One-on-one lessons aren’t the miracle I imagined.
Private classes are sold as the most effective—and the most expensive. But do you truly need them?
They’re helpful for specialists, strategic coaching, or deeply personal questions. For general language learning? Not so much.
At first, you feel pampered: every doubt answered, every curiosity indulged. Once it’s time to practise speaking, the efficiency drops for two main reasons:
- Teachers cushion you. Trained instructors guide conversations, prompt you when you freeze, and feed you vocabulary. It’s comforting, but the real world isn’t that gentle. In a supermarket, if staff don’t understand, they get impatient or just do it their way.
- You acclimate to one style. After a couple of sessions you “tune in” to your teacher’s cadence, and progress slows. Real communication throws dozens of personalities at you. Group classes with 8–10 learners (especially non-teachers) expose you to that variety and force you to collaborate—agreeing on answers, asking clarifying questions, finishing tasks together.
That’s why purely 1:1 study is an expensive way to build weak reflexes. Group settings give you networks, practice, and a lighter bill.
The grammar/vocabulary obsession
It likely stems from how English used to be taught in Việt Nam and from early IELTS folklore: master every grammar rule, cram “fancy” words, and you’ll ace the exam.
Today, high scorers repeat the same message: fluent, natural communication wins. Grammar and vocabulary are tools, not the destination.
It’s like travel: you decide your destination first, then pick plane/train/bike. Grammar and vocabulary are the vehicles; communication is the goal. If your listener understands, you succeed.
If you’re fixated on your own vocabulary and pronunciation mid-conversation, you’re being a bit self-centred. The point is to get the message across.
So when you coach learners:
- Let them speak/write freely. While they’re trying, don’t interrupt with corrections. Wait until they’ve finished to give delayed feedback.
- When you correct, narrow the focus to one or two points. Dumping everything at once overwhelms them and kills confidence.
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