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Private teaching. Help!!!

Davey

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5 Feb 2005
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Today I will have my first private student, and I'm kind of nervous about it.... (a Dutch guy teaching private lessons, but I got to make a living right)😌

So I was wondering if anyone got some advice for me? I have a 30 minute trail lesson which includes:

Introduction 10 minutes

Handout/ Activity 10 minutes

Corrections/Feedback 5 minutes

Scheduling 5 minutes



My idea so far:
For the introduction I will introduce myself first, just so that the student can feel a bit more comfortable and will then ask the student to introduce herself. I will ask for her goals, and what she wants to learn.

I'm still thinking about the handout, my employee told me I should prepare 2 handouts (beginner/intermediate) I was thinking of a fill in sheet with questions like: Do you _____ Kangaroo meat? Does your friend ______? Can you _____ ?

Do you know any other questions?

With the corrections feedback, I should praise them first and then go over certain sentences/grammar one more time, give advice.

Scheduling
Ask for the possible dates that she can meet up.

I would appreciate some help... ☝
 
I guess it all depends on how much English your student knows. I guess that is exactly what you will be trying to determin in this trial lesson...

Is this strictly a conversation lesson or would you be teaching grammar from a book/handouts as well?

30 minutes will just fly. I think you should concentrate on assessing her ability by just talking to her and if she can't keep up with you, you should go the hand-out route.

Good luck!
 
I agree with Ashikaga.

The first lesson (assuming you're see the person for the first time) is for measuring how much ability the person has.

I'd say rather than trying to teach something, you should encourage her to try to speak. If nothing comes out, you can make small talk with the questions you had prepared.

30 minutes is very, very short! No worries.

BTW, I'd have nothing against a Dutch person teaching English for Japanese students (maybe excluding advanced learners who want to discuss business or philosophy! lol).
The purpose of the first lesson is to "connect" to the student and to make her like you and want to come back for more!

Good luck! 🙂
 
Its difficult to know what to do if you have no idea of the english level of your student in my experience.

I'm teaching a Burmese couple english and for the first lesson its good to things like...

Teach things in pairs...if your going to teach likes and dislikes, teach them also how to ask someone else what they like and dislike. So make sure that not only you are asking the question, but she is asking the questions too. So you can get to know eachother.

For real beginners you can start with things like "Do you like...." "What don't you like?" "Can you...." Use gestures if you need to but dont overdo it. If things arent going your way and your student is looking at you puzzled just move on and dont dwell on it. Keep things simple, speak properly and dont be tempted to speak in pidgin!

For more intermediate speakers you can start talking about plans "What are you doing on the weekend?" "How was your weekend?" "What did you buy yesterday?"

As for handouts you can generate short templates in english and ask for them to fill in the gaps, or write "Do you like...." and ask them to write what they like and/or dislike.

I do work as a volunteer...so I'm not paid for it, so I dont know if there is anything specific you HAVE to teach them. But yeah keep it introductory and just get to know her and guage what level of english she is at and assess what she needs (which can be hard if she is a real beginner at conversation).

Students will learn what they will learn and you will have good and bad days so dont get discouraged if she doesnt understand everything you say. Just keep reassessing your lessons and adjusting your plans to suit what she needs to learn.
 
If this is just a trial lesson, does that mean either of you can turn down the whole deal if you are not satisfied? Or is this a done deal, and you are just giving the real first lesson?

If the former, I'd say suss out what level she is. That means asking some casual questions to see if she understands past, present, and future tenses, a few prepositions (location and time), and maybe even something like "have you ever". Don't forget to include giving HER the chance to make questions TO YOU.

Knowing her goals is paramount, but don't let her get by with "oh, I just want to learn as much English as possible" routine. Pin her down. WHY learn English? Homestay coming up? Business situation requires it? TOEIC coming up soon?

