Over the years, I’ve taught a wide range of individuals, from those who struggled to make any progress to those who excelled within as little as several weeks. Through teaching, I’ve learned a lot about the different personality types when it comes to learning. I’ve taught across generations from young infants all the way to retirees, including office workers, CEOs, academics, doctors, lawyers, and business owners.
Students often think a tutor is a magic bullet for accent transformation. Yet, a teacher can only provide the training and guidance. Ultimately, it comes down to the student’s commitment. Let me show you what separates those who saw results from those who didn’t.
The Student who Makes Minimal Progress
Students often expect huge improvement just by hiring a private tutor. This isn’t entirely their fault, especially when premium accent coaches promise quick, transformative results. The problem? Students then fail to take responsibility, viewing themselves as customers being spoon-fed information, rather than active learners.
They show up for lessons, but often without conscious effort, still expecting results from “the magic” a tutor provides. They see themselves as the customer, the teacher as the problem-solver. And look, there’s nothing wrong with a passive approach or being spoon-fed information as long as expectations are clearly managed.
To see real improvement, you need at least 100 hours of effort. Someone with 10 hours of lessons and 30 minutes of practice in between, that’s just 15 hours total. While it’s a start, it’s a long way from competency. They might understand their flaws better now, but 15 hours is truly just the beginning.
The problem with such students is they likely haven’t put enough time into the exercises. This means they often don’t even know what areas to focus on during the lesson. Even if you struggle with the exercises, at least you know which areas to work on.
The Student who Advances
I’ve had individuals who approached me for lessons and really struggled with their accent. One might have assumed their chances were slim. But they took responsibility and ownership. They studied conistently on a daily basis despite having a very busy work schedule.
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? You need to make a conscious effort to apply what you learn in lessons. Some students might ace the drills, but as soon as we’re just talking or doing improvised speech, it all goes out the window, and they get visibly frustrated. This is because their brain is functioning at two distinct levels. During a lesson, sounds are articulated slowly and in a controlled manner. They’re consciously focused on positioning their articulators and not so much on the content of what they’re saying, but how they’re saying it.
In contrast, during normal conversation, they naturally want to articulate sounds at a pace that matches their English speaking ability. This creates a mismatch: their articulators can’t keep up due to a lack of muscle memory, and their manner of articulating English sounds defaults to their native language. They’re unable to apply what they’ve been practicing, instead reverting to the pronunciation from the “autopilot mode” that’s been deeply embedded in their mind.
So, why does this happen? The individual is simply speaking too fast. They need to slow down and consciously apply changes, articulating the sounds carefully. As a teacher, I can guide, but I can’t make that change for them. While this can feel overwhelming, it can start simply: focus on pronouncing a name or a common word. The process is only as difficult as you make it. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, slow down and concentrate on just a few words or less complex phrases. Whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed just take a step back and focus on something more simple until you feel comfortable.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with putting in minimal effort between lessons. You might be busy; you might not have the time you wish. But, just like any discipline, you need to take ownership to avoid disappointment. Of course, you absolutely need a good teacher who provides quality tuition. A bad teacher with a good student isn’t ideal either. However, your teacher is there to guide and support you, but ultimately, it’s down to you, the student, to apply those changes.