What to look for in an online English tutor?

Learning to speak fluent English requires the correct mix of consistent effort, course content and the right tutor. The ongoing pandemic has accelerated digitization globally at a pace even faster than imagined. Like every other sector, the education field has observed an increasing trend towards eLearning solutions.

More students today believe in the advantages of affordable lessons, flexible lecture hours, access to a vast variety of great content that online learning platforms provide. With the huge influx of eLearning websites, it is critical to identify the right learning platform that suits your needs.

Once you have identified the right course for you, the success of online private lessons depends to a large extent on the online spoken English tutor. In this blog, we will enlist the most crucial characteristics of a great online tutor across different subjects with few tips for learners’ keen on taking online English fluency lessons from online English tutors.

Qualifications and Experience in teaching

Online tutors teach students over an online platform using technology to their advantage. Even though the teaching platform is different, a tutor with the right qualifications such as certification degree in the subject and years of teaching experience are more likely to be successful in delivering effective lessons. For an online English teacher in India, impeccable English-speaking skills, English grammar and great vocabulary are a must.

Online Tutoring style

The tutors shall have an effective lesson delivery style that benefits the learner. Online English tutoring methods will differ than classroom techniques. An experienced spoken English teacher will strive to make lessons fun and engaging, structure sessions in a manner that best suit the learning needs of the student. Quick adaptation of customized lessons to achieve student’s goals while tracking their progress will ensure quick results. For conversational style English lessons, the online English tutor must be fluent and confident while speaking to the student.

Tutor-Learner rapport

Not something that you can identify in your first interaction, but your rapport with your tutor will motivate you for attending all your lessons. Good tutor-learner rapport facilitates higher learning success rates. It makes for a great learning environment where the learner is not intimidated to speak up and actively participates in lessons. A good rapport ensures a strong learning foundation that stays with the learner in the long run.

Creativity & Knowledge

Tutors must keep themselves abreast with all developments in their subjects. Knowledge expertise is an important criterion to focus for the learners to clearly define their learning goals. In an online setup, the tutor must be resourceful to provide access to the best assets that will benefit the student using creativity to encourage learning. While teaching English online, the tutors must treat each student uniquely and offer lessons that best suit their learning needs.

Emotional grit

A good tutor is patient and compassionate, qualities that are observed in all successful teachers. Online lessons are tough to execute and a tutor with a good EQ will be able to empathize with their students emotional as well as learning needs. In online one-on-one English lessons, this skill is extremely crucial since learners who are shy in nature will have a tough time opening up while practicing English speaking.

A great learning experience is a product of consistent efforts both by the student as well as the tutor. The online lesson must be both fun and challenging, continuously engaging learners to prevent drop-outs.

Good online tutors will motivate their students to improve their skills and knowledge, adapting to their students’ s learning needs as well learning styles, while being result-driven.

Other than the above general characteristics, online trainers must also be culture sensitive to teach students from different countries and backgrounds, be presentable and have a fair knowledge to use technology to their advantage.

What other characteristics do you think are required for a good Online Tutor?