Description: This article outlines four key qualities to look out for in a private French tutor.
Learning a second language is always a popular choice, meaning French tutors in London are in high demand year-round.
The tutoring landscape in London is saturated, so finding a quality language tutor can be difficult.
A Native Speaker of French
Parents often debate whether being a native or non-native speaker of a language makes for an effective language tutor.
Although non-native speakers may be just as capable of teaching, there are added benefits to hiring a native speaker.
Firstly, native speakers can go beyond the school curriculum, teaching your child certain nuances of the language that a non-native speaker may not know, such as idioms.
Native speakers can also teach your child about French culture when they get to more advanced levels, enriching their learning.
Good Linguistic Knowledge
Linguistics refers to the study of languages. This involves looking at the structure of a language, such as pronunciation and sentence structure.
Having good linguistic knowledge makes it easier for your child to understand certain concepts surrounding language learning.
For example, when explaining sentence structure, being able to teach something like the difference between a prepositional clause and a relative clause will deepen your child’s understanding of French.
Knowledge of French Politics, Culture and More
Having a good knowledge of French politics and culture will enable the tutor to contextualise the language learning in current events. This makes it easier to recall knowledge in exams.
It also opens up new avenues for discussion in lessons, making learning more natural and applicable to everyday life.
Access to a Range of French Resources
For students at a more advanced level of French, it is important that your French tutor has knowledge of, and access to, a wide variety of extra resources to support learning.
This can be recommending French literature that your child finds interesting and will expand their vocabulary, or access to French past papers to improve their reading and writing skills.
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