Chapter 19

Getting Specific: Teaching Just

One Student and Business English

In This Chapter

▶ The pros and cons of one-to-one teaching

▶ Planning and handling a one-to–one session

▶ Who can teach business English?

▶ Planning and handling business English lessons

A

lthough most teachers obtain some training in teaching general English

in classes, there’s woefully little available in advice and support for

teachers making the transition into one-to-ones and business English. So in

this chapter I provide advice and tips about these two areas.

Evaluating One-to-Ones

From the outset I can tell you that teaching one-to-ones can be pretty lucra-

tive. As they’re often two or three times the cost of class lessons in a school,

it naturally follows that people who pay for a private teacher are well off or

well motivated.

The typical students fall into several categories:

✓ The student who’s reached a reasonably high level of English, at least
intermediate level, but who has no desire to commit to another formal
course. These students want to maintain their English, probably by
studying an hour or so each week, and prefer to have a conversation-
based lesson without too much structure.