Welcome to the Listening Time podcast.
Hey English learners.
This is Connor and you're listening to episode 227 of the Listening Time podcast.
I hope your English learning is going well.
I hope you're seeing progress with your listening.
I'm sure these episodes have been helpful for you.
And maybe you feel like it's time to start speaking.
I get contacted about this all the time.
People ask me about ways they can start speaking.
They're nervous about this.
They don't know how to start.
I get messages all the time about this.
People ask me for my advice, my opinions.
So I wanted to make an episode talking about finding a good English teacher.
I've talked about English teachers in previous episodes.
I think I did an entire episode dedicated to this.
But I want to talk in a little more detail about how you can go about choosing a teacher.
I also want to talk about the importance of a good English teacher, how it affects your learning, some possible criteria that you can use when you're looking for a teacher.
And make sure you listen until the end of this episode, because I'm gonna tell you how many of my listeners have found a good English teacher to help them start speaking.
I'm going to talk about that towards the end or in the second part of this episode.
So please continue listening.
And before we start, remember that if you feel like you need my help understanding native speakers when they speak fast, then make sure to sign up for my training so you can get my listening practice seminars in which I help you understand native different, difficult sound patterns in English and I help you become more comfortable with how English really sounds.
So if you're interested in that training, the link to sign up is down below.
And of course, the link to my US Conversations podcast is also down below.
You can sign up for that if you want to practice listening to my conversations with native speakers from all around the US.
So if you want that, the link is down below.
Okay, let's talk about what a good English teacher can do for you.
In my opinion, Teachers don't exactly give you English knowledge.
All right.
You might have this idea that a teacher gives you knowledge and doesn't.
In a way, I see how this is true.
Of course, they can explain something to you and now you know it.
So I understand that point of view.
But when it comes to language learning, I prefer to view it as the learner acquiring knowledge through their own practice.
Yes, the teacher helps that and facilitates that.
They can make this easier for you and give you some structure that you can use in order to acquire this knowledge, this ability.
But really it's about you, the learner, becoming better over time, becoming more knowledgeable over time.
However, like I said, the teacher facilitates this.
This is where the value of a teacher really comes into play.
When we say that something comes into play, we're saying that it is relevant for this topic, this goal or whatever.
It comes into play.
So the teacher's value, in my opinion, is how they facilitate you acquiring the language.
So a teacher can do this directly, more technically, indirectly.
So let's talk about the technical things first.
The teacher gives you input.
Input refers to what you hear, you listen to, or read in the foreign language.
So of course, the teacher provides you with input because they talk to you.
So you hear them speak and they're a native speaker, that's very helpful input.
So, of course, this is a very direct benefit that they're giving you.
They're helping you understand English better because you're practicing listening to them.
So that's one thing.
They also give you correction.
They might tell you what you said wrong or what you said that was right but unnatural.
They can give you correction in different ways, but in general they help you see what you're not saying, right?
So this is a technical way that teachers can directly help you learn English, right?
They can show you your mistakes and what you need to change.
That's great.
You can't necessarily do this on your own.
You can't necessarily correct yourself in every instance, and even online tools and resources can't always do this.
There are times when I need to talk to my French tutor to understand what is right or wrong to say in a certain situation, with a certain type of structure.
Sometimes I can't really get to the bottom of it just using online resources.
When you get to the bottom of something, it means that you understand the full truth behind something.
Sometimes I'll see different translations online and different websites are saying different things.
Different translators are saying different things.
And I need to just ask my teacher.
I need to ask my tutor, who is a native speaker, and they can tell me if what I'm saying is correct or not.
So that's very valuable.
They teach you new things.
They teach you new phrases, new expressions.
They show you new things that you didn't know previously.
And that's really helpful as well.
But of course, you have to practice to acquire all of this.
Just because they show you something new doesn't mean you automatically learn it and start using it.
Of course, there's a process that you have to go through in order to adopt that new thing in your own speech.
Right.
So those are all technical things that a teacher can do.
They correct you.
They show you new things, concepts.
They give you input, but they also help you indirectly.
So let me talk about some of these things.
