Other ways of teaching

While the most common way of teaching students will be in a school classroom, this has advantages and disadvantages. Consequently, teachers should be aware that there are other ways of teaching.

One-to-one
See main article One-to-one

Probably the next most common way of teaching. If carried out correctly this can be very profitable for the teacher involved.

Telephone teaching
Speaking over the telephone is thought to be very difficult for foreign language students, mainly because many of the cues of non-verbal communication are no longer present.

In such teaching the teacher may make extensive use of role playing by pretending to be a potential client, an angry customer, a supplier or whatever. Recordings may be made of the conversation for step-by-step review.

Creating your own group classes
Undoubtedly the most profitable way of teaching is by creating your own group classes and charging each additional student.

Teaching over the internet
With the advent of the internet teachers are no longer bound to any physical location and may theoretically teach students in any part of the world.

Internet VOIP
Probably the most popular VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) application is Skype. Very similar to telephone teaching but with the advantage that there are no call costs to people with ADSL. Video may also be used, which in theory should reduce some of the problems associated with the loss of non-verbal clues. Video may be more of an advantage to the more photogenic teachers.

The teacher may simultaneously open up a text chat window with the student.

Both student and teacher need a very reliable internet connection and to be confident when using the technology, otherwise the experience may turn out to be quite frustrating.

Email
Teachers and students may interchange texts and corrections via emails or attachments. If a program such as Microsoft Word is used, quite sophisticated correction systems may be devised, however both student and teacher will need to be confident in their use.