Over the years, I’ve taught many different students and seen a wide range of people, from those who struggled to make minimal improvements to those who excelled. Through teaching, I’ve learned a lot about the different personality types when it comes to learning. I’ve taught people from young children to older adults, office workers, CEOs, academics, doctors, lawyers, and business owners.
Students often think that just having a tutor will help them make huge progress with their accent. However, even with the best accent coach, just like with anything in life, they provide the training, resources, and guidance. At the end of the day, it comes down to the student and how much time they’re willing to put into it.
The Student who Makes Minimal Progress
They assume that they’re going to improve just by turning up to the lesson and fail to take ownership of their own progress. With some students, I feel like I’m spoon-feeding them. They’re showing up to the lesson, but it doesn’t seem like they’re making a conscious effort to think for themselves and try and solve the problem. To see any kind of improvement, one should put in at least 100 hours. If they’ve had 10 hours of lessons with 30 minutes of practice in between, that’s a total of 15 hours, which is really nothing. They may be aware of their flaws, they may understand how and why their accent isn’t what they want it to be, but 15 hours is nowhere near enough. The problem with such students is they probably haven’t put enough time into doing the exercises during their own time, which means that they don’t know which areas to work on during the lesson.
The Student who Advances
I’ve had individuals who approached me for lessons and really struggled with their accent. One would think that their chances were hopeless. But they took responsibility and ownership. They studied the materials for at least an hour a day despite having a very busy work schedule, and they were consistent. Within months, we began to see results. This kind of student is a problem solver. They don’t give up. They do the exercises, they practice, and when they find something they need more help with, we spend more time going over their weak points during the lesson. They don’t expect to be spoon-fed, they’re consistent, and they just get on with it.
Apply What You've Learned
The thing about changing your speech patterns is that you need to make a conscious effort to apply what you have learned during the lesson. Some students excell in the drills and exercises but as soon as we’re just talking or practising improvised speech everything is out the window. It’s almost as if they’ve learned nothing. This is happening because they’re not making a conscious effort to apply what they have been practising and instead they’re defaulting to the pronunciation from the autopilot mode that’s been embedded into their mind. Why is this happening? Because the individual is speaking at a pace that is too fast. They need to slow down and articulate the sounds slowly while making a conscious effort to apply the changes into their speech. As a teacher I can guide my students but I cannot actually apply this change. Students can often get overwhelmed by this but it can start with something as simple as focusing on the pronunciation of a name or a single word that you often use. The process only has to be as difficult and complex as you want it to be. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, slow down and focus on few words and less complex phrases.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with putting minimal effort into it in between lessons. Some students are busy and they may not be able to dedicate as much time as they wish. It’s just important to understand that just like any discipline, the student needs to take ownership to avoid disappointment. They need to understand that they need to put in the time and the effort. The teacher is there to guide them and provide the support but at the end of the day it’s down to the student.