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Teach English in Hebei Zhen - Baoji Shi

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Individual English lessons are taken by students for a variety of reasons. Some people like to get more out of their time and decide on a private class to have lessons centered around their needs and have more time to ask questions. Others need English for a specific purpose or have a particular area or skill they want to work on. Or a student meets a potential teacher outside of a language school and decides to hire that teacher personally (because of a good personal relationship or because there are no language schools around). In all these cases, the teacher will have to devise a course designed for one student. One on one lessons have a different dynamic than group lessons and in this summative article I will approach it as a subject on its own. I believe approaching it as a deviation from the standard of teaching groups does not do justice to the unique dynamics of a one to one lesson and will only stress what is different (better or worse) compared to group lessons. This is not always helpful. First, let me discuss the relationship between the teacher and the student in a one on one lesson. They might already know each other or meet for the first time during the first lesson. How formal or intimate the lesson will be, will depend greatly on the personalities of both, as well as the place where the lessons are held. Coming to teach at somebody's house or meeting in a public place like a cafe or library will certainly give a more personal and informal touch to the lesson than meeting in a language school classroom or an office at a company. In the end it is up to the teacher and the student to decide what relationship they are comfortable with, but in my opinion a less formal atmosphere and better personal acquaintance with the teacher could greatly help the student feel more at ease trying out new language or asking questions. When the teacher has assessed the students' English level and needs through a level test and a needs analysis, he/she can design a syllabus (or a less formal lesson planning) for the coming lessons and discuss this with the student. In a one on one setting there is plenty of room and opportunity to make the course content match the level and needs of the student as closely as possible and this should be taken advantage of. However, even with just one student, there is no way to perfectly predict how much time will be needed for certain skills or language points or to predict what questions or difficulties will come up, so the schedule should be flexible and preferably already contain flexible lesson time that can be used for whatever comes up. A one on one lesson can be a bit of a limited environment for practicing language, especially speaking skills. The teacher will have to be creative in designing exercises, games and other materials to make sure lessons don't become repetitive and the student is not burdened with too much work. The teacher also needs to act as the partner of the student for any activities that involve partner work (dialogues, games, role play). I personally would encourage my student to take the contents of a dialogue or role play home and try to find a real life situation where it can be applied, or an English speaking friend or colleague a conversation can be practiced with. This is to make sure the student doesn't grow too accustomed to the responses of the teacher (everyone has a style of communicating, certain words he/she uses a lot, or a specific accent, and a student who hears only one person speak English during all lessons might grow too accustomed to this one example). Finally evaluation is an important part of any English lesson and should certainly not be overlooked when teaching one on one. It is helpful to build in time in the course for a progress test at certain intervals (or at the end of the course, unless the student takes an achievement test or an external examination at the end) and discuss the results together. This will benefit both teacher and student, as both will become aware of what area of language or what skills are still lacking and consequently how the syllabus for the course might need to be changed for the future. Also a less formal discussions about the lessons and their content between teacher and student might be helpful, to give both the opportunity to express wishes and concerns and make sure the lessons live up to the expectations of both.


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