You’ve decided to look for a language teacher. Great! The first step in a lot of multi-step processes is often admitting you need assistance. Of course, you’ll soon come to find that narrowing down your options isn’t that simple. A language teacher will show you how to learn a language, but who will show you how to choose a language teacher to begin with?
In general, you should be able to find out if certain teachers have a teaching qualification or degree in a language-related field and are either native speakers of the language or are certified at a CEFR C2 level (the highest level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages scale) in the language they teach. There are other language proficiency scales besides CEFR you might encounter, so it’s not a bad idea to familiarize yourself with what it means to be proficient in various systems.
It’s also worth it to look for a teacher who has some sort of teaching credential or certification, even if they’re native speakers of the language you’re learning. Knowing how to speak a language you grew up with doesn’t automatically equate to knowing how to teach it as a second language. Many native speakers go their whole lives without understanding sentence syntax, or what tense they’re invoking when they conjugate verbs a certain way. Don’t overlook an extremely qualified non-native teacher just because they didn’t grow up with the language. In some cases, they might be the ones who will ultimately provide you with a better learning experience.
This part matters more than you may think. It’s good to focus a lot on whether the teacher is engaging, charismatic, patient and open-minded. You can do this by researching any video material a teacher has posted online, or by asking to sit in on a class before you commit.
“The reasoning is simple — we want to empower our learners to be able to speak in the target language, and most importantly, we want them to come back,” Lalji said. “So we aim to provide that human connection with a balance between learning and engagement through language.”
Different teachers have different teaching styles, and each of them has their own unique toolkit to draw from. Your personal preference will ultimately serve as your guide in this domain. That means you should spend some time thinking carefully about what your personal preference even looks like, and why you prefer it. Knowing yourself, and knowing what’s worked (and hasn’t worked) for you in the past, is ultimately the first step in learning how to choose a language teacher. Asking the right questions comes second.
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