- When our target is to work off excess weight, we know that we should regularly train in a gym or go for a run. That’s great as long as you understand what exercises should be done, how many laps should be run and what our diet should be. If you are not sure about all that, you look for a person who could help you figure it out – a coach. A coach knows what exercises will be good for you. He selects a workout routine and comes up with your meal plan: he calculates the number of sets and reps and creates a special diet for you. The coach does his best to help you achieve the target. In English language learning, the same rules are applicable: if you want to get good results, hire a coach.
- It is easy to find an English language tutor but it is difficult to find a good one. A good tutor helps you achieve the target: pass an exam, enter university, or make a good presentation. When learning with an unsuitable tutor, you risk flunking everything, even when you work hard every day.
- This article offers some tips on how to find a good tutor and how to tell a dabbler from a professional.
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About English language tutors
- The main job of an English language tutor is to help you reach the target. Your job is to follow their advice: to listen to the tips carefully, to do all the tasks and not to skip classes. One can tell a professional from a dabbler almost immediately. A professional gets ready for each lesson and a dabbler does not. Good tutors do their best for you to reach your goal: they prepare various tasks, pay attention to your weak language points and work on them while helping you consolidate the acquired knowledge at the same time. A dabbler gets ready for the classes occasionally. Even when he does, the lesson plan is loosely structured. He prefers improvisation and might ask questions such as: “What would you like to learn today?”
- Just like any professional, each tutor has his or her own specialization. A good English language tutor majors in one subject. One cannot prepare a schoolboy for the Unified National Exam and a top-manager for a business presentation to foreign investors equally well. There are broad-profile tutors. For instance, some are good at general English and can prepare you for an international exam well. Others major in conversational English and tutoring for the Unified National Exam. It is important to keep in mind that one tutor cannot major in everything.
- A professional must have a good grasp of his field. He or she not only teaches but advises how to put the acquired knowledge into practice as well. For example, a good Business English tutor has a good understanding of a company business processes and strategies because he himself is an experienced manager. You’ll be on the same wavelength with such a tutor as you will talk shop using the same language. A university entrance exam tutor has a wide range of the previous and more recent exam papers since he or she has been engaged in the College Board.
Tutors’ basics
● English language tutor’s task is to help you accomplish your goal.
● Real professional gets ready for each lesson.
● Each teacher majors in his/ her field. One cannot major in everything.
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How to tell a dabbler from a professional
- 1. Check up diplomas and certificates. A certificate is not a warranty of the tutor’s expertise. However, certificate-free dabblers are more frequent. Don’t forget to ask for academic credentials: diplomas and international certificates. A good tutor is aware of the importance of the professional growth: he or she attends qualification-upgrading courses and trainings, and takes part in related tutorials and webinars.
- 2. A tutor assesses your skills during your first class together and gets to know your goals, which he needs to draw up a learning plan and select learning resources.
- 3. Each tutor has a step-by-step learning plan. A good tutor creates an individual learning program with the aim of helping you achieve your target. A dabbler lacks the plan and even if he has one, the plan is the same for all students.
"Good tutors do their best to help you reach your goal: they prepare various exercises, pay more attention to your weak language points while helping you improve and systematize the acquired knowledge."
- 4. Each plan should be realistic. A good tutor never takes up impossible tasks: for instance, to help a beginner reach advanced level in a short time. A dabbler can promise everything.
- 5. Any professional would test you to assess your progress and to correct your program in case of your sudden deviation from your training course. A dabbler relies upon success only and tests nothing or very little.
- 6. A tutor must prepare for each lesson. A good tutor knows what should be learnt during one lesson. He or she does not forget the review sections and always uses supplementary material on the topic.
- 7. A good English language tutor always encourages you to speak and is more silent than you during classes.
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Tips on how to find a tutor
- 1 . Look for a tutor in your neighborhood or online if you can't find one nearby. If you have to spend too much time commuting every time you have a class, the classes with even the most brilliant teacher may become a trial for you.
- 2. If you prepare for a university entrance test, try to find a university prep teacher. He might know about this entrance test more than others.
- 3. If you prepare for international examinations, try to find a teacher majoring in the exam you need.
- 4. Ask for students’ testimonials and references. Do not hesitate to check up the comments and to call some former students. In some cases this can be the only way to learn more about your future English language teacher.