Teach English in Mucun Zhen - Luliang Shi

While there are many challenges to teaching English one on one, there are also many advantages to having a one to one student teacher ratio. Teachers have the ability to be more creative when not in a structured language course or in a classroom setting. Teachers can focus on topics that are needed by the student, areas of language the student struggles with, and use a variety of types of activities through the lesson plan. All of these are areas that can be used for the growth of the student in their language abilities. While in large classes keeping topics relevant and liked by most students can be difficult, when teaching only one student the teacher can choose topics that are needed for everyday life, that are interesting to the student, and that are tailored for individual situations the student is facing. While introductions and descriptions are very important to every language learner, if a student is living in an English-speaking language or going to be traveling to one they need to be able to get transportation, order food, and ask for directions. All of these are imperative to being in a country that speaks English. Most of these topics in a language class are addressed eventually, but not always in a time frame that is useful to the student. With these topics being a necessity, the student is typically more interested in learning them. Also, when teaching grammar points you can tailor the subject of sentences or activities to hobbies and interests of the student. For example, a girl may love shopping, so when teaching past tenses, you can create an activity where she describes her last shopping trip explaining where she went, what she bought, and if she is a more advanced learner she can talk about what conversations she had with her friends while shopping. Or maybe for a student who loves sports, you can have them make predictions for a championship game for future tenses. Teachers can use the student’s hobbies to make them interested in the grammar points. Lastly, if a student has a situation coming up where they need to learn a certain set of skills, like for a job interview, the teacher can easily adjust the curriculum to what the student needs without derailing an entire class or ignoring an important aspect of a student’s expectations of a class. Another great advantage to teaching one student is seeing and hearing areas the student struggles with immediately. When a student is having trouble with pronunciation for example the teacher can use what they hear to prepare a part in a future lesson to help drill the correct pronunciation. Or the teacher has the flexibility to work on pronunciation right then and alter their lesson plans to fit what the student needs at the time. If the problem is becoming a habit the teacher may choose to work on it a little everyday by having times where the student listens to the correct sound in the engage stage of a lesson or by practicing the sound in different words during the study phase. There are many options for how to correct the student and when to correct the student when working one on one. Another great aspect of having one student is that you are more likely to meet in the community and not in a classroom. One option is to meet in an English-speaking part of the city where the student can practice in real life what they are learning. Let’s say the student is going to learn about ordering food, the engage phase of the lesson can be done between the student and teacher. The student and teacher can watch an excerpt of a tv show or movie where the actors are portraying characters ordering food at a coffee shop. The student and teacher can then talk about foods, drinks, and desserts they like. The teacher can then transfer to the study phase as they practice how to order the food, common questions the cashier or waiter may ask, and how to pay. They can then use the language they learned to in the activate stage to order a coffee or food at a coffee shop. This makes it much easier to motivate the student and takes pressure off the student because the teacher can be there to help if needed. They are also being immersed in the language which helps with pronunciation. All these factors can be used to help keep a student engaged in a one on one lesson, as well as, help them reach their full potential in their language studies. It is ultimately up to the teacher to prepare and engage the student in a manner that helps them grow and keeps their attention. But overall, one on one lessons are a great way to truly help and influence a student’s learning process to fit their specific needs.