Teach English in Zhangjiapo Zhen - Zibo Shi

For many it seems to be a no-brainer. You want or need to master a new language. You have the financial means. You have the option to choose between group- and private language classes. So of course, you opt for the private ones! Why join a group, when you can have tailor made lessons, your teacher’s complete attention and devotion and you can have your lessons at any time and any place you choose? Sounds like a wise decisions, right? Before I became an administrator in a language school in Spain, my answer would have been ‘yes’. There are the obvious pros and those are enough for most students to choose private classes over group classes. After my experience with these students and, above all, seeing their results and progress, In this essay I would like to discuss the cons of private classes for adults, or better, the pros of small-group classes, and why choosing private classes might not always be the wisest decision. Of course, money, schedule/time and availability of both class options are necessities to be able to make such a decision in the first place. As mentioned, the possibility of adapting a lesson completely to your needs and wants is a great benefit of a private class. In addition, you will most probably have more student speak time. Also, being able to schedule the lessons with more latitude can help you fit those classes in on a regular basis, even when you are busy. However, there are a number of things you give up on when you don’t choose a group class. The first thing that comes to mind is that you give up on interaction. Although you have lots of interaction with your teacher in a private class, it is less dynamic compared to the possibilities of exercises, challenges and assignments you have in a group class. Secondly, learning through peers is a very important aspect of acquiring a language in my opinion. Students who are better than you can give you the motivation to work harder, helping fellow students that haven’t mastered a certain skill yet can help you anchor your acquired skills even more. On top of these two, there are more benefits to group classes you will have to do without being 1-to-1 with a teacher; Learning in a group is more fun and can give you more confidence. Even though you might have a fun and interesting teacher, it’s highly motivating to have classmates from all walks of life bringing interesting stories and perspectives into the classroom. Struggling with the same grammar structure or tongue twister together gives you confidence and a sense of not being alone on this journey. The last benefit of group classes I would like to mention is that students in groups are more encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning (checking a dictionary, asking a classmate etc.). In a private class, you can ask question upon question and there is less possibility of the student going beyond an exercise (pushed by stronger students). Even if you can do without all this (i.e. you don’t need the group dynamics to motivate and challenge yourself), you are still left with the biggest challenge of private classes: to stick to them. My experience, as an administrator in a language school, as a private teacher of English and as a student of Portuguese myself, is that you will start cancelling classes more and more easily, because it’s easy and it doesn’t affect anyone. You will also start not doing (all) your homework, because you there’s no risk of embarrassing yourself in front of other students and because your teacher will do it with you in class instead. The result is that you will most probably end up with less contact hours in the language you’re trying to study and end up falling behind of the group classes you could have chosen instead. After quite some years of experience in language schooling, I dare to conclude that, not only are group classes more fun, they are the best option for acquiring a new language. People that can benefit from private classes over group classes are the ones that are extremely disciplined. If that’s you, then go for it. If not, I would recommend group classes as a great way to learn or expand another language. Sources: http://www.betterlanguageteaching.com/esl-articles/100-private-lesson-negatives https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-one-one https://www.britishcouncilfoundation.id/en/english/articles/classroom-learning-benefits http://kelseyarabicprogram.org/program-details/tutoring/individual-tutoring-vs-group-instruction-pros-and-cons/