The Right English Teacher - A Simple Plan For Finding Yours

“No Pain, No Gain.”

Ever heard that one?

It’s what bodybuilders say to each other in the gym.

While it may be true for creating bigger biceps, it’s absolutely a bad idea for improving your English.

In fact, to improve your English faster and English, it’s absolutely necessary to feel good, not bad.

And an English teacher who helps you feel that way is the right teacher for you.

But how do you find him or her?

In this article, I’m going to teach you:

how feeling good can improve your English
how to find a teacher who can help you feel good

Let’s begin…

The Power Of Rapport

Want to sound smart?

Use this word in your next English conversation: Rapport.

(pronounced: ra-pour; as in, Can you pour me a glass of water?)

What does it mean?

The simple definition is, it’s a feeling.

Imagine this:

You’re talking with someone…

You feel connection…

You feel understood…

You feel good.

That’s rapport.

a teacher and student who have rapport — a teacher and student who have rappoRT

A Tale Of Two Teachers

Let me introduce you to my fifth grade Latin teacher, Mr. Duffy.

How would I describe Mr. Duffy’s teaching style…?

Hmm, a little bit of fear mixed with a bit of intimidation…

Add some yelling and throwing of books across the room…

And there you go!

Latin II at Wakefield School.

No, I did not have rapport with Mr. Duffy.

I was afraid of him.

Now let’s go to the lunch room and I’ll introduce you to my friends.

There’s Timmy, Justin, Gregg, Trevor, Jamie…

We told jokes. We talked about books, TV shows and video games.

We dared each other to do stupid things.

I learned a lot from them, and in a way, we taught each other.

Now let’s analyze the results.

Mr. Duffy’s Latin II:

very little learned and even less remembered
a life-long dislike for Latin
time distortion: one minute became one hour

My friends:

I still remember the jokes I learned
I’m still fond of the books and movies and games we discussed
time distortion: one hour flew by

No rapport vs. plenty of rapport.

Now, do you see the power of rapport?

Do you see how rapport can make your English lessons more effective?

And do you see how a lesson with rapport can help you master English better and faster?

a teacher and a student who don't have rapport — a teacher and a student who don’t have rapport

Now, how do you find that teacher…?

How To Find An English Teacher With Rapport

Rapport is rare.

We usually only feel rapport with close friends and family (could that be the reason why they’re close to us….?)

And do you really need, or want, to have rapport with the guy who fixes your car?

While some people seem to create rapport easily, and others don’t, it can also be a bit of a mystery – different for everyone.

I might have rapport with Teacher A.

But you have rapport with Teacher B.

The only way to find out is to meet several teachers.

Here’s how you can do that…

Speed Dating – But For English Teachers

Have you ever heard of speed dating?

Here’s how it works:

Ten guys and ten girls meet in the same room.

Each guy spends about five minutes at the girl’s table having a chat with her.

A bell rings.

Then he goes to the next table and the next girl.

The idea is this: You don’t need to spend an hour or two with someone to know if you have rapport.

It just takes a few minutes.

Well, you can do the same with a teacher.

Here’s what I recommend:

Choose five Teacher Creature teachers
Write to each teacher and say you’d like to have a ten-minute zoom chat to ask a few questions
Choose the teacher you had the best rapport with

Here’s a template you can use:

Hi,
I just read your teacher profile.
Can we have a short ten-minute chat to talk about your lessons?
I’m available [DAY(S), TIME(S)]
Thank you,
[YOUR NAME}

Next, meet online.

Or if you’re in Prague, you can schedule an afternoon at a cafe.

Ask each teacher a few questions.

Thank the teachers for their time.

Tell the teachers you still need to speak with a few more teachers.

Then when the meetings are over, ask yourself, Who did I have the best rapport with?

Make your choice and begin lessons!

Oh, and to be polite, I recommend writing one last email to the other teachers:

Hi [TEACHER’S NAME],
This is [YOUR NAME]. We met last week to talk about English lessons.
Thank you again for your time; however, I’ve decided to have lessons with another teacher.
I’m sure your lessons would be great, but with the other teacher I just felt we had a little more rapport. And you know how important that is.
Thanks again,
[YOUR NAME]