Goodbye to ESL Tutoring for 2007

I had my last adult ESL student of the year today. What a dedicated student to want to meet on New Year's Eve!

Actually, all the students I've had this year have shown great dedication on their journeys to become better English language speakers. This is one of the great things about working with adult ESL students; they are usually there because they want to be. I said goodbye to some students with whom I had worked over a year (and I still miss them!) and said hello to a lot of new students.

ESL tutoring, for me, has been one of the more rewarding opportunities I've had over the years. As a private ESL tutor, I don't have the advantages of things like sick leave or health care benefits, but I do have the opportunity every day to interact with wonderful people, and to travel vicariously and cheaply!

I look forward to another year of working with dedicated and interesting English language learners.

Goodbye 2007.

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English for Love or Money

I've had a lot of young adult ESL students in the past few years. Many have been working towards advanced degrees in business. I've had a good number of CPAs and aspiring CPAs and other business majors. I ask them about how they came to their career decisions. Most have very logical reasons, primarily around making money and creating a good life for their future families.

I'm currently working with a PhD student. She's working on a PhD in business. She used to work as a CPA in Korea. Now she wants to become a professor. She's in her early 30s. She told me today about how she really did not like being a CPA. She didn't care for the business world, but she didn't really feel there were any alternatives.

I think that for people from many countries outside of the U.S., there seems to be fewer options. I think that Americans are becoming more comfortable with non-money making alternatives for careers, and are desiring more to be "happy" in other ways. Maybe that will be one of our future exports.

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Drinking Among ESL Students

The other day I wrote about teaching the expression, "I don't drink," to ESL students. Currently, I'm learning from my students about drinking (and I mean drinking alcohol).

I have a few ESL students who are visiting scholars, post-docs and PhD students. Since school is recently back in session at my local university, one of the topics that has come up a lot lately is drinking and getting a little tipsy, if not downright drunk.

One ESL student told me about a recent birthday party she went to for one of the Korean students in one of her classes. All the party-goers were Asian (Koreans, Chinese and Japanese). She commented to me that they were all communicating in English with one another. And they were a little drunk. She talked about how easy it seemed to speak English and how they all communicated so well!

I'm not encouraging getting drunk to improve your English, but it does reinforce to me how improved English language skills are often a result of self-confidence, and bravery. Drinking allowed my student to feel more at ease and not worry about making mistakes (she usually worries about her English-speaking skills even when with other ESL speakers).

Working with a private ESL tutor allows students to build that self-confidence in a more lasting way. And without a hangover!

"I Don't Drink" for ESL Students

Since I'm an ESL teacher, I probably pay more attention to the everyday use of the English language than other people. My ears are continually perking up to phrases, expression, idioms, and "strange" uses of English. Even when I walk to my English lessons, I hear or see things that I know my ESL students most likely will not know. In only a five minute walk, I encounter at least a couple of things that would be new to English language learners. If it's something useful or interesting, my next ESL student will benefit from my observation.

I caught a part of "The View" on TV this morning and Whoopi Goldberg said, "I don't drink." It made me think of how an English language learner would interpret this sentence. Of course, it means, "I don't drink alcoholic beverages," but you'd never hear this longer sentence from a native English speaker. All native speakers will know that "I don't drink" means "I don't drink alcoholic beverages."

I think this is a useful English phrase for ESL or EFL students to understand and to use, if needed.

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“Am I Too Old to Learn English as a Second Language?”

Most of my ESL students are advanced English speakers. They are really quite good! But, of course, some are better than others. And some make more measurable progress during our sessions than others. I’ve noticed a trend over the years.

It seems that the ESL students who come to me from their late teens through their late 20s have much stronger English speaking skills my older students.

However, I believe that English language learners of all ages can improve their English language skills. When I taught ESL at an adult school, we had students in their 70s who made progress!

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Teaching ESL and Loving It

Sometimes my "job" as an ESL tutor is almost criminal! I get paid to have great conversations with interesting English language learners from all over the world. I get to "travel vicariously."

As a private ESL tutor, the majority of my students are advanced ESL students and mostly want to improve their speaking skills. I'm glad to oblige. I'm also fortunate that I've had a lot of life experiences and different careers throughout my life. I'm fortunate to know at least a little bit of most things. And it's particularly great when I don't know too much about something, because I can then ask my ESL students and they are happy to talk about things they know and teach me new things.

If you're considering a career change, teaching ESL or EFL is definitely a great possibility.

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Effectiveness of ESL Tutoring

I met with two ESL students today for private lessons. Today was one of those days where I doubted my effectiveness as a tutor. I have been working with one of today's English language learners for several months. He is mostly working on his business English skills. He is making a lot of progress, especially in the area of writing effective emails. During our sessions, he takes notes of the mistakes he has made and the improvements we make to his writings. He then studies these notes between our sessions and applies what he has learned.

I have been working for only a few weeks with the other student. Unfortunately, I don't feel like he is making any improvement. Of course, we have only met a total of six times, so I should probably allow more time for an assessment. However, I still doubted my effectiveness and the choices I was making for lesson plans.

I have to remind myself that I am only in control of the lesson plans that I make and the job I do of teaching. Learning a new language is something that cannot be done in only one or two lessons per week. Ultimately, it's the student's responsibility to learn what is being taught.

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Teaching Adults ESL

One of the difficult things I find as an ESL tutor for adults is the limited amount of time that some adults have to devote to learning ESL. Some of my students are visiting the U.S. for the purpose of improving their English for their careers at home. These students are usually able to meet me two or three times per week. Many of my students live and work in the U.S. They have full-time jobs, families, and other responsibilities. For these latter ESL learners, meeting more than once a week is difficult.

In my advertisements for new ESL students, I usually write, “I strongly recommend that you commit to at least two lessons per week. I believe this is the minimum required for you to make notable progress in English.” If potential students cannot commit to at least two lessons per week, I stress at our first meeting together that their progress is highly dependant upon them working outside of our class to improve their English skills.

Some ESL learners still choose to meet with me only once a week. After working with some of these students for a couple of months, I often start to feel a bit unsatisfied (I don’t know it that’s the best adjective, it’s some uncomfortable feeling). I don’t see the student making enough progress. Sometimes I feel that I am taking their money without being able to deliver. Oh well. I deliver the lessons and it is ultimately the student’s responsibility to learn the language, if that is their desire.