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Tutors: Preparation, Anxiety, Etc. | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 3833 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes  Studies: German | Message 1 of 8 26 June 2015 at 10:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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WHY THIS DISCUSSION THREAD?
Recently, an acquaintance of mine described to me his first angst-filled experience with a professional Tutor. While I could have given him some advice based on my own experiences, I felt that doing so would deprive him of the opporunity to learn from the collective experiences of the members of the HTLAL Forum. However, my searches of the Forum Discussion Threads did not yield much in the way of a comprehensive review of the matter. Rather, it seems that most comments on how to best use one's time with Tutors and Language Partners often derive from discussions that were initially about language-learning products, learning techniques, advice on specific languages, or other matters, whether clearly expressed or not. So, I decided to open a specific discussion on the subject. A Recent Experience With a Tutor First, without wishing to betray the confidence of my acquaintance, I have included below a portion of an Email that he sent to me: QUOTE Have you ever used an online tutor? I accidentally stumbled across (redacted) the other day and gave it a try. I got one hour for (redacted). My tutor was an Italian girl with a Master's degree in teaching Italian. It was good, but in a way it was a real disaster for me because I looked like an idiot! For one, when I actually had to speak Italian face-to-face with someone, my brain totally froze up and I could not remember ANYTHING I had spent the last few months learning. It was weird, like I was paralyzed. This really surprised me because when I'm alone in my car I have no problems at all speaking Italian to my car's CD player! Second, her lesson was on Italian food, and I know literally NOTHING about food, other than I like to eat. I mean, I come home from work, my wife puts dinner on the table, and I eat it. That's it. So I could not answer any of her questions about the 5 courses of a typical Italian meal correctly. Third, you really need a good short-term memory because she would, for instance, give all the rules for using definite articles, but 1 minute later I'd forget. I need repetition. Lot's of repetition to remember things. I looked pretty dumb. Nevertheless, I felt like it was really good for me and I want to keep doing it. UNQUOTE. DISCUSSION (Feel Free To Expand It) First, I suggest that we open up the discussion to deal with all possible occurrences of "non performance" when dealing with tutors, language-partners, fellow students, teachers, and native speakers. There are probably several issues at play here. Here are the ones that come to mind for me. There is an issue of the conversation-stopping anxiety that my acquaintance experienced. From my own experience, this type of "stage fright", for wont of a better term, can occur with a tutor, a language-partner, a teacher, a fellow student, or with just about native speaker that a language student is likely to encounter while travelling in a region where the language is spoken. What causes it, how does one prepare for this and, more importantly, how does one overcome it? There is a question of how to prepare oneself for a session with a tutor or language-partner. I have located a few generalized comments on the Internet. Also, I notice that the old DLI Basic courses seem to have used "Basic Situation" and "Speaking Exercises" to assist their students in what I assume were "role-playing" exercises designed to force them to use their language skills in standardized, predictable situations. What specific tricks have worked for the Forum members? Is there a question of "timing" involved in working with a tutor? For example, should one have achieved, say, a level of A2 before attempting this heart-thumping experience? If so, what are the benefits of waiting until one has achieved this, or any other, level and what are the pitfalls of moving precipitously into terrority where angels fear to tread? What other issues should be addressed? Your contributions will be greatly appreciated! PS: It was not clear to me whether this discussion thread show appear in the "Advice" section or in the "Learning Techniques" section. My apologies if I erred. Edited by Speakeasy on 28 June 2015 at 8:07pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4446 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 2 of 8 26 June 2015 at 11:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Speaking about talking to tutors in particular: the better I prepare for a session, the lower the likelihood that I will get the experience of stage fright -- because it really does feel like a "performance," especially in the beginning! -- or of my head "going empty."
I am definitely not a fan of the "have a new grammar point (or big list of unknown vocabulary) explained to me, then drill on it" style of tutoring. Tackling all-new material can, for the most part, be done at one's leisure independently. The somewhat embarrassing feeling that your teacher can actually see the "gears turning" in your brain is already strong enough in many language sessions without also trying to assimilate in real-time a bunch of things you have never seen before. In my view the best way to ensure that you are prepared is for *you* to set all the terms of the engagement. That is, you decide what you want to work on in terms of grammar or skills, whether you want to review anything from the last session, how exacting and detailed you want corrections to be, which topics you want to discuss, and so on. You plan the session that goes along with your interests, your goals, and your learning philosophy. You make a habit of using some of your solo study time to write down doubts or things you want explained, so that you can bring them up in your next session. And you thus entirely avoid those situations where a tutor has prepared a whole lesson whose content is painfully far over your head, completely unfamiliar, or simply does not interest you. Of course, the main downside to proceeding this way is that it puts a lot of the responsibility for the session on you, which some people may find a bit onerous. You must decide how to fill your minutes. The person who has never learned a language before may not even have a clear idea of what their goals are or what their most effective and enjoyable learning style is. In that case the best bet may be to focus primarily on finding topics or materials that interest you, choose a skill to focus on, and let the tutor assess your current level of knowledge and take the reins from there. Then you can become more self-directed as you become more confident with the language. A secondary downside is that there are some tutors who already have a lesson plan that they have either bought somewhere or built up on their own through the years, from which they really don't like to deviate. These tutors, if they are rigid enough, will not mix well with students who want to engage in a more "independent" style of session planning. But a good number of tutors will appreciate that you take the initiative. It shows that you are thinking about the language outside the hour or two that you spend with them and that you aren't expecting everything to be spoonfed to you. Edited by tastyonions on 26 June 2015 at 11:10pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4790 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 3 of 8 27 June 2015 at 12:17am | IP Logged | ||
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I have quite a recent experience with a Tutor, the goal was to practice my active skills for a C2 exam.
