How do you get the most out of online tutoring?

Ask specific questions about your target languages. Beginner questions welcome!
FRAnglais1919
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How do you get the most out of online tutoring?

Postby FRAnglais1919 » Thu Aug 25, 2022 9:59 pm

I recently found an online tutor for my target language. I am fully aware that no class or instructor is the golden ticket to language learning, and that it's up to me to learn. What are some ways to get the most out of these lessons? Is there anything I can do to make the lessons more productive/enjoyable, or is it all up to the quality of the instructor?
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tommus
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Re: How do you get the most out of online tutoring?

Postby tommus » Thu Aug 25, 2022 10:51 pm

There are probably two main kinds or second-language tutoring: Lessons or Conversation.

Lessons need to be structured to fit your specific levels and needs. Then a lot of the tutoring is the responsibility of the tutor with your modifications as required.

Conversations are what YOU make of them. Choose your own topics of interest. Spend a lot of time asking leading questions to get the conversation you want. You can ask for feedback on your mistakes, pronunciation, etc. But the main objective is to promote interesting, interactive conversation that targets your interests and areas where you wish to improve. Again, conversations are mostly in your court, so go into the sessions prepared.
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Re: How do you get the most out of online tutoring?

Postby Yunus39 » Sat Aug 27, 2022 1:52 am

It depends on your level, but my favorite things to do are ethnography type interviews and working through native-to-native discourse.

So for interviews:

Step 1. Ask the initial whole-life question as, “Please tell me the story of your life.” (Similar to a grand-tour question) RECORD.
Step 2. Clarify. (Remember, this is a conversation to gain a clear understanding of this particular recording.) Record the Clarification Process.
Step 3. Word Recordings (Record the whole discussion of new words.)
Step 4. Identify possible expansions.
Step 5. Choose a point to expand.
Step 6. Ask further questions in order to do the expansions. (Record the expansions)
Step 7. Repeat steps 2-6 (Cycle back as many times as you do expansions—maybe expansions of expansions of expansions
Step 8 Retell (in a spirit of “Let me see if I understood your story.”)
Step 9: Add to the Listening Library all of the recordings in which the host person is talking.


"Clarify" means that you go over the recording with your tutor (in the target language), and you stop where you can't understand and they explain more (in the target language). Word recordings, are separate vocab recordings where your tutor explains the new word and gives several examples/sentences using the word (in the target language).

For native-to-native discourse:

Steps in a Conversation with a Mentor About a Native-to-Native Discourse
Step 1: Acquire a recording of a Native-to-Native Discourse
Step 2: Listen once through and see how much you (think you) understand
Step 3: Summarize to your mentor what you (thought you) understood.
Step 4: Record your mentor’s response to your summary
Step 5: Clarification step: go through original with mentor
Step 6: Be making the new-word recording as you go along.
Step 7: Watch for and note details you don’t understand because you don’t know something about life in the host world
Step 8: Expand on the points noted in Step 7
Step 9: (optional) Ask Grand/Mini-Tour questions, List-of-Life questions, experience questions, etc. from Phase 4.
Step 10: GP retells the discourse (at his/her current level of ability with mentor’s help).


These activities are from the Phase 4 and Phase 5 GPA manuals (free online), which give a lot more detail if you are interested. If they are too hard, then check out the earlier phase manuals which would give similar activities with wordless books etc.
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