During my French lessons, I let the students make a choice: should the lesson be given entirely in French, or do I need to use English sometimes so that difficult ideas and concepts are easier to understand? Fortunately, most of my students choose the first option. To me, even though having a few English explanations during a lesson can’t hurt, I think it’s best to dive into the language you’re learning. When someone asks me to help him or her to improve their French, it fills me with joy because I know that we’re going to have great conversations and that new grammar points, vocabulary and ideas will get to my student’s brain. Everyday, I try my best (both on Italki and IRL) to improve my English, but also to learn other languages so I can help them better and understand their point of view and their culture. I’m making mistakes, but that’s the purpose. 😉