Private Tutoring

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myvidentity

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Jun 9, 2014
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English Teacher
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Persian
Home Country
Iran
Current Location
Iran
Hello,
I have been asked to tutor someone privately, but I'm new at both teaching to a group of students and to a single student. What should I do? Should a run a written test to find her needs, and problems? or I orally can find out her language
problems?
then after finding her needs, what materials I should use? I mean she has asked me to improve her knowledge of English in 4 months....
please tell me if there is any advice on this job.

thanks,
 

emsr2d2

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Jul 28, 2009
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English Teacher
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British English
Home Country
UK
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UK
Hello,
I have been asked to tutor someone privately, but I'm new at both teaching [strike]to[/strike] a group of students and [strike]to[/strike] a single student. What should I do? Should I run a written test or an oral test to find out her needs (no comma here) and problems? [strike]or I orally can find out her language problems?[/strike]
[strike]then[/strike] After finding out her needs, what materials I should use? [strike]I mean[/strike] She has asked me to improve her knowledge of English in 4 months.
Please tell me if [strike]there is[/strike] you have any advice on this job.

Thanks.

I always started with an oral test but don't make it clear that it's a test. I spent about twenty minutes just chatting to a new student. Have a normal conversation but at the back of your mind, take note of all the student's errors. After that, you can do a short written exercise if you like. You need to find out why she needs to improve her English and whether she is looking to improve in specific areas (ie is this just for conversation or for work? Is she planning to take an exam?)

Please note my amendments to your post in red above. As an English teacher, it is important that you use correctly written English at all times.
 
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Tdol

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Japan
Four months is not a long time, so you may want to make it clear what you think you will be able to cover in that time in case she has unrealistic expectations.
 

myvidentity

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Jun 9, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
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Persian
Home Country
Iran
Current Location
Iran
Hello again,
Thanks for your pieces of advice and amendments as well. I will take them into considerations.
 

Teaching English Games

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Jul 23, 2006
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English Teacher
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English
Home Country
England
Current Location
France
Hello there,

With a one to one lesson I like to mix specific grammar drills with more general English in the form of role-plays, discussion or quizzes.

A role-play might be that you give the student a travel brochure and tell her to sell you a holiday. When your student suggests a trip to you from the brochure ask questions about the hotel and the things you can do there, and then find something wrong with it so that the student has to propose another place to you. This is creative for both of you since you are both improvising. It may seem tricky at first but you soon improve.
If she is is a beginner or low intermediate then grammar games are an excellent
 
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