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About Me
Hi! My name is Brendon and I'm an English teacher, tutor, and English-to-Chinese translator originally from Norwich, Connecticut but now living in Boston. I've taught English in Shenzhen, China; Seoul, South Korea; and Osaka, Japan over the past five years of my life. Places I've taught include high schools, kindergartens, private language schools, and a specialty language school for TOEFL preparation and flight-attendant English. I've also tutored over 60 different people with a variety of nationalities, ages, and purposes for learning English. I possess a Master's Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Central Connecticut State University, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology.你好！ 我叫Brendon. 我是英语教师，私人教师，课程设计师，和义工翻译者，现在在波士顿华人社区中心教英语。我已有五年的英语教学经验，在广东深圳市，日本大阪市，韩国首尔市都帮过许多亚洲人跟外国人交流，了解英文的阅读材料。我为中国法律文摘网上期刊做了汉英翻译，也作了许多日常翻译为了帮助波士顿的中国移民。我的长期目标包括设计高技术的教育教材和做翻译为了提高世界的连通性。
Brendon
Albertson
美籍英语教师，家庭教师，课程设计师和翻译，现任波士顿华人社区中心英语教师和«中国法律文摘»翻译。已有五年的英语教学和翻译经验，曾在广东省深圳市，日本大阪市，韩国首尔市等地工作。
Why is a personal tutor better than English classes?
How do people learn English? Take English classes, right? Wrong!First, let's think about what you can do by yourself and what you can do only with a teacher:
| Can do by yourself: | Can do only with a teacher: |
|---|---|
| Learn grammar rules (sometimes) | Ask questions about grammar |
| Learn new words (look up the meaning in a dictionary) | Ask questions about vocabulary |
| Write | Get feedback and correct your errors |
| Read (with the help of a dictionary) | Communicate with a real person |
| Speak out loud (to yourself) | Have someone to listen to you |
| Listen (to MP3s or watch videos) |
Now, let's think about what happens in a typical English class:
| The teacher explains grammar and vocabulary. | (Usually can do by yourself) |
| The teacher explains expressions and slang. | (Can't do by yourself) |
| The students read. | (Can do by yourself) |
| The students watch videos or listen to audio. | (Can do by yourself) |
| The students have conversations, usually in groups. | (Can't do by yourself) |
| The students ask questions to the teacher. | (Can't do by yourself) |
| The teacher corrects the students' errors in speaking and writing. | (Can't do by yourself) |
For the things in green, you usually need a teacher because you can't do them yourself.
But, for the things in red, you can do them by yourself; you don't need the teacher.
Now, let's remove all the things you could do by yourself. Doing these things in a class are a waste of time, because you can do them by yourself, in your own time. After we remove these things, a typical English class only gives you the following things for which you need the teacher:
1. Chances to speak to real people
2. Chances to ask questions if you don't understand something
3. Chances for the teacher to listen and correct your errors when you speak
But how much can you actually do these things in class? Let's look at each thing below:
Speaking
In class:The last time you had an English class, how many minutes did you speak during the class? If the class was one hour, you probably spoke for less than 15 minutes. Also, you probably spoke mostly to your classmates during a group activity. Your classmates aren't native English speakers. They're pronunciation is not perfect, and you might be listening to their incorrect sentences.
With a tutor:
When you learn from a personal tutor, you do most of the talking. Your tutor's job is just to give you chances to speak, correct your errors, and explain anything you don't understand. Actually, you can learn most vocabulary by yourself during your free time. You can just use a dictionary to find the meaning of words, search Google images to find pictures, and read articles by yourself. The only two things you can't do when you study by yourself is speak to a native speaker and correct your errors. When you meet your tutor, you have a chance to do these two valuable things for a whole hour, and you don't waste any time doing things that you could do on your own.
Asking Questions to your Teacher
In class:
In a normal English class, there isn't much time for questions. Teachers like to stick to their lesson plans and not waste time with questions. Also, if another student asks about something that you already know, it will waste class time. You already know the answer, so why do you have to listen to the teacher explain it again? This makes the whole class slow down, and wastes time. Think about how many minutes of your English class were wasted. How many minutes were you not really learning anything? Maybe the teacher told you to do an exercise and you already finished. Maybe she was explaining something that you already knew. What a waste of time!
With a tutor:
In a normal English class, there isn't much time for questions. Teachers like to stick to their lesson plans and not waste time with questions. Also, if another student asks about something that you already know, it will waste class time. You already know the answer, so why do you have to listen to the teacher explain it again? This makes the whole class slow down, and wastes time. Think about how many minutes of your English class were wasted. How many minutes were you not really learning anything? Maybe the teacher told you to do an exercise and you already finished. Maybe she was explaining something that you already knew. What a waste of time!
With a tutor:
When you learn from a personal tutor, the tutor can change anything at anytime to match your needs. If something is too easy for you, the tutor can change to something more difficult. If he is talking too quickly, he will slow down, just for you! Most importantly, you can ask your tutor as many questions as you like! This is your time.
