1️⃣ "Grammar doesn’t matter!" 🚩🚩🚩🚩
Maybe grammar don’t matters? Or no don’t matters grammars? Or mattered not did granmared?
You get the point.
This person likely doesn’t have a slightest idea of how to help you effectively.
2️⃣ "I make my own study materials." 🚩🚩🚩🚩
It takes teams of professionals to put together books. Most teachers are simply not qualified to put together their own materials in a logical and structured way.
That’s not to say that adding and removing stuff shouldn’t take place; it’s the “you don’t need books” that is absurd.
3️⃣ "I will teach you through conversation." 🚩🚩🚩🚩
Speaking is not enough to improve your speaking.
Your English competence is an enormous puzzle that includes your vocabulary, listening, grammar, etc. For most learners speaking alone is not sufficient.
4️⃣ "We’ll just have two 30-minute lessons a week." 🚩🚩🚩🚩
A teacher’s job is not just teaching you the language; this amount of time wouldn’t even cover that though.
A teacher should also teach you to learn effectively and explain why you’re doing what you’re doing in class. It’s partly on us, the teachers, to make you more independent as a leaner.
Also, at this pace you will have to rely heavily on discipline as you won’t see enough progress to stay motivated. Discipline without motivation can take you far, but most people find it to be too much to handle.
On top of this, this feeds into the unrealistic expectations of what learning is like and how much time is needed to improve. It takes time, it just does.
👩🏻🏫 I hope you’ve found this list useful and that it will help you pick the perfect teacher.
Tina is a professional English Teacher with a Cambridge education and 10+ years of teaching English to adults in-person and online.
She wants you and English learners like you to develop a solid understanding of what you need to do to start speaking better English faster (and not fall for English-in-a-month scams).