

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.
Finally, by choosing an instructor who is qualified in terms of the 10 quality characteristics, you can be sure that you have taken a significant step towards maximizing your success in your upcoming test. Equally important, you must consider your own situation, needs,
wants, preferences, study habits, and personality traits
No matter what test, I wish you good luck with your preparation for IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, OET, or any other English language proficiency test.
By: Sina (A.SJ)
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Wouldn't it be a good idea to create a course?