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Guide to Tutoring Low to Mid-Intermediate Students (= the Majority of Our Students)

Frances Chan
(Updated )
Guide to Tutoring Low to Mid-Intermediate Students (= the Majority of Our Students)

In terms of conversational fluency, most of our students are somewhere in the intermediate levels, especially in the low to mid-intermediate range. 

So how can we best help this group of students get to high-intermediate and beyond?

Identifying an Intermediate Student

First, we need to identify an intermediate student. The self-introduction is the best time to do so. 

However, we have to be very careful since many students have their self-introductions memorized by heart, so make sure to ask follow-up questions to get a better sense of their abilities.

  • If your student replies to your follow-up questions with blank stares, they’re most likely a beginner. 
  • If they reply unflinchingly, they’re probably advanced. 
  • If they’re somewhere in between (e.g. they understood half of your question, but need you to explain the rest), they’re most likely intermediate.

Just make sure these follow-up questions aren’t too personal. For example, even if a student says she has three kids and is married, we don’t want to ask about how old her kids are or what her husband does. Instead, focus the follow-up questions on the student’s hobbies or pets. 

[Read: Are You Accidentally Being a Creepy Online Tutor? (Real Student Complaints Included)]

Helping Low-Intermediates (Level 4)

Low-intermediates have come a long way from their beginner days. Now instead of words, they can speak in phrases and short sentences. They can also understand their tutors better.

However, fluency is still something they struggle with. Low-intermediates don’t know how to ask many questions besides the simple ones like “What about you?” They also struggle to answer them and make many pauses. So, what you want to prioritize building first is fluency.

This means that we’ll want to mainly correct sentence-level mistakes. Let’s say a student says “From where you come?” We’ll want to teach them how to ask this properly, like “Where do you come from?” or “Where are you from?” This way, we’ll help students build a mental library of common sentence patterns.

In contrast, we’ll want to be lenient with small grammar mistakes (e.g. says “informations” instead of “information”) and slightly unnatural wording (“I completed my book” instead of “I finished reading my book”). 

Students at this stage need to get used to thinking of sentences, not words, as units of communication, so we’ll want to limit corrections to sentence-level mistakes.

The same applies to pronunciation. While it’s important to correct certain consonant and vowel sounds that should have been addressed at the beginner level, the main focus should be on sentence-level stress and intonation, which will go a long way to making their English more fluent and easier to understand.

In terms of topics, stick to the following:

  • Daily life
  • Hobbies
  • Preferences

As Tutor Royaltyunen (🇧🇯) said, “I let them choose what they want to discuss. I don’t want to bore them, nor do I want to go too far beyond their limits.” So help your student answer basic questions about the topics listed above.

Also, help them practice forming questions about these topics. If they struggle with that, suggest they review these level 4 grammar lessons:

Helping Mid-Intermediates (Level 5)

By the time they reach mid-intermediate level, students know enough sentence structures and vocabulary to deal with most predictable situations.

As Tutor Addie (🇷🇴) explains, “mid-intermediate students often talk about the same safe and fun topics, especially if they take lessons with different teachers. As a result, they end up saying the same things over and over and know the answers by heart.” 

So we can choose to either stick to these “safe and fun” topics (daily life, hobbies, and preferences) or go beyond them. 

If you’re with a new student, you can ask, “What topics do you usually talk about with other tutors? Do you want to stick to these topics or try other topics?”

If the student chooses to stick to safe and fun topics, work on their grammatical accuracy. For example:

  • Encourage them to review modal verbs, including the difference between “will” and “would”, “can” and “could”. 
  • Help them express thoughts about the future using not just “will” but “going to” and the present tense.

If, on the other hand they’ve mastered most Level 5 grammar, start nudging them outside their comfort zone. Ask more in-depth questions about the safe topics. If a student likes talking about travel, for example, ask specific questions about the types of accommodation they prefer, the kinds of sites they like to see, and why. 

Alternatively, stick to the safe topics, but broaden them into the context of other people’s lives or society at large: e.g. “Do many people in your country have the same hobby as you?” or “Is your job popular in your country?”.

If the student wants to expand the range of topics they can talk about, suggest Daily News lessons. Just make sure to select Level 5 articles:

đź“Ś Takeaways

To summarize: 

Hopefully these general tips will serve you well next time you get an intermediate student!

If you found this guide helpful, check out our posts on teaching beginners and advanced students as well: