Learning is creating change.You have learned something when you act differently in the same environment.
Let's say, you learned to speak a foreign language without having to leave your home country. You started selling to English-speaking audiences from your home country and increased your income. You got in the best shape of your life at home, without a gym membership.
I have done the things above. That's how I know I have learned those skills.
Some people think that learning means memorizing new information. They waste their time on flashcards and lectures on Coursera trying to remember "important" stuff. However, they struggle retaining it.
Others thinks that learning means taking private classes with a teacher twice a week. The only problem is that they don't know when to stop and how much is enough. Private coaching works as long as they work with a coach. As soon as they stop, they seem to go back to the same state of helplessness that they started with. They don't know what to do and they quit practicing, because no one holds them accountable and more.
No amount of private coaching is enough if you don't know how to learn. That's why I teach people how to learn by SHOWing them how I improve my English skills and how I learn new skills. The skill of learning must be modeled by another human. Don't hope to learn it from a Youtube video. Consuming information is not learning. Having access to more information doesn't help you learn if you don't know how to filter out useless information and apply what's useful for you.
You need to know how to work on your skills in between the sessions with your coach. Independent practice is what matters most. You need a coach to direct you, model the skill, and give you honest, caring feedback.
E.g. imagine this: you keep confusing words like "BAD" and "BED", "SAD" and "SAID", "LAND" and "LEND". People get confused and never know what you really mean to say.
Your English coach already showed you the mistake and corrected you many times. Yet, you continue making the same mistake in spontaneous speech. No amount of money spent on private lessons will help you eradicate the mistake.
It’s nonsense to hope that the mistake will fix itself if you pay more and book more classes.
To pronounce the words correctly, you need to take the time to learn these two vowels on your own time. The coach shows you HOW TO, and you put their recommendations into practice. You spend as much time as necessary to train your mouth and tongue until you create an improvement. Then you create more improvement. You get feedback and create even more improvement. An hour with your coach will never feel like enough time for you to make progress. Not because your coach is doing a bad job, but because you use the time with your coach incorrectly. You put all your hopes in them. You give all your power to them. Instead, take your power back. Learn to learn. This will not only save you a lot of money, but empower you to take agency over your learning process and finally create the change that you want.