Where do you find a foreign language tutor?

[rjand6more]

I have been researching all day.  My dd will be in German II next year.  It is an online class once a week.  I really want her to have more exposure to conversation.  I am not really interested in lessons, just conversation at her level and challenges to exceed her level.  I do think it is important for the tutor to have a plan, though.  So I don't want my dd to have to push along the conversation.(She is shy)

 

I have seen the skype-type tutor sites and I am not opposed to that.  But, it feels weird  looking through the profiles.  I really don't know who would be the best fit.  And the fees are all over the board!($15/45 minutes to $50/30 minutes!)

 

I *think* I would prefer a native German speaker with ESL.

 

Any experiences or recommendations?

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

 

 

ITalki has tutors in multiple price points. It is an online service for finding online language tutors.

 

We are having a positive experience using it.

[rjand6more]

ITalki has tutors in multiple price points. It is an online service for finding online language tutors.

 

We are having a positive experience using it.

 

Thank you!  I had not ran across that one.

[mom2bee]

Since you already know about the various websites out there, if you wanted to find something local then you can try looking on MeetUp.com for a conversation group in your area. (this'd be free)

Also, call the high schools, community colleges and universities in your area and see if they have a Language Table. At my CC there was a Spanish Table, French Table, German Table and Italian Table--1x a week, you could go in and converse. If the event wasn't held on campus, you could attend for free. (It's officially for college students, but in actuality any attendance was welcome)

 

If the schools around you teach German than by looking online you can't find out the names of any of the teachers there who teach German and probably their work email so you can contact them  directly. if they aren't available, they might have someone in mind for your daughter or be able to tell you other sources in your community to look.

 

Call the International Student department at the cc and university and see if they have any Native speakers who might be interested in PT work and ask them to pass on your information to the student (don't expect them to give out student info)

 

 

 

[rjand6more]

Since you already know about the various websites out there, if you wanted to find something local then you can try looking on MeetUp.com for a conversation group in your area. (this'd be free)

Also, call the high schools, community colleges and universities in your area and see if they have a Language Table. At my CC there was a Spanish Table, French Table, German Table and Italian Table--1x a week, you could go in and converse. If the event wasn't held on campus, you could attend for free. (It's officially for college students, but in actuality any attendance was welcome)

 

If the schools around you teach German than by looking online you can't find out the names of any of the teachers there who teach German and probably their work email so you can contact them  directly. if they aren't available, they might have someone in mind for your daughter or be able to tell you other sources in your community to look.

 

Call the International Student department at the cc and university and see if they have any Native speakers who might be interested in PT work and ask them to pass on your information to the student (don't expect them to give out student info)

Thank you.  We have a very unimpressive CC near us. :(

 

We do have a local university.  My nephew went to a couple of their open sessions(free).  Don't know why I didn't think of it.

[CadenceSophia]

I've looked on craigslist before. Sometimes tutors advertise there.

 

I like italki a lot. You can watch the tutor videos to choose a style and then take a 30 minute trial lesson with them for a lower price (italki only lets you do this with three tutors but once you run out you can email each tutor new and they can approve a trial session for you).

 

Most people who start are shy and all the tutors I have talked to on italki were great at driving the conversation if we started to run out of things to talk about. Have your daughter prepare answers to normal introductory questions -- where she lives, what her education has been like, what sorts of things she wants to practice in a lesson etc. Before the session.

[rjand6more]

I've looked on craigslist before. Sometimes tutors advertise there.

 

I like italki a lot. You can watch the tutor videos to choose a style and then take a 30 minute trial lesson with them for a lower price (italki only lets you do this with three tutors but once you run out you can email each tutor new and they can approve a trial session for you).

 

Most people who start are shy and all the tutors I have talked to on italki were great at driving the conversation if we started to run out of things to talk about. Have your daughter prepare answers to normal introductory questions -- where she lives, what her education has been like, what sorts of things she wants to practice in a lesson etc. Before the session.

Great idea to prepare answers! especially until she is comfortable.

 

I spent last evening reading through and watching the profile videos.  It felt like a dating website.lol

 

We are in contact with one tutor.  She is new but feels like a good fit.  She reads out of childrens' books too.  My dd liked that element.  She said it helps just hearing someone speak.