11 signs of a good teacher of English
Forming / / December 19, 2019
Alice Reznikov
Head of the foreign languages school, teacher, author of the study program of spoken English and French in three months.
You took himself in hand and once again decided to learn English. Are you looking for a teacher, and in the eyes dazzled by the abundance of options. Do you promise to tutor with years of experience and three entities, immediate results, royal pronunciation, Cambridge Exam Preparation and training your dogs manual. Here is the first complexity - the choice of the teacher. However, if at this stage to make the right decision, the same difficulty will be the last on the way to the long-awaited plain English.
On what to look for when choosing a specialist? Before you 11 basic aspects.
1. Education
International diplomas and certificates do confirm the excellent level of modern English, but the diploma linguist can often be alarming bell. It is important to understand whether the teacher is interested in the language, or it is limited by the development of what has been learned by the book many years ago.
Remember how you were taught in school to say we shall transmit to the future tense? In modern English, this form has long been considered obsolete and is almost never used. Unfortunately, the teaching of English in many universities the situation is similar to the one that exists in schools.
At the same time, if your teacher has a psycho-pedagogical education, it can be tangible advantage as the teacher will feel better features of your perception and be able to find you approach, regardless of the personal sympathies.
2. experience
None of the diploma can not guarantee that the teacher will hear your questions, sensitively adapt their materials at your level and quickly find solutions to specific problems that may arise in the course of training. It comes with practice. In addition, only an experienced teacher will be able to determine exactly what bothers you on your way to mastering the language, and to pick up materials, precisely meet your goals.
Even if you choose a teacher for whom English - native language, his experience is still one of the most important criteria. Especially now, when any native speaker can start teaching just because it is in demand in the education market. But the man who thinks with you in the same language, it is much easier to understand your problems and suggest ways to resolve them. Try it yourself to figure out how would you explain to foreigners studying Russian, pronunciation sound [s]? And the fact that in nearly identical phrases "I go out of the office" and "I'm going to work" need different prepositions?
native speaker always uses its rules intuitively, without thinking about how they actually work. Remember this when you find that a fully English language course with a foreigner - a simple solution to all problems.
3. Integrity and Professionalism
It is not necessary to give up the teacher, which is one of your questions answered, "I do not know." After all, their native language you do not speak perfectly. Do you sign the meaning of the original Russian words: locker, belongings, stole? Unlikely. But these gaps in knowledge, most are your opportunities for growth and certainly not prevent you to communicate freely, work, receive education in Russian.
Important correction: a good teacher will never leave you alone with the problem after his "do not know" necessarily followed by "I will clarify the information and answer you the next time."
4. involvement
Any popular language in the modern world is changed immediately. More 15 years ago, we would be perplexed to hear phrases like "They went out on the soap" or "Throw money on mobile." Now they are the norm of our everyday lives.
With English, the situation is even more interesting. Due to the fact that it is the language of international communication, it changes even more rapidly. Each year, about 4 thousand appears in English new words! And changes happen so quickly that the Russian school does not always keep up with them: still in the classroom English can be found using the word to refer to supper meal, although in reality it has long been replaced dinner.
The teacher can speak English very well, but if he is not in love with the language, it will be able to train you only what is written in textbooks, and not living language with which you encounter at the end of classes. Ask potential teachers about new trends in vocabulary or grammar. And rest assured, if the teacher does not just learn the language once, and really live it every day, it will be something to tell you.
5. Training program
It is clear that the promise of the series "learn English while you sleep" little match reality. If there was a universal method that works easily, quickly and for all, the whole world has long said would be in English.
The bottom line is that there is no ideal method, but there is always a method that will be suitable for you.
Agree, it would be useless to teach the snake swim breaststroke. However, snakes swim very well, in spite of its "shortcomings" in the form of lack of legs. Exactly the same things with the English: learn to communicate any person, despite his "shortcomings" in the form of personal peculiarities of perception. Your task - to find a teacher willing to adapt their course by you, not to convince you of the need to keep clear of the overall structure.
6. Specialization
In the English language is very popular saying «Jack of all trades, master of none», which describes the person taking over everything, but not a master of anything. Very often in their ads show teachers that can prepare you for the exam, and, and international exams, and by the entrance to the medical school, and to the mission and to the tourist a trip to South Africa.
Yes, indeed, in all of these cases, you will need one language - English. But the difference can be substantial, with both the terminology and grammar. If the teacher in the resume Set this variation programs, be sure to ask, he teaches all these professions alone or collaborating with other teachers. If he has one, ask his experience is in your target area.
7. Price
Cost of English classes may range from 5 to 225 dollars per lesson. Paradoxically, not the fact that the expensive lessons will lead you to the desired goal. The main criterion for you to become not the cost of training, and value for money. It is unlikely that you would like to learn English for many years, even if it will be a class for only $ 5.
8. terms
This criterion is often not specified in the teachers ads for a simple reason: they are not ready to take responsibility for your results. Most likely, the question about training dates will answer that everything is very individual, because everyone has different learning ability. This is true, but the trick is that your learning will be evident for a good teacher for the first 2-4 meetings. Therefore, ideally, if the question of the duration of the course the teacher calls the approximate time and indicates that the exact figures can tell you about a training week.
9. results
Diffidence teacher will leave the discussion of your results in a lengthy thinking about how much they depend on you, the frequency of sessions and the Moon position in third house. Experienced teacher succinctly present you with possible scenarios: how much effort and how much time can lead to some results.
10. Summary and first contact
There are two important points. Of course, summary should be concise and competent, in fact it reflects how the teacher relates to the operation and business leads. But more interesting is another aspect: how the teacher presents the information you need. If it is already at the first meeting showering you incomprehensible terms and abbreviations, think about it: most likely, in the same manner he will lead and your class.
A good teacher will not make you blush from the ignorance of simple things - instead it will make them for you as such. Do not look down, be clear and understandable - the rate of communication of such teachers.
11. Love and hate
How important to you are attracted to and inspired by the personality of the teacher, just as much as it does not matter to you was easy and pleasant in the classroom with the teacher. The true teacher will try to please you, will not follow your whims. He will do exactly what will help you come to a selected target. While you might not understand his motives, you can irritate his fault-finding. But above all this, you will laugh together when the end of the course will be in English to discuss how to begin your lessons.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of an informed choice of the teacher to effectively learn a foreign language. It was here, at the very beginning, decide whether you will have wasted their resources, down in their own eyes and holding his resentment toward the teacher or fall in love with the language, you reach the desired level, and with the help of a powerful new tool in your hands will achieve the goals that were once only dreaming.