANC went from 44 seats to just 14.
The MK party was, however, denied power when the IFP with 15 seats, the ANC with its 14 seats, the Democratic Alliance with 11 and the National Freedom Party with one seat banded together to form a governing pact shortly after the 2024 general elections. Together these parties have 41 seats.
The MK party will be banking on the souring relations between the IFP and the ANC after MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Thulasizwe Buthelezi of the IFP, masterminded the removal of Siphile Mdaka, an ANC mayor in the uMkhanyakude district in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The ANC has signalled that it believes the IFP has shown itself to be an unreliable ally in the province.
“The ANC has expressed its clear views on the matter. We will be having a meeting between ourselves and the IFP. As soon as that meeting takes place, the ANC will articulate its position publicly,” ANC provincial coordinator Mike Mabuyakhulu told the Mail & Guardian.
It is likely that the ANC will demand the reinstatement of Mdaka as mayor as a condition for staying in the provincial unity government.
The office of the legislature speaker confirmed receipt of the motion.
“The motion will be processed, in line with the legislature standing rules, and other applicable legislative frameworks,” it told the M&G.
The ANC Youth League has backed the idea of the party leaving the governing coalition in the province, accusing both the IFP and the DA of seeking to relegate it to the political periphery.
An anonymous police investigator — identified only as Witness A — has implicated the Johannesburg central police station in involvement in organised crime.
The witness told the Madlanga commission inquiry into political interference in policing on Monday that an investigation into the murder of Armand Swart, an engineer believed to be a whistleblower on overpriced tender irregularities at state-owned entity Transnet, had uncovered a wider network of corruption at the police station.
Witness A said that the ongoing investigation into Swart’s murder had identified another individual as the whistleblower, instead of the engineer, and that Witness B would expound on the case on Tuesday.
He alleged that Michael Pule Tau, a police detective and alleged hitman, was in constant contact with murder suspect Katiso Molefe, during which they exchanged the victim’s work address. Tau allegedly made and received calls from Molefe outside Swart’s office building, Witness A said, adding that the pair used burner phones to avoid detection. After “scouting” Swart’s work offices, Tau arrived at Molefe’s house the evening before the murder.
Witness A said after the murder, in which Swart was shot 23 times, Tau sent a text reassuring Molefe that it had gone well.
Evidence leader Mahlapa Sello said the anonymous witness was a police investigator who had been living in a safe house because of threats to his life.
“The anonymous witness appreciates that their identity might be known by certain quarters of the police service. They … would like to present evidence in public, not to be present physically, and their image not to be broadcast,” Sello said.
“They have lived in safe houses for an extended period and their safety in those houses is supported in part by their anonymity within the community they live in. If their faces are broadcast, that anonymity is lost.”
The commission, chaired by retired judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga, was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mhwanazi made allegations of political interference and collusion with criminal syndicates in the criminal justice system, implicating Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who has since been placed on special leave.
Mhwanazi has accused Mchunu of disbanding a task team probing political killings, without consulting senior police officers, at the behest of Gauteng-based drug cartels. Crime intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo testified that another murder suspect, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, instigated the disbandment of the team through Mchunu’s associate, North West businessman Bown Mogotsi.
Last week, Mchunu defended his decision to disband the political killings task team, arguing it was never a permanent police structure and said he did not need to consult Mkhwanazi, national police commissioner Fannie, Masemola and Khumalo before disbanding the team.
Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya told parliament’s ad hoc committee, which is conducting a parallel inquiry into the same issue, that Mkhwanazi and Khumalo had used intelligence resources to build an “elite” and unaccountable policing network in KwaZulu-Natal that cost R500 million a year while sidelining other crimes such as non-political murder and house robberies.
On Monday, Witness A said members of the organised crime unit faced intimidation and threats after uncovering links between Johannesburg police and organised crime. The investigation expanded after 10 members of the political killings task team were deployed from KwaZulu-Natal.
This week, the Madlanga commission will hear testimony from three more anonymous witnesses after the testimony of Witness X was disrupted last week due to technical issues which risked exposing their identity.
Following an application from News24 and Daily Maverick, the commission agreed last week that witnesses could testify anonymously — with their voice distorted in the case of Witness X — to protect their identities for various reasons and allow the media some access to their testimonies.
The commission will this week hear the testimony of witnesses A, B and C, from a separate location, with their names and images classified.
Witness A, who works in the Gauteng organised crime unit, identified himself as a long-serving officer who joined the South African Police Service in 2008. He testified in his own voice from a remote location.
“I am an investigator within the SAPS and I am currently based within organised crime,” he said, adding that he was part of the team investigating the April 2024 murder of Swart.
Witness A testified that the investigation into Swart’s murder uncovered links to other killings and led to several arrests in Bramley and Kliprivier. The suspects allegedly included Tau and two alleged hitmen — Tiego Mabusela and Musa Kekana.
The investigation also revealed CCTV footage showing vehicles conducting surveillance of the crime scene before the attack. Two burner phones found in the suspects’ vehicles proved crucial in establishing coordination between the hitmen.
“These two phones were found to have been communicating during the commission of a crime and after the crime had been committed in Vereeniging. The conclusion of the investigating team was that these two burner phones were utilised or were bought for the same purpose of communications between two vehicles at the crime scene, and mainly coordinating their movements at the crime scene,” Witness A said.
The officer added that the number plates on the vehicles had been duplicated to evade detection, but investigators linked a third set of plates to Mabusela’s daughter.
Witness A said other police officers who supported Tau threatened members of the unit that made the arrests and allegedly attempted to run their vehicles off the road after the court appearance.
“In my mind, I would not imagine a civilian doing what was done to a police official. This was the beginning of what we understood then of what was being done to the investigating team,” said Witness A.
The new testimony adds to growing evidence before the Madlanga commission and parliament’s ad hoc committee of corruption within the police service.
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