I actually want a teacher who talks more and slowly builds up the length and complexity of expected responses. While speaking is important, a learner needs to feel that they can understand what the teacher is saying from the very beginning, even before being able to respond in full sentences—or at all. Asking questions that require a physical response or a very short answer is useful for that goal.

I’ve heard it said that a learner should only start doing conversation practice around the intermediate level, and in my opinion, that’s because there’s an artificial barrier to entry constructed by teachers incapable of grading the conversation to suit the learner’s level. There’s an expectation from the get-go that a student will be able to formulate sentences.

I agree with David that learning and teaching is a constant and never-ending process of giving and taking. Both the teacher/tutor and the student need time to learn each other's character traits. I would not tolerate my teacher/tutor not entirely concentrating on the moment of teaching. I expect that after a few hours he/she knows exactly what to concentrate on. Be it pronunciation, grammar (inclusive word order) or lexical quirks, he/she should be guided by standards and help me achieve them. Exotic idioms are fine, but when can I ever use them? I need clear feedback and immediate corrections. But it is my job to communicate that unmistakably. If I disagree with the teacher's method, it is my part to express my expectations. I always want to give the other one a chance to learn too.

I would like to add that while the teacher should follow the student’s wishes about what help they want, sometimes the student may not know what they want to work on or what they need to improve, or they may have a general sense of what kind of teacher they want but can’t quite identify why the teacher they booked a trial lesson with doesn’t match that picture.

Asking students directly what they want is respectful and necessary for a teacher to do, but it does not always lead to a specific answer of the type “I want to focus on grammar. I think I have difficulty with adverbs,” or “I don’t think I have enough vocabulary to talk about my legal job in [target language].”

I had one student in a trial lesson who stated repeatedly that he wanted a teacher who met his expectations and could help him improve, and that he was evaluating me on that basis. I asked him what aspects of the language he had difficulty with. What vocabulary did he want to focus on? Did certain grammar forms confuse him? Which ones? Was there some aspect of conversation he wanted to practice? Note that I offer conversation practice as a contextual basis for grammar review and vocabulary expansion, which I explained.

He told me again he was looking for someone to meet his expectations. I had been doing my own standard evaluation of his grammar, so I gave him feedback, and that was that.

It’s simply understandable that students and teachers/tutors need to “click” with each other, and that this won’t always happen. My guess is that the student was not clicking with me, and was trying to express this politely.

Why didn't my student book another lesson? Because, in the end, there was no compatibility between the teacher and the student. Teachers/tutors are common people, just like the students. I think that most of the people here are 18+, so they are old enough to let the teacher know during the class that something wasn't right. So, people out there, if there is something you didn't understand/like, please let the teacher know about that. We are not magical creatures, we make mistakes as well. I don't bite, let me know you didn't like it. I can't read your mind, tell me what's bothering you. If you booked a lesson witj me it means you liked something about me. Maybe the class wasn't what you expected, but be kind and let me know. If I don't fix this problem,then you can go to someone else. Just have the courage to let me know about it when we speak face-to-face, not later, during a comment. How many of you told the teacher that there is something you didn't like?

"In many cases, tutors are charging as much or more as teachers, but how can you expect the same feedback and evaluation as a certified teacher."

As a community tutor I teach medical German and my students can expect a more qualified feedback and evaluation than they can ever get from professional teachers with no background in this field.

Why should community tutors charge less?