Your handout seems a bit inadequate for now, especially since you don't even know her level or goals. How about bringing in something to read and discuss? Bring something terribly easy and something intermediate. Regardless, the point should be to assess reading level (and any need to teach reading skills) as well as to get the student talking. I'd say find the book Let's Talk About It. 1000 Questions for Conversation by Craig Drayton and Mark Gibbon (Longman) just to help pass the time in future lessons with general conversation matters, but don't use it for the bulk of a lesson. Heck, just bring in a photo or two (family, friends, hometown) to stimulate questions on her part, and go from there.

The moment you finish the lesson write down what you perceive as weak points. Depending on what she wants you to do, you might want to explain what some of these are (don't give a lengthy list), and offer to work on some/one next time.

PM me if you want more advice, Dutch.
 
From my private teaching experience it is nothing like a class or a lesson. It more alike two people using English to communicate with.

Show them where they go wrong and help them to speak not to read handouts so much and ascertain their goals.
 
manners,
Your profile says you live in Miyagi yet you have never been to Japan. Would you mind updating the profile so we know which is correct and what nationality you are? I'm trying to figure out how to respond to your post and would like to know that.

"Show them where they go wrong" is a pretty broad appraisal of any student, IMO. It requires some understanding of what they are outputting related to what you WANT them do. Just chatting and correcting errors is fairly pointless, again IMO, and it can be quite embarrassing to a weak level student.
 
Show them where they go wrong and help them to speak not to read handouts so much and ascertain their goals.

I partially agree with you there...but I feel that correcting every mistake they make just makes them more self concious and they will close up more. Sometimes my students make mistakes but what they say is still perfectly understandable otherwise. Its not natural but its understandable.

Occasionally I will correct them if its something to do with verb tense but otherwise I try to encourage them to speak as much as possible.

I remembered once that people have different styles of learning, auditory (hearing, writing, reading), Visually (through images) and kinaesthetic (by doing, using actions). Some might favour one style more than the other or may be a mixture of 2 or more of them. Guaging where your student may fall might help you tailor something to suit their learning style.

For instance...I have a student that loves cars and tinkering with parts (he wants to become a motor mechanic). He hates books so instead of sitting in the lounge room having him rote learn the part names, I took him outside and opened up my car and have him help me change the oil, using language like "to pour oil", "to drain oil" and the various other parts of the engine. I use picture cards of the different car parts to help him with practicing.

So yeah every student is different :)
 
So~~~ How did it go, Dutch Baka?? What!? You picked on her pronouciation and made her cry?? Very nice.... You should be proud of yourself. 😊
 
So~~~ How did it go, Dutch Baka?? What!? You picked on her pronouciation and made her cry?? Very nice.... You should be proud of yourself. 😊

How did it go....

Well, I was bloody nervous especially because it was the first time to teach an adult. It started pretty easy, we introduced each other, and asked each other questions. After that I gave her a hand-out;


Yesterday I_______
Right now I_______
Tomorrow I______

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

I've always wanted to go to_________________
I never______________
I look like my__________
If I had 100 million yen I would____________

Positive Comparative Superlative
Irregular adjectives
Positive Comparative Superlative
Good Better Best
bad
Far

Example:
Will smith is good looking,
Brad Pitt is better looking,
Kimura Takuya is the best looking.


After that, came the most difficult part; feedback and correction. Because I never taught grammar like this before, and her level was pretty high I almost couldn't find any big mistakes and giving feedback was kinda hard :( .

I'm not sure if she signed up for other lessons yet, but if she decides to search for another teacher I can understand☝ . It was a fun and challenging experience, and I will be able to do better the next time.

Thanks for all your support and idea's! I might need your help in the near future (if she decides to sign up).
 
Ahhhh ok. I thought this was a "private" private lesson but it sounds like you work for an English conversation school to give private lessons. I hope she signs up but even if not, I'm sure there will be others. My fingers are crossed!
 
Well, she decided to sign up :D.
So today I will have a 1 hour private lesson with her, the only thing is... she doesn't want to use a textbook (yet), so I still have to find out what I exactly want to do with her today :?:

Does anyone know some nice links to teaching idea's, conversation topics, etc... especially because she doesn't want to use a textbook it means I have to do a lot of preparation myself (as for now, because I will ask her to prepare stuff herself in the future)
 
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Doesn't it mean she just wants to spend the time conversing in English?