They provide a comfortable environment for you to practice speaking.
This is essential.
This is really important.
Trust me.
I hear from listeners from different English learners who say have the desire to start speaking, but their biggest obstacle is that they don't feel comfortable.
They don't know how to start doing this.
They're scared, quite frankly.
When we say quite frankly, we're saying honestly, okay?
So, So they're a little bit scared.
They don't feel like they have a comfortable environment.
So many people ask me if I can talk to them.
And sometimes listeners take classes with me.
So sometimes I do this, of course.
But they really want a comfortable, safe environment where they feel like they can practice and and not be afraid.
So a good teacher will provide that comfortable environment.
If they don't, then you should try a different teacher, okay?
A good teacher can also provide interesting conversation, okay?
They can talk to you about anything you want and they can Guide the conversation so that it is stimulating and exciting and engaging.
This is something that a good teacher can do.
And when your conversation is really interesting... you will learn more from it.
You will benefit more from that conversation that you have in English.
So that's a great thing about having a good teacher.
And they can also push you to talk about different things.
Oftentimes, when I speak to myself which is something I do a lot of I tend to talk about some of the same things over and over again.
But when my tutor talks to me, he sometimes asks me questions about different things that I haven't practiced talking about, and so he pushes me to talk about that thing.
That results from having a conversation with that tutor.
So that can help me practice talking about different topics, right?
And a good teacher will help you continue talking the whole time.
They'll help you feel comfortable and they won't make you guide the conversation.
That So you can just practice speaking without needing to worry about asking a bunch of questions and guiding the conversation.
If you have a good teacher, you don't need to worry about that stuff.
So all of those indirect things are extremely important because they help you actually practice better, more effectively, with more desire, more motivation.
All of this is really good for practicing your speaking in particular.
And honestly, these non technical things, these indirect things can often be more important than the direct technical things.
There are some teachers who have a greater knowledge of the English language and can explain more concepts to you and maybe explain these concepts better, but they might not help you as much as a teacher who is not as technically knowledgeable but who is really interesting to talk to.
If you are really interested in talking to someone, let's say you share some of the same hobbies or interests, or maybe lifestyle or attitudes or views, opinions.
When you talk to someone who you just really like talking to, that can be more beneficial than talking to a teacher who has problems, more knowledge, but you're not that interested in talking to them.
So it's really important to find someone who you like, someone who you like talking to, who you actually look forward to having a conversation with.
This is essential, okay?
This is perhaps the number one criteria.
Maybe not number one, but it's near the top.
There are other criteria that are important.
The teacher should offer you some form of correction and feedback.
Of course, that's important.
And these other things are also important.
But really, if you can find someone who is really interesting to talk to, that will really help you with your speaking practice.
I have experienced that firsthand when we say firsthand.
We're saying like it has happened to me, uh, specifically, not just to other people.
So.
I've experienced that firsthand.
I've had other teachers who might have more technical knowledge of French, let's say, or maybe Portuguese, when I was taking classes for Portuguese.
But I actually benefited more from taking classes with a teacher who I just really liked talking to.
It caused me to speak more, speak better, be more comfortable, actually acquire more from the conversation.
Really, all of these things are easier when you are talking to a teacher whom you like.
So that sounds pretty simple, but it is definitely a really good piece of advice that I want to give you.
And it's not as easy as you might think to just find someone who you like.
I've taken classes with dozens and dozens of teachers throughout the years and And I'll be honest with you I didn't return for a second class with many of those teachers.
OK, it's not because they're not nice or they're not smart or whatever.
It's because I just didn't have as much fun or. they weren't that interesting to talk to, okay?
And so it can be hard to find someone who meets this criteria.
But here's how you can do that, okay?
I got the idea for this episode because I've had many students tell me that they have listened to my US Conversations podcast and they have started taking classes with different teachers that I've talked to.
Because in that podcast, I talked to a lot of different teachers from different parts of the US.
Many of them are now living in foreign countries.
They're also language learners.
I think Almost all of them, perhaps, or maybe all of them are language learners themselves.
