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Teaching one to oneAlthough it is ?easier? to teach individual students, it can be quite a challenge to keep things professional and not too personal as more often than not, teachers become a combination of tutor, friend and psychologist. There are a lot of advantages in teaching individual students, such as: students are able to follow at their own pace, they have the teacher?s complete focus and attention, and the teacher can personalize the class according to the student?s likes and needs. Many times students need to learn english for a specific purpose, like doctors, businessmen, secretaries, students who will study abroad or those who want to visit an english speaking country? these people need to learn english that will benefit them and enable them to achieve their goals and this is one way they can do that. There are some students who are very shy and don´t like to talk in front of a group, while there are those who have tremendous difficulty with the language and don´t make much progress when put in a group as they tend to lag behind and end up losing interest and the will to learn which is why many drop out of the group and quit the course for good. Now, when they have the complete attention of the teacher, when they become familiar and comfortable with him/her, they aren´t so reluctant to try out the new as they know they will receive the help they need and the teacher is able to focus on the student?s weaker points and find ways to strengthen them. There are of course, some disadvantages, those being: it can be very tiring, the teacher can become lazy, stick only to the book, and go on autopilot, especially after that same class has been given countless times. It can be more work as a teacher has to tailor the class to benefit the student, it can put a lot of pressure on the teacher since the success or failure of the course can well depend on how the teacher and student get along. The students can´t learn from their classmates nor do they have other students whom they can interact with and have discussions with. Most individual students are busy people who work long hours and some even study at university which makes it hard for them to do any homework. But, when there is something you love or are extremely interested in you´ll find a way to do it. I have found that when students become challenged and interested in the language they are learning, when they see real progress, they´ll try harder to go the extra mile and get it done. In this case it is important only to give them homework that is complementary to what they´ve been learning to help them practice and so they won´t forget what they´ve learned and it shouldn´t be too easy so that they lose interest or too hard so that they´ll get frustrated and not even try. In conclusion, when teaching individual students, despite the difficulties that can arise, if you are willing to do your part and are constantly looking for ways to improve as well as giving the students feedback so they know how they´re doing, you will see the results and reap the benefits.
