How to be a Great ESL Tutor

 

This article can help parents find a good ESL tutor. It also benefits tutors in that they hone their own teaching skills.

• Is the class well organized?

Not all ESL courses are systematically designed. Some are randomly thrown together without a core teaching idea. Professionally trained ESL tutors can implement systematic teaching in accordance with the teaching material system. They are familiar with the contents and have a thorough understanding of the teaching methodology of the textbooks. They are good at going into depth of text contents, rather than staying superficially.

• Is the tutor familiar with the individual student and learning progress of the student?

A professional and experienced ESL tutor will get a quick grasp the students' learning level and personalities through the first few lessons. They become familiar with the students' learning progress and can adjust the teaching progress according to the individual students in a timely manner. One-to-One class should be the best choice with regards to familiarity and personalization.

• Does the tutor patiently correct the students' grammar, vocabulary and phonetic errors?

A good ESL tutor points out and corrects students' errors in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation during class. They know when to do this instead of simply interrupting students to correct constantly. A student may lose confidence if they are frequently interrupted for errors. A good ESL tutor knows how to find a good time to correct specific errors. They know how to foster a student’s confidence and encourage his/her English fluency.

• Is interpretation of new words accurate and easy to understand?

When student in an ESL class doesn’t understand a new word, a good tutor will use the most simple and descriptive words to help student understand. An experienced tutor does not resort to Google translate. It may be an easy way, but not a helpful way for language learning.

• Does the tutor consolidate knowledge through continuous review?

Professional ESL tutor will continue to review knowledge points in the later learning process. In each review the tutor tries to proceed to further grade of difficulty to challenge student. This way, students can gradually and thoroughly master the relevant knowledge points both in depth and in extent.

If you still don’t know how to find a good ESL tutor, come to MiraTutor!