Yvona
What do lessons “Informal tutoring” really stand for on italki?

Is there any rule or any description of informal tutoring lesson? Or, it’s a kind of the teacher’s personal approach or style? Shall I ask each teacher before booking the lesson? Am I supposed to bring my studying materials to the class or can I ask tutors to prepare something for me? 

I have experienced different variations of it so far. What are yours experiences? If you are a teacher, what is your approach to that?

2018년 3월 16일 오후 8:39
댓글 · 13
12

italki states that teachers are not expected to prepare for informal tutoring sessions. Most teachers understand it as a session in which a student practices conversation casually and brings questions or work for clarification and corrections. However, given the competition on italki, many teachers prepare topic questions, find materials online, and guide informal sessions far more than can reasonably expected. I like informal sessions to go with the flow, with maybe an article/book discussion to avoid repetition. It's very important to me that tutors focus on the flow of the conversation and that they be good at getting a feel for the student's level & style without a thousand questions.

When I offer informal tutoring, I expect the student to be conversational already OR a highly-motivated beginner who brings questions, written work for corrections, and doesn't expect a fully-structured professional lesson. I bring energy, interest, and happily correct students in writing if they want this during tutoring sessions but I don't work with students who book tutoring BUT expect a fully-guided grammar lesson, extras like homework corrections after class, and are unresponsive during conversation but say they "just want to practice speaking".

2018년 3월 16일
9
Community tutors are cheap and cool. They are ideal for advanced students.
But to make the most of the paid money, students have to take initiative to conduct conversations and provoke interactions. So, preparation!
2018년 3월 16일
5

My Understanding is that the community tutors don’t have formal training in the language and aren’t really language teachers. They tend to be native speakers available for casual conversation in the target language. So, to utilize their services you really should be at advanced fluency, and not needing instruction in grammar. You should expect the conversation to be conducted entirely in the target language.

The professional teachers, by comparison, normally charge quite a bit more, have degrees or certificates in teaching language and are best suited for true beginners who need structured lessons in grammar and explanation. Also, beginners need instruction in basic vocabulary. 

2018년 3월 16일
4
I tried a few informal tutoring sessions but ended up doing twice the work for half the money so I gave up!
2018년 3월 17일
4
I‘m not saying all community tutors have no instruction in teaching or no teaching certificates. They could. The most obvious difference is the pricing. From what I’ve noticed, the professional teachers appear to charge double or more than what the community tutors charge. I’ve tried them both and find I don’t need the professional teachers since I know the language already anyway; hence, the native speaking community tutors suit my needs. I just want someone to speak with in the language so, for me, the community tutors work best and are the best value. Your needs are probably quite different, so I‘d encourage you to try both and see which  works for you. 
2018년 3월 16일
더 보기