I think that you should just chit chat about whatever and maybe correct her mistakes/give her pointers as you go along.

Perhaps ask her what her interests are and just talk about those?
 
From their website:

ナ?Oツ坂?伉人窶堙??堋「窶堙≫?堙??堙?ツ身ナ陳ウ窶堋ェナ?m窶堋ゥ窶堙按人窶堙寂?堋ゥ窶堙ィ窶堙??堋キ窶堙娯?堙??堋イヒ??ツ心窶ーツコ窶堋ウ窶堋「ツ。窶堙?窶堋ソ窶堙ォ窶堙アツ、ツ渉ュ窶堋オ窶堙??堙?窶禿「窶佚ィ窶堙娯?堋?窶堙ゥナ陳セ窶慊ョ窶堙ー窶ケN窶堋オ窶堋スツ講ナスt窶堙坂?愿ア窶忸窶堙?青カ窶很窶堙ーツ湘絶?ーテョ窶堋オ窶堙??堋「窶堙懌?堋ケ窶堙アツ。窶堋サ窶堙固停?ケ窶ーテ骸B]ツ"窶妊窶氾?講ナスtツ"[/B]窶堋セ窶堋ッ窶堋ェナスc窶堙≫?堙??堋「窶堙懌?堋キ

C'mon man, you are a superior teacher--shouldn't you know how to do this already? :p


英会話スクールはマンツーマン英会話のセブンアクト(7アクト) | 英会話スクール、マンツーマン英会話なら7アクト。「上達するから満足する」それが、レッスン経験者から選ばれる理由。東京・大阪で質の高いサービスを展開する英会話スクールです。

What was the process like for getting the job? The above link is where they talk about how carefully they select teachers, but advertising and reality are not always in line....

If you say her level of English is high, you should get her to read an english book that you have enjoyed and you can discuss it with her, or print out english language news articles that you can discuss with her. Find out what she is interested in, print out articles about that fit that description, assign reading them as homework, then when you meet first ask questions about the content of the articles, then draw out her opinions.

The teachers I have liked the best keep pressing me and moving the conversation forward while at the same time always forcing me to be an active participant. Be that teacher.
 
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Off Topic

ナ?Oツ坂?伉人窶堙??堋「窶堙≫?堙??堙?ツ身ナ陳ウ窶堋ェナ?m窶堋ゥ窶堙按人窶堙寂?堋ゥ窶堙ィ窶堙??堋キ窶堙娯?堙??堋イヒ??ツ心 窶ーツコ窶堋ウ窶堋「

Doesn't that sound offensive or is it just me?
 
Ha, maybe a bit offensive. When I was reading the FAQ though, I kind of expected a section like that once they mentioned that lessons would normally be conducted at instructors' apartments. A lot of eikaiwa students are women, and I imagine for many women the idea of going into a stranger's house would cause a bit of anxiety no matter who the stranger was.

If on top of being a stranger its a foreigner...

Through no fault of their own, a significant number of Japanese just dont have much experience with foreigners, and the unknown tends only to exacerbate anxiety in situations like this. Foreigners in Japan (and probably around the world as well) just have to get used to this fact...
 
Have heard nothing good about that agency. No specifics.

If you have a high level student, find out why she wants to study English, then cater to that. Can't really give you much in the way of teaching advice on lesson plans until we know that information.

Is she a college student hoping to get a high TOEIC score?
Is she a businesswoman looking for a promotion (based on a TOEIC score)?
Does she just want to keep up her English level?
Does she want to improve vocabulary in a certain area?
Is she weak on idioms and want to know them?

Don't go in with just chitchat. Do that part of the time, of course, but if her level is truly very high, then figure out where her weak points are. Asking her for that may help, or it may just lead to her saying "I don't know" or "Everything". I'll be glad to give advice, but I need to know where she's coming from (and just between you and me, I'd like to know what took her so long to decide this from Aug. 6).
 
Based on my own experience with private lessons with no textbooks, I would advise 1) finding out what her level is and what her interests are; 2) finding topics in newspapers, magazines, TV, on that interest to talk about. It isn't difficult, but you may have to learn something about the subject itself if you know nothing about it.

