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When teaching English as a foreign language, we must be resilient and prepared to one to one lessons as well as to teach groups of students. Therefore, to be able to tailor lesson planning for each case, we need to identify and understand the difference between both types. In this essay, we will be depicting and comparing usual vantages and disadvantages of both and providing some useful tips. One to one coaching provides more focus from the teacher to the student than a shared class could do. On the other hand, we must consider as an issue the pupil would be interacting just with his tutor and this would be a safer environment than real-life experience, without the practice of the new knowledge acquired, among more than one person. Whereas if a learner were attending a group class he could participate in group activities and be able to test his skills publicly and through a random variety of subjects within a theme. For instance, a group debate, with each participant having a unique way of interaction which we can not predict. Therefore, when coaching individuals, we must try to simulate that kind of group activities and its randomness the best we can. Some actor's improvising games are of great use if the learner is at a higher level. On those games, teacher and student can perform more than one different personas each, through a scene with one objective. Another advantage regarding teaching just an individual is the fewer people, the easier to manage. Teachers need to establish rapport, identify the trainee's level of knowledge and specific needs, plan, monitor progress, and results. Time-wise our goal for each lesson is way easier to be achieved if we have only one student to focus. However, one to one lessons are more expensive for students to afford because of its exclusive nature which usually involves a higher level of expectation. Thus, we must be ahead of this issue and be prepared to deliver a fun, relevant lesson. In a group class, a teacher will notice students feeling part of a crew, everyone in the same boat as learners, which gives the students more confidence as a whole. If the students already know each other, this appealing will be even better. Although in a class, some students evolve faster than others and can feel boredom and lack of interest. One great method to work on that is to set up doubles during class activities by mixing the higher level performance students with the lower ones. The more experienced learners will support the ones with less knowledge. We need to avoid having the higher level students turning bossy or bearing all exercises alone. When teaching groups we are more able to work with competition games which increase student speaking time and interaction. This kind of exercise can turn into a loud and talkative one, though. Thus, tutors need to be aware of that and manage the fun properly. In conclusion, perceiving those differences is a must when considering either one to one or group teaching. We also have to predict and monitor more pros and cons constantly according to circumstances such as; big group classes, individual issues a student can have or present, physical space, so on and so forth.
