Do beginners need teachers?

Steve at The Linguist says that beginning students of a language need lots of exposure and, I gather, some structure, to start on a language. They don't need a teacher, however.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that the primary value of having a teacher is that it ensures you will work on your language a certain number of times a week and a certain number of hours each time. However, a student who is not prepared to do his or her own work oughtn't waste the money on either time or books. For unless you've got a big enough bank account to hire a teacher to follow you around 24 hours a day, making sure you stay in touch with the language is up to you.

A teacher can create circumstances for you to start learning. But a teacher is much more useful for helping you make the connection between the things you've figured out and the things that are still giving you trouble.

If you need to learn a language, sort of, in a month, to go to another country where you'll be speaking the language constantly, by all means, get a teacher. But if you're learning for fun, save you might want to save your pennies till you're further along in the endeavor.