For example, I had a Todai (Tokyo University) masters student who was a theoretical mathematics major and believed in the mathematical theory of the universe having 10 dimensions, the possibility of time travel and the theory of traveling faster than light, etc. I had to learn at least the basics of what he was talking about and bought a few books on the subject to at least get an idea of where he was coming from. If there were an internet back then it would've made my job alot easier.

However, what I did learn from reading the books and talking to him sent me in a whole new direction of personal learning that I still follow to this day. Besides, since he was paying 10,000/hr for personal lessons I thought I should at least learn something to keep him coming back! He stayed with me for three years! That was my most challenging private lesson and I learned more about theoretical physics than I ever would had I not taken him as a student.

The other private students I had that preferred no textbooks were housewives (both private and in a group) who lived overseas and were fluent in English, and businessmen who had studied overseas. Business was my major so that was no problem. For the housewives, I just conversed at whatever they were interested in whether it be everyday events, cultural differences, present day gossip, or the problems with an interracial marriage.

Find their interests, find topics to talk about and learn about them, and it will make your job that much more easier. It's alot easier than it sounds. Much better than using textbooks and repition.

As Glenski also mentioned, regular chitchat is a no-no. You must find their weaknesses during the conversation, like idiomatic expressions, slang, advanced vocabulary, etc, and improve on them. That is a must for both your success and that of your student. The student must come away from the lesson thinking, and believing, that they have learned something. Good luck
 
I applied on the internet, and had a cafe interview with the Kansai manager...
Find out what she is interested in, print out articles about that fit that description, assign reading them as homework, then when you meet first ask questions about the content of the articles, then draw out her opinions.
In the trail lesson she told me that she would like to live overseas in the future, so I printed out this article: Famous Articles

We read it together, discussed it and I taught her the vocabulary that she didn't know. As for homework, I asked her to make 5 sentences using the new vocabulary that I taught her.


Is she a college student hoping to get a high TOEIC score?
Is she a businesswoman looking for a promotion (based on a TOEIC score)?
Does she just want to keep up her English level?
Does she want to improve vocabulary in a certain area?
Is she weak on idioms and want to know them?
(and just between you and me, I'd like to know what took her so long to decide this from Aug. 6).
She would like to communicate with foreigners and would like to live overseas, that's what she wants. So yeah, mainly free conversation.

Sorry, it was me that took so long to tell you guys. She already decided to sign up a week after the trail, I have just been too busy with other things😌

Besides, since he was paying 10,000/hr for personal lessons I thought I should at least learn something to keep him coming back!
Wow, 10.000/hr sounds nice 😌 . But my English level is way to low to teach a person like that 😊 .

The nice thing about teaching this level is, that I can keep up with my own English level as well... I am mainly speaking Japanese every day, with some easy English words that I am teaching the kids (how are you? What food do you like? etc). And as you wrote, I can learn about other topics.

Thanks everyone, for your help.

p.s. any links to a website where they have printouts, conversation questions?
 
She wants to live overseas. Ok, in what capacity at first? College student? She'll likely need a minimum TOEFL score of 500-550. Where does she stand?

If she wants to work, see what she needs for a work visa first, but also find out what field she wants to work in. DO NOT ACCEPT THE ANSWER "anything"!

How much of the vocabulary in the trial (not trail) lesson did you have to teach her? Article is pretty darned short.

"Communicate with foreigners" is far too general an answer. Don't let her get away with it. Pin her down. WHOM and in what capacity? What are her weak points in both areas right now?

You don't have to be her career advisor, but if you are going to help her English, you need a baseline. Right now, you don't. Everyone wants to communicate with foreigners and live overseas. So what? Means nothing. Until they give you more specifics and you work out the weak points, you really can't help her at all. Has she set a goal for taking a TOEIC or TOEFL?

If she will be in a business, work on business English.
If she is weak in daily conversation, work on specific points (shopping, banking, transportation, ordering, etc.).

Sorry, Dutch, but I have no web sites or books to offer a student with such a general outlook as you have described.
 
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