Private language tutoring courses are an excellent way to add value to your course.
Language acquisition has traditionally been divided into four components: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. A lot of time is spent in a classroom learning grammar and increasing vocabulary, with written exams assessing a learner's comprehension of each.
Most learners, however, find it more difficult to gain enough experience with the hearing and speaking components to become comfortable with the language. Even when there are discussion groups for language practice, the time allotted to each student must be increased for any learner to attain the proficiency required to use the language outside the classroom.
Online language education might provide comparable difficulties. Many online teachers can put together grammatical lessons and provide exams, but these things might be easier to remember with language practice.
Fortunately, online language teachers have another excellent option for providing premium content to their students: one-on-one language coaching. Individual lessons may give students the expertise they need to succeed while assisting teachers in running a more successful course.
Finding strategies to keep a tutoring session occupied might be challenging, especially if your student is a novice failing to string together a phrase. Here are six suggestions for adding value to your courses and assisting your students in reaching their goals.
Practice informal communication
Informal practice is the most straightforward technique to provide language education. Allowing the learner to establish the agenda will enable them to focus the conversation on whatever they're most interested in learning.
This type of tutoring session may relieve the teacher of a lot of work and is appealing to learners who already know what they want to learn or are completing official courses and don't want additional assignments.
Preparation for the test
Numerous standardized language tests are necessary for learners who desire to study, work, or teach in a foreign language. Because these tests are so essential, many students seek extra help from their teachers to prepare for them. And, because these tests always involve both speaking and listening components, having a language instructor to assist them is very beneficial.
If you are familiar with the standardized examinations in your language, developing material to cover in a tutoring session that targets the topics expected to appear on these exams can be a big draw for students.
Practice your pronunciation
Pronunciation is a component of language acquisition frequently seen as "nice to have" rather than "necessary." Pronunciation is, nevertheless, significantly more crucial than many people realize. Pronunciation not only helps a student understand their target language but also aids their hearing abilities and may even help them recall new vocabulary terms.
Many learners gain confidence from having good pronunciation. There's nothing like having a native speaker complement your accent to make you feel like you're progressing.
Culture or specialist subject courses
Many learners begin studying a language because they are interested in a particular subject, such as literature, music, or business. Learners may desire to grasp specialist language or etiquette in these areas to converse with native speakers.
Many languages have a cultural component that new learners must master to blend in while traveling without causing accidental harm. Culture-focused courses can help learners feel more at ease when traveling.
Practice writing
While written language is not generally included in an oral tutoring session, a one-on-one lesson may be an excellent opportunity to educate your students on learning writing style. Having your students bring prepared work to the tutoring session can assist, as can providing writing tasks throughout the semester.
Consider assigning a topic to your students and having them write as much as possible in five minutes. You may then have them read it aloud, correct their pronunciation in tricky areas, and provide suggestions on how to make the text more natural.
Language exercises
Finally, consider employing language games to spice things up to make your teaching session more enjoyable. Rhyming games, dictionary games, and even classics like Pictionary are examples. Language games are also a terrific method to engage learners of various ability levels if you teach an online group class.
Language games include the following:
- Compare and contrast words. Select a vocabulary word and describe it without saying it out loud. Allow your student to guess the term.
- Rhyming. Choose a word and ask your students to develop as many rhymes as possible.
- Pictionary. Make a drawing of a vocabulary word and have your student guess what it is.
- Simon states. Give instructions in a foreign language and test your students to determine whether they grasp your question.
One of the most challenging aspects of learning a new language is having to start generating phrases in real-time. Doing this in front of other students or outside of the classroom in front of a native language speaker can be difficult and depressing.
One-on-one tutoring helps students gain confidence in a safe setting where they may make errors without feeling embarrassed. If you teach language classes online, including private language coaching may be the missing piece that allows your students to succeed.
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