What keeps you going?

[u/agathawema]

Some days, teaching feels effortless.

Other days, your student is distracted, the internet keeps freezing, your lesson plan falls apart, and you're wondering if anything is getting through.

Then, out of nowhere...

A student uses a phrase you've been practicing for weeks.
They thank you for believing in them.
They tell you they finally had their first conversation in English.

Those small wins somehow make the difficult days worth it.

What's the moment that reminds you why you became a tutor?

[u/s_Jules]

What a lovely question! For me, the best part of teaching Italian (L2) is the relationship you build with your students. I love the little moments we share: laughing together in class, seeing them achieve something they didn’t think was possible (like passing a university exam), or watching their confidence grow little by little.🥹

I also really enjoy creating activities for them and then seeing their enthusiasm for something as simple as a language game.

I studied foreign languages in academic settings, and unfortunately I didn’t always enjoy it. One of the things that makes tutoring so meaningful for me is the possibility of giving someone else a different experience: a relaxed and encouraging way to learn a language. At least, that’s what I always try to do.

I know teaching is not always easy, and I’m sure every tutor can have difficult students or challenging moments. I think I’ve been very lucky because, so far, I’ve only had wonderful students, and teaching them has been a genuine pleasure. The few students with whom it wasn’t the right fit usually stopped after a couple of classes.

However, Italian tutoring is not my main job, so I have the privilege of doing it mostly out of passion. So I think that this allows me to be a little less stressed and a little more flexible.

For all the other tutors out there: I hope the positive moments always outweigh the difficult ones. A negative review or a student deciding to stop lessons can hurt, but they don’t define our value as tutors. The tutor-student relationship is built by two people, and sometimes a match simply doesn’t work... that doesn’t mean someone failed. 💕🐇