I totally agree with tastyonions that you need to decide what is the tutor gonna teach you. If you don't, you'll get a standartized classroom experience just in a 1 on 1 setting. I'd say the grammar is not that useful to be learnt from the tutor, especialy as you have easier time with a book than in a hurry up explanation. However, the opportunity to ask questions about things you haven't gotten from your grammar book, that is a good thing. As well translating articles etc, that you can do on your own as well. Listening exercise with an audio and so on. So, I'd say the time is in general best spent on things that are harder on one's own. Speaking practice nd feedback, detailed writing feedback, questions. Another thing people often discuss is the level. In my honest opinion, you can do just fine on your own for a looong time (at least when it comes to "easy" languages, no direct experience with the exotic ones) so you can save the money for later. However, whichever level you are working for, make sure the tutor can handle it. Some tutors are good with beginners and intermediates but not demanding enough for the C levels while others are good for everyone but the beginner. Ask about their experience and preferences. Don't be shy to communicate your expectations and needs in terms of goals, level and personal needs (such as need for more support and encouragement or more strictness). Don't be shy to change a tutor that doesn't fit you. Use the opportunity to try a lesson or two before paying a whole block of lessons. Some tutors give one free lesson so that you can try. Read reviews, if those are available. An important thing: Don't fall into the very common trap-moving the responsibility on someone else. The way to get the best results is to keep putting extra time in learning, continuing with anything you find useful, using the tutor just like another tool, not your master. Take the advice you find useful but don't hesitate to avoid things you have a better alternative for. The better prepared you are for your lessons, the more useful will the lessons turn out to be. I've experienced those feelings of not being good enough when I hadn't had enough time to prepare for the lesson and fulfill my own expectations, the tutor was ok. Work hard on your own both on the "homework" and other learning activities, and you shouldn't have as much of a trouble. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tommus Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5647 days ago 979 posts - 1688 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish | Message 4 of 8 27 June 2015 at 12:20am | IP Logged | ||
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I totally support the concept that you set the agenda for the session. If you don't
want to talk about food, don't let the session go there. If you don't think you want to use the session for grammar, don't do it. I have not used a tutor but I have had a number of language partners, including one now. I am at a B2 level and what I want out of the exchange (which is 30 minutes in each language) is simple conversation. My favourite technique is to start with a bit of small talk (What have we been doing this past week) but quickly get into several Questions that I ask about a subject that I have prepared myself for. For example: "Do you think global warming is a problem?". My partner says a few things about this. Then I make comments and ask more questions on this same subject. We basically discuss it for about 10 minutes. Then the next question, and if time permits, a third. Have some more ready in case some of the topics don't generate much discussion. For each subject, make sure you are well prepared in terms of vocabulary, and have some important sentences and statements well prepared. To avoid worrying about remembering everything, record the session. Then you can use it to review what the other person has said, and also to analyse your weaknesses and be better prepared the next time. So the bottom line: Do what you think would be most beneficial to you, especially when you are paying a tutor. There will always be a level of anxiety, like going into an exam. But the more you prepare, and the more you control the session, the easier and more productive it will be. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4790 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 5 of 8 27 June 2015 at 12:29am | IP Logged | ||
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Well, you can as well lower the level of anxiety by choosing a tutor you feel good talking to. While I hate most teachers in general, this tutor was alright. Hey, you don't always find someone you can practice speaking about autopsies and politics with ;-) You are not in high school to have to listen to an old hag screaming at you and speaking about her cats all the time, choose someone better. It is not a bad reason to switch if you don't like the person, it is actually a valid one.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| basica Senior Member Australia Joined 3317 days ago 157 posts - 269 votes Studies: Serbian | Message 6 of 8 27 June 2015 at 1:25am | IP Logged | ||
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As someone who has a bit of an issue with anxiety, here's my thoughts.
