Teaching English One to One

it is important that you don’t promise anything that the course cannot provide

You cannot use some teaching techniques, such as pair/group and peer correction, in a one-to-one situation.

Individuals within a group may have very diverse learning styles, and the teacher has the task of providing a teaching style which will fit the overall group. In a one-to-one scenario, you only have to tailor your approach to fit one individual’s learning style.

In a group class, more able students can become frustrated if they feel that the weaker students in the group are slowing down the progress of the course, whereas less able students will feel demotivated if the pace of the lessons is too fast for them to keep up. In a one-to-one class you can work to the individual’s pace and allow him or her to control the timings of activities (although you will need to discuss this with the student and make it explicit).

The teacher in a group situation can be flexible, but is unlikely to be in a position to change a lesson plan completely if an activity does not suit one or two members of the group. The teacher in a one-to-one class, on the other hand, can be completely flexible; if a prepared activity doesn’t suit the student for some reason, the teacher can modify or junk that activity and move on to something different.

Students learning in a group have limited control over classroom activities, but you can give the one-to-one student a great deal of control over his or her own learning process.

In this sense, all one-to-one students are ESP (English for Specific Purposes) students, although the term ESP is normally used for describing courses which address a specific usage of language — e.g. Legal English; English for the banking sector; English for hairdressing; academic English.

It is easier to give personalised feedback after output activities in a one-to-one lesson, and one-to-one classes can address specific areas of linguistic difficulty much more effectively.

Progress in a one-to-one class is often more rapid than can be achieved in the group classroom, so this method of learning often represents a better investment of time and money

You can also learn a great deal from the student; the business knowledge that you accumulate in teaching executive students, for example, can help you in your teaching of other business English students.