Job Discussion Forums

alter ego · Joined: 24 Mar 2009 Posts: 209

To the OP, check out the IELTS website and click on Teachers and then Speaking. You can get some solid info. here that might help you do one-to-one tutoring. I agree with Cleric; privates can and should be more like natural conversations that segue from one topic to the next.

One important question that hasn't been discussed yet (maybe it has but I missed it?) is why your student has hired you. What specific areas does she want to improve in? Is she preparing for a test or looking for a better job? Is she a bored housewife who likes English and has nothing better to do? It might help to know what her reasons and goals are.

Here's the link: http://www.ielts.org/

nobleignoramus · Joined: 17 Jul 2009 Posts: 208 Location: On the road

chengdu4me · Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:41 pm Post subject:

If I may offer some advice for using a tape recorder. It is a great idea. Save the tapes. Use a new one for each session.

When reviewing the taped conversation, try not to overwhelm the student by pointing out every mistake. Listen to the tape together and write down the mistakes. Then look over your notes. Pick the one mistake that they make the most of. Concentrate on correcting that one. Leave the other mistakes for future sessions. No one is going to get everything perfect and a laundry list of mistakes is only going to frustrate them and lower their confidence.

Also, have the student write down mistakes that they recognize they made. If they recognize they made a mistake, there is only a need to briefly cover it. Hearing themselves make the mistake by listening to the tape will be good reinforcement on its own.

If your private sessions continue, the student can go back over the tapes a few months from now and see how much they have improved.

kzprivate · Joined: 13 Aug 2009 Posts: 24

Using a tape recorder sounds like a great idea, I shall try that next time.

I find that, Chinese students learn pronunciations with a Chinese English teacher in school, thus, the real pronunciations that we teach them differ from what they learn in school ... and it would be hard to reverse a bad one ... sigh

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

A starting point for any conversation, any topic is comparing your home country with the student's. I certainly don't know much about film making, but I know enough that I'd guess the style in China is somewhat different than the style used in Hollywood. If it were my student and I knew we were going to meet tomorrow, say, then I'd ask him/her to do research on their end and I'd do a bit on my end and then compare notes. That would surely take up most of an hour or so and the basic conversation could easily venture into other areas that are interrelated (kind of like what goes on here at Dave's!).

GypsyKingAdventures · Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 25 Location: Tampa, Florida

I was hired, at 150rmb per hour, to tutor one of my more shy students whose family was moving to the USA where she was expected to get into a prestigious private school up in Pennsylvania. Mom had all the info, Dad had the $$$, and poor "name withheld to ensure privacy" had even more pressure on her to do well in school then support her family till they died. The most effective tutoring was done after I went online and looked up all of the questions the admissions office(r) will ask my student during a face-to-face interview when she applies to attend the school. There were more than 20 or 30 of them, but we practiced what she should say, how she should say it, tone, what things to expand on, etc....

Sure enough, she eventually left and moved to Canada, not Pennsylvania, where I'm assuming it was probably easier to get into a school there...

But the girl was READY for that interview... Cool