Firstly, showing up is probably the hardest part so it's good that they're able to do that. The most important piece of advice I can give is make sure you find a good tutor. I am very lucky that I was able to find a good tutor on my first shot, I have tried several others and didn't like any of them as much as my tutor. My tutor for example sends me material when we cover new concepts and "homework" if I want to do it. I love this. She writes down new words into our Skype chat so I can put them into Anki later and memorise them. She is very patient and understanding and doesn't show frustration or annoyance when I make continual mistakes. I laugh at myself and she laughs with me. Last lesson we had we were practicing the use of na/u in Serbian and for whatever reason I kept on using u all the time. I was annoyed at myself but at no point did I feel embarrassed because she never gave me the feeling that I was being critiqued. With that said, you taking control is very important. If they're doing lessons from a book or whatever and that's not your thing - tell them. If they're not really on board with your style of learning move on. I had an experience with one tutor who while I felt we had an interesting discussion, they did not want to write down new words for me when they spoke as they felt repeating them was the best way of memorising them. This for me is EXTREMELY stressful. I want to be able to "cheat" if needed. Also, having the words written down improves my pronunciation because I can mishear things. For example one word we used was "rodbina" which means family, but to my Australian ears that sounded like "rodbinar"and I only clarified that afterwards. So to summarise, I would say like others have said - if you don't like the lesson approach, set the agenda yourself. Tell them how you want things to be done (new words written down, which topics covered) and don't be afraid to move to another tutor if your one isn't flexible enough to meet your needs. As for the timing aspect, I think this isn't really a hard and fast rule. When I started with my tutor, I was well within the A1 zone which a massive jump from the very first time we met a few months prior when I was still considering studying the language and had only really covered a few the first couple chapters of TY and knew essentially nothing. The stress of our initial test run was for me too high, but our lessons when I was at an already strong A1 level were more than fine. It's all about frustration tolerance I suppose. I am at the stage now where even though I am not an intermediate speaker by any means, I'll have a crack at expressing myself on unfamiliar topics if I know the person will hear me out. I don't know how I'll fair outside of an exchange/paid tutoring session though, but we'll see :) So to summarise that point, I think being in the A1 level at the least will help remove stress and "performance anxiety" from the situation. When you start getting to the A2 level it's definitely not that bad and I imagine by the B1 level the majority of the uncomfortableness will have ceased. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3688 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 7 of 8 27 June 2015 at 2:58am | IP Logged | ||
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In general, the anxiety should go away after you and the tutor get to know each other. You're essentially paying them to observe you making mistakes and to correct them. The more aspiration you show, the more they will enjoy helping you, no matter how many mistakes you make or how long it takes you to absorb a certain concept. I used to tutor for math and music and it never mattered what level the student was at or how long it took them to "get" a concept, I always felt a level of joy from helping students when I saw that they were really motivated. Most tutors feel the same way and are more than happy to help. Once you understand that, you'll realize that there is no reason to feel nervous or anxious, but rather excited for each session; the stage fright will disappear. There is a saying that I really like that goes something like "Sweat during training so you don't bleed during the fight" which, as it pertains to language learning, would translate to "make dumb mistakes while you learn so you don't choke during conversation with a real native."
As for timing, I guess it is up to the learner. I personally think getting a tutor isn't necessary in the beginning stages as I would rather use that time to obtain an understanding of grammar, structure, vocab, etc. on my own. I think the right time to get a tutor is maybe somewhere around the intermediate stage where I would be looking to bridge some gaps and practice real-time conversation, things I can't do on my own. This is subjective and maybe doesn't apply to every language (when I go full-throttle with Norwegian I think I'll get a tutor due to lack of self-teaching materials and the seaming complexity of the pronunciation). In short, I ask myself "can I progress with the materials I use on my own?". If I can answer "yes", no tutor is necessary. Once it becomes "no", get a tutor. As for preparation, prepare like you would for any class: do your homework, lightly read ahead so you know what you'll be doing (assuming you're using a textbook or notes of some sort). I usually have a designated page that I write down all of my questions on throughout the week(pertaining to anything about the language or culture, even outside of the lessons) and ask the tutor at some point. If you are truly interested in learning a language (and obsessed, like most of us are), tutoring sessions will be more of an aid than a crutch to the learning experience and any necessary preparation will already be completed without even realizing it. In short: get some cojones and jump in the deepend, the water is a lot warmer than you think. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 3833 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 8 of 8 28 June 2015 at 12:38am | IP Logged | ||
Recently, member Bakunin filed the comments below under a separate discussion thread. His comments are germain to the present discussion:
I must be REALLY dumm AND I'll NEVER learn how the SEARCH feature works. There was a recent discussion thread on Language Tutors & self learning Edited by Speakeasy on 28 June 2015 at 12:50am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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