LEARNING TIPS

What further support would you like to receive as a Tutor?

• We now have Upgraded Citizenship materials.
• New intermediate/advanced grammar materials.
• Audio CD’s, CD players, audio books, pronunciation tapes, tape players-Donations?
• Student computer with internet access. We have ordered a few CDs.
• Easy to read short books with reading level 2/3
• More interesting short novels, 2/3 level.
• Tutor workshops to share ideas; Attend our Tutor Coffees.
• Refresher training sessions; Long-timers could sit in on a current training session, for a refresher course, and share their knowledge as well.

“Ah-ha” moments/ What didn’t you expect as a Tutor, and how did you deal with the unexpected?

• Realized at first meeting that my student knows more English than I thought.
• My student knows the alphabet but pronunciation of vowel sounds is really confusing for her.
• Realized my student wasn’t understanding what he was reading.
• I didn’t expect his ability to read English words to be so limited. Conversely his ability to think and speak in English was surprisingly better than I expected.
• My student reads and pronounces well, but she has no idea what the words mean, like “big and small”. I have to start over.
• Prep time was longer than I expected. I know it will probably decrease as I become more familiar with material.
• My student told me sometimes “gringos” say mean things to him. I told him not all of us feel that way. I told him it’s okay to respond to them in a calm measured tone.
• My student could not remember the word “fork”. I pointed to the tines of the fork and counted them: 1, 2, 3, 4’ork”. She laughed and now knows the word.
• My student doesn’t know the alphabet in English or Spanish. He has very little education. I take alphabet in small steps.
• Connecting with student on an English word or phrase; “bun” as in hamburger bun. My student’s a cook, and he was calling buns “bread”.
• I expected to be more focused on “the lesson”, but then life entered and real issues (such as driving school) had to be dealt with.
• Encourage student to be on time, to be so motivated, to know more conversational English.
• “Ah ha” moment: when my student figured out how to get a live scan of his fingerprint to Mexico to renew his driver’s license. He’s more resourceful than I am!
• Taking the “L” out of the words “walk” and “talk” for pronunciation: “wok” and “tok”.
• Having my student “teach me”.
• I didn’t expect my student to be so advanced. I’m still trying out different materials to get to the right level.