Tutoring English for Adult Students
 

Useful tips from a Writer and a Teacher--Prof. Eric Roth

How do you effectively teach English to a struggling private student? What will you actually do for 60-120 minutes together? How will you make the lessons meaningful enough that your client feels satisfied and wants to retain you for future lessons?

First, you must be very clear about what the client wants and expects. Some tutors even present a written contract outlining their rates, the location and times of meetings, and payment policies. Only work with professionals, graduate students, and/or friends and spouses of friends with a solid foundation in English. Be explicit about what you want and don't want to teach a client. Be prepared to provide options for potential clients that you reject.

For students who want to improve their conversation, It is suggested that you select the topic and materials in advance. You can use newspapers, books and/or magazines to find appropriate articles to begin the conversation. You can browse the highly recommended books from here: Compelling Conversations - Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics for ESL learners and teachers that provides 45 self-contained thematic chapters - is Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics. The combination of poignant questions, vocabulary lists, proverbs, and witty quotations makes your job much easier.

If you have a weaker student looking to improve their speaking skills, Prof. Roth advise to use a picture dictionary. You might use the Oxford Picture Dictionary to open conversations, and he added that he would be tempted to ask the client to bring in photographs and ads each week. You will need patience and be prepared to repeat words. Many students will want to work on their pronunciation. You can also ask/assign them listening activities on the web.You will have to direct lower levels to websites to practice their listening and speaking skills with drills. They will love the work; you might go mad repeating vowel sounds.

Finally, Prof. Roth said, the key for tutoring ESL students - or anyone else - remains respecting the student, meeting their needs, and providing a solid structure for your lessons. Using a set text, developing a known routine, and combining conversation, vocabulary and writing skills makes for a successful and satisfying experience. Set a clear goal for your lessons, and conclude when the students have reached that goal. You can then become genuine friends and leave money out of the equation.

Or not. You choose. What are your goals for tutoring students?


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Eric Roth currently teaches writing and verbal skills to international graduate students at the University of Southern California. Eric has helped university students discover the pleasures and perils of the English language from dozens of countries over the last 15 years. He recently co-authored an EFL book titled "Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics" from materials he developed as a tutor and teacher. Eric can be reached through Compelling Conversations - Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics for ESL learners and teachers

Re: Tutoring English for Adult Students
 

Thank you for those useful comments.

I must say that for me the idea of a compelling conversation has to be something that the STUDENT finds compelling, and no two people are the same.

So a big tip for me is to ask the student to bring in topics that he or she finds interesting. He or she may be a passionate speaker builder, in which case you may have to learn to find that subject compelling - hardly an easy thing to do but then these lessons are not about the teacher, they are about the student.

Hope that helps!

Shelley

PS For teaching children privately see this video:
How to teach a child to speak English

And for online teaching, either in a virtual classroom, or as a private tutor, for kids and adults, see this book: ESL Online Games

Re: Tutoring English for Adult Students
 

All good comments here. I think the key is focusing the lesson, which is applicable to any level of student. The teacher must determine a final, specific objective for the class session.

Let's look at an example. To learn about the past tense is far too vague, and the lesson could easily meander from point to point. It could easily become a series of fun activities that get thrown at the class, but none of which build on one another. However, if the teacher wanted to work on the past tense in the context of past vacations, then the lesson has a clear direction. The teacher will need to specifically cover:

1: Vocabulary
2: Conjugation of the verbs into the past tense
3: Positive statements
4: Negative statements
5: Yes/No questions
6: Wh-questions

Each step builds on previous steps, which allows students to effectively absorb the new material. Students improve accuracy, fluency, and automaticity.

So for a higher-level lesson focus on conversation, they could specifically learn/practice speaking strategies, debate, how to clearly present ideas, etc. Each step of the lesson would allow practice and reinforcement, all leading to the objective of the class session.