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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Private Students
Private Students
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Kita19
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Private Students
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Hello! Can you please tell me what you do with a private student the first time you teach him/her? I try that he/she tells me what are his/her main difficulties/questions, but I always end up with the same old answer: "I find it all difficult."  And those weaker students always have the same general difficulty: vocabulary and building sentences, understanding texts... I believe that one of the best ways to help them with this is text interpretation. Do you agree with me? What do you usually do??
Thanks a lot! |
25 Sep 2014
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douglas
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I usually spend my first lesson just getting to know each other, then I give them a written diagnostic to do as homework--the diagnostic helps point me to the problem areas (there are few that can be downloaded from ESLP). Otherwise, I find a review of the fundamentals never hurts.
Cheers,
Douglas |
26 Sep 2014
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lyka0790
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Same here. However it depends on student �s level. If it is like zer-english proficiency, I usually teach greetings on the first day and interpret into their native language using translation. And then on the next day would be, vocabularies - NOUNS. If it is upper-basic, greetings lessons and introducing his/ herself.
I hope it helps. :)
Angel |
26 Sep 2014
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Peter Hardy
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Again, what age is he/she? Get to know each other is always a first. It gives you time to assess at the same time. But why not ask things about themselves, rather than the language they know? Depending on level of understanding your questions, they �ll tell/show you what they know any which way. Douglas � tip of a written test at home gives them the peace to give the other info you need. At the lowest level I �d follow Lyka in simple sentences but would add sounds. You can make fun pulling faces. They �ll relax and are ready for, no, not nouns but more short sentences. Combined with phonics and fun, they �ll swallow the rest sort off automatically. Now they translate and try to add grammar, but that way no-one learns English. Teach them the way they learned their native language, and you �ll be fine. When they can substitute one word in a sentence with ten other words, they know ten sentences. The grammar slips in without them noticing :-) Cheers, Peter
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26 Sep 2014
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Kita19
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Usually these students are in 9th or 10th grade in Portugal (15/16 years old). They have been learning English for 5 or 6 years, but most of the times, when they need private lessons, they don �t know most of the basics in English. For you to have an idea, some of them don �t even know how to write the present continuous of verbs or still have questions about the verb To Be.  A test is a good idea, yes  Thanks for the tip! I usually ask them to write something about themselves, which also gives me a grasp of some of the difficulties, but the test is a better idea, as it covers more areas. I also usually make a quick review of the main tenses (as Douglas says, it doesn �t hurt (and it �s useful)!
Douglas, do you talk in English with the student in the 1st lesson, when you get to know each other?
Thanks a lot! |
26 Sep 2014
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