Correcting your Errors with Help from the Teacher:
In class:
In an English class, your teacher may hear you make a mistake and correct your error, but remember: he or she has many students and can't correct everyone's errors. That means you might say something and not know if it was correct or not! Also, different students have different errors. In a class of 15 students, how can a teacher remember which students need help with which types of errors?
With a tutor:
When you learn from a personal tutor, he or she can take notes on which errors you make most often, without interrupting you when you speak. Teachers of large English classes can't do this; there are too many students and the teacher can't remember everyone's personal errors. They also can't give you instant feedback. Most teachers will wait until after a test to see what kinds of errors their students make. So it's basically up to the students themselves to study at home and hope they're doing things right. They might have a chance to ask a question or two in class, but there's usually not a lot of time for this. Later, your tutor can give you specific exercises to help you correct these errors and not make them anymore. Remember, knowing the correct way to say something is only the first step. How many times have you known how to say something correctly, but still said it incorrectly? First, you must know the correct way, then you must have lots of practice with your tutor to be able to say it correctly every time. Get into the habit of saying sentences correctly.
In an English class, your teacher may hear you make a mistake and correct your error, but remember: he or she has many students and can't correct everyone's errors. That means you might say something and not know if it was correct or not! Also, different students have different errors. In a class of 15 students, how can a teacher remember which students need help with which types of errors?
With a tutor:
When you learn from a personal tutor, he or she can take notes on which errors you make most often, without interrupting you when you speak. Teachers of large English classes can't do this; there are too many students and the teacher can't remember everyone's personal errors. They also can't give you instant feedback. Most teachers will wait until after a test to see what kinds of errors their students make. So it's basically up to the students themselves to study at home and hope they're doing things right. They might have a chance to ask a question or two in class, but there's usually not a lot of time for this. Later, your tutor can give you specific exercises to help you correct these errors and not make them anymore. Remember, knowing the correct way to say something is only the first step. How many times have you known how to say something correctly, but still said it incorrectly? First, you must know the correct way, then you must have lots of practice with your tutor to be able to say it correctly every time. Get into the habit of saying sentences correctly.
Efficiency: But tutors are expensive! $50 for just one hour?
Many people think tutors are expensive, and it's true. $50 for one hour is a lot of money. If you go to an English school, you could probably have 2-3 hours of class for the same price.However, how much will you speak during those 2-3 hours? Maybe 10 minutes total? Also, how many times will your teacher be able to listen to you and correct errors? Probably once or twice, depending on how many students are in your class.
With a personal tutor, you usually speak 70% of the time, and the teacher listens to everything you say. The teacher knows exactly where your weaknesses are, and will ask you specific questions to make you use specific words and grammar. Therefore, if you have a 1-hour lesson with a tutor, you are learning for the entire hour. In an English class, you are studying for an hour, but you are only learning for maybe 15 minutes.
Now, do some math: If you want to get one hour of learning from an English class, and you can only really learn for 15 minutes per class, that means you need to take 4 hours of class! This would probably cost you $80-$100. What a waste of time and money. When you learn from a personal tutor, your learning is more efficient. You don't waste time. You can do all of this in just 1 hour for just $50. You'll save time and money. In fact, you'll have 3 hours of free time left! You can use this time to explore your city, talk with American friends to practice, or review what you've learned.
So, don't think about learning English in terms of time. Think about it in terms of quality.
Don't think, "How many hours of class will I get?" Instead, think, "How much will I speak, and how much will my teacher help me correct my errors?"
The 3 Benefits of a Personal Tutor
1. Instant and Personalized Error Correction
Making errors when you speak a new language is part of the learning process. It's good to make errors. Don't try to plan every sentence perfectly before you speak, because your speaking will become slow and you might still make an error anyway! This is because you're not in the habit of saying it correctly. Learning habits isn't the only part of learning a language, it's very helpful. This idea comes from a concept called the Behaviorist Theory, created by Noam Chomsky.4. Directed study
English classes are one-size-fits-allThroughout my teaching career, I've noticed one problem when it comes to learning English. There are plenty of excellent English schools with great teachers in every country. However, the problem is that many of these schools have large class sizes, and students don't have many chances to speak English. Instead, they listen to the teacher introduce many new words, read articles, and do lots of grammar exercises in their books. Even if the teacher gives students a chance to speak, many don't want to because they don't see the point in speaking English with another non-native speaker.
On the internet, there are many videos and MP3s available for students to use by themselves to learn English. There are also many websites online designed for English learners. However, the problem is that most of these materials give students lots of new words and English knowledge, but don't give them any opportunity to use what they've learned an thus remember it. Therefore, there are many learners who read information on English-learning websites, listen to MP3s, and watch Youtube videos, but can't speak when they meet a native speaker.
