The first lesson (Part II)

Now that you are prepared for your class, you can think about activities to include in your first lesson, such as “openers”, “engagers”, and “closers”. When you meet with you student, smile and welcome him/her to your lesson.

First, introduce yourself and remember your student’s name. Start with general questions about their interests and hobbies. I would recommend that in the beginning you stay away from usual questions about family, country, how long they have been in the country, etc. Most students know the answers to these questions already because everybody is asking them the same things. So they have memorized the answers from before and they anticipate you asking them these questions. Try to surprise them with something more unusual. For example, if your student is a girl, you can pay her a compliment (carefully: make sure that they do not get the impression that you are interested in them in an intimate way) saying: “Oh I really like your shirt, where did you buy it?” And then let the conversation go into a more routine type of a chat: “Do you like shopping? Where do you usually shop?” If your student is a boy, you can comment on something he is wearing (again carefully: it could be taken the wrong way). For example, you can let him know how impressed you are by his watch and how you always wanted to buy a similar one. A safe topic to talk about is also video/tv games, electronics, etc. “Does your phone play MP3s?” “What is your favourite car?” “What sports do you like watching/playing?”

Starting the conversation with a “surprising topic” is a good way to take your students’ mind off of the regular conversation they are already anticipating. Then you can move on to more specific things about country, friends, etc. These are your safe topics. They are regular and if you feel that a student is uncomfortable or still too shy to go into a “surprising” topic, you can always turn the conversation towards something that you definitely know they like talking about: their country, their family, friends, etc. Remember that this first lesson is all about recognizing your student’s comfort zone. You need to know where your limits are regarding the student’s language abilities and personality.

While in the conversation, try to watch your student. Watch the body language, watch the facial expressions. These will tell you a lot about their personality. For reference, please read the “Personalities Types” posting for more detailed view on students’ personality types.

Once you have established the tone of your lesson and you have also learned basic things about your student, you should start addressing the main issue of your tutor-tutee relationship. Feel free to ask them directly what they need help with in English. “What do you think is the most difficult thing for you in English?” Make sure that all they say, you write down on your notepad. Listen to them patiently. After they speak about their language needs, give them an overview of your impression of their language needs that you observed during the conversation. “I noticed that you use only one tense when you express your ideas.” “Your pronunciation is actually quite good; I think your use of prepositions may need more work.” This overview is your statement to them that you are already taking into consideration their specific needs and you are already assessing their English level. Your students will feel comfortable knowing that you are there for them and that you are “watching out” for their mistakes. That way, you will also show them that you already have a plan on how to improve their English based on what mistakes they make.

After you provide the brief overview of what you have noticed, you can start suggesting your intentions on how to fix these problematic areas and what kind of methodology you will use with them in the future. “I would like to give you more exercises on Present Perfect and Past Perfect Tenses and also use these two tenses in a conversation so you practice them in a more efficient way.” Provide specifics of what your intentions are and you can also show them examples of work you will be giving them to complete. Let them know that they can ask you questions any time during the lesson. Culturally for some of your students it may be very impolite to interrupt their teacher. However, you need to let them know that it is normal and even advisable for them to do so because if they wait till the end of the lesson to ask a question they may lose the line of thought or situation.

This is also the time to clarify your rules. If you need to, you can give them to your student printed on a piece of paper. Make sure they understand that they need to be responsible students and that although you are on very friendly terms with them, they still need to acknowledge certain duties. “I expect you to complete your homework on time.” “I expect you to call me at least 48 hours in case you need to cancel the class.” Assure them that you will do the same for them.

Remember to always ask them if they have questions for you at the end of the first lesson. Provide the opportunity for them to ask, comment, or inquire about things that may be of concern. Be very friendly and suggest that if there have no further questions, you could start discussing your future schedule and even book your next lesson right away.

Good luck!