And I've had many students that have started taking classes with these different English teachers.
And some of these teachers have told me.
They've told me.
I've had lesson requests from your listeners.
Thank you.
And it has ended up being a really great and efficient way for my listeners to find an English teacher who is suitable for them.
And so what's cool about choosing a teacher from one of these episodes is that you get to know them really well before you ever take a class with them.
Because in each episode, I ask them about where they're from, where they live.
Sometimes I ask them anything. about their background growing up.
You get to know what they like to do, their hobbies, their interests.
We talk about their experience as language learners, their experience living abroad, all that kind of stuff.
And that's really great because you get to know their personality, what interests them, and you can see if you share things in common with them.
But not only that, You also get to hear how they speak.
You get to hear their style of speaking, what type of accent they might have.
And they're all from the US or almost all the people I talk to are from the US.
So of course they don't have a super different accent from me, but they have different ways of speaking.
So you can see if these teachers are understandable for you or if you have a hard time understanding them.
And many of my listeners have chosen to take classes with teachers that I've talked to on this podcast, simply because they can understand these teachers well.
That is hugely important.
If you can understand the teacher well, that will really help you feel more comfortable during your first class.
And of course, you'll just be able to interact better.
So that's one of the best things about choosing one of these teachers.
I've talked to multiple listeners, like I've mentioned, who are thankful that they have a teacher now who they take classes with every week.
So some of my listeners have found a teacher who they talk to every Every week now regularly.
They're learning a lot.
They're getting to know these teachers more and more.
And they're having fun with them and talking about a lot of interesting things.
And they're seeing improvement with their speaking skills.
And honestly, I didn't really start the U.S.
Conversations podcast yet.
With this goal in mind to connect students to teachers.
Really, it was to help you practice with more than one person talking, because this is an essential skill.
And when I was learning Spanish, I didn't practice enough with this skill.
And so when I moved to Mexico, I struggled a lot in group settings.
So I wanted to create a resource to help you with that.
But I didn't really think too much about the possibility of connecting students to these teachers.
But honestly, this has become one of the biggest benefits of this podcast.
And I'm really happy about that because it serves that purpose as well.
Because I get asked all the time about English teachers and how people can start speaking.
They feel nervous.
And this is honestly the perfect way to start.
Listen to my conversations with these different teachers and and choose one or two that you want to take a class with, and you'll already know all about them.
You know how they speak, you know if you can understand them or not.
This is great, and i know many of you need to start speaking.
Thank you so much for watching.
Is not that beneficial?
You need to speak regularly if you really want to improve your speaking skills more directly.
Of course, listening helps your speaking skills.
I definitely believe that.
But if you really want to target your speaking skills and improve them, you have to speak regularly.
So, if you don't know where to start or how to start and you're nervous about speaking, but you know that you need to do this, this is how you can start.
Listen to my US Conversations podcast episodes with the different teachers I've talked to and choose teachers from there.
This is a great resource for you if you're just starting out to speak, or maybe you have taken classes with other teachers but you're not that satisfied, or you're just not doing it regularly.
This is the place to start.
Okay.
I've talked to some great teachers so far.
I always try to choose interesting teachers to talk to.
So you've got plenty plenty of options already.
And of course, I record a new episode every month and release a new conversation every month.
So, as time goes on, there will be even more options of teachers to choose from, because I release episodes continuously.
So please check out that U.S.
Conversations podcast and pick a teacher and give that person a try and see if you like your first class with them.
Maybe you don't and you can try a different teacher.
But this is a much easier way to start than just randomly choosing teachers that you don't really know.
Well, you don't know if you'll get along with them.
If they're interesting to talk, to use this resource.
Okay.
So that link is down below.
So go down and click on that.
And, like I mentioned before, if you also want my training to help you understand fast English, then make sure you sign up to get my listening practice seminars.
That link is down below as well.
All right, I hope you enjoyed this episode and that, if you feel ready to start speaking, you start speaking to one of those teachers that I have had a conversation with, and I hope that you have a good rest of your day.
Thank you for listening, and I'll talk to you on the next episode of Listening Time.
