10 Characteristics of Highly Effective English Language Test Preparation Courses and Instructors? (Part II)

4. A qualified English exam preparation instructor must be realistically optimistic.

You won’t most probably be interested in working with a pessimistic instructor, one who makes you feel that achieving the score you want would be far from possible. However, and surprisingly enough, working with an unrealistically optimistic instructor would be equally damaging. Indeed, if your instructor gives you the false vision that in only a few weeks, and by mastering only a handful of tips and techniques you’ll achieve the score you need, he or she might be shattering your plans by being exaggeratedly optimistic.

While I am always an advocate of being optimistic, I would advise against putting on rose-colored glasses, simply because it is far from realities of day-to-day life. When it comes to preparing for an English language test such as IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, or any other test, your progress cannot take place over night, and your instructor should not give you any false hope. In practice, it takes time, patience, planning, commitment, and diligence to progress step by step.

In the case of IELTS, for example, improving from one band score to another would take nearly three months of systematic study, preparation, and practice. That is, if your current IELTS score is 5, you’ll need nearly three months of well-planned preparation. As such, if an instructor claims they could help you achieve 6 in less than a month, you should really take it with some caution. In sum, if your instructor gives you unrealistically high expectations, or oversimplifies things, you should consider changing your instructor. In contrast, an experienced instructor, would get a clear assessment of your current level of proficiency, before they tell you how much it would take to achieve your desired score. This means they start by having a realistic evaluation of your current situation, followed by giving you a practically doable action plan and a realistically achievable goal, without oversimplification nor exaggeration of the matters.

5. Successful instructors have usually sat the test themselves.

6. Your instructor must provide you with ongoing support and consultation.

7. A good instructor must be up to date and informed.

8. A good instructor is resourceful.

9. A qualified instructor has a track record of past students’ achievements and success stories.

10. A qualified instructor is a human being just like yourself.