How to become a Spanish tutor

Teaching Spanish always provokes a certain respect for the tutor. The first class, above all, is the one that will determine how the course will go. As one of the top spoken languages in the world, more and more students want to learn Spanish and more and more of them choose to take private tuition.   

Someone who knows something about teaching Spanish is Spanish tutor, Cristian Pedraza. Watch our interview with him to find out some of his top tips to being a successful Spanish tutor, and discover how he keeps his students engaged in Spanish lessons.

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Spanish is not one of the most widely spoken language in the world, it is also a prerequisite for moving around the world. The demand for Spanish tutors has skyrocketed in recent years, leading many to choose this profession.  

If you are wondering how to become a Spanish tutor, in this post we'll explain it to you. It is a totally legitimate question. Teaching Spanish from scratch to someone whose mother tongue is not Spanish can be a difficult task. But there are methodologies and resources that can help you give the best private Spanish lessons. 

In order to offer successful Spanish classes, three things must be taken into account: the personal work, the students and the resources for your students' learning. These tips will help you whether you are a private Spanish tutor, a tutor at a tuition centre or a graduate. Let's get to it! A little reminder: all these tips apply to online tuition, face-to-face classes and classes for all ages.

Tips for becoming a Spanish tutor 

To give language classes, the first thing you have to work on is yourself. You cannot start teaching Spanish without the necessary knowledge. Mastering Spanish is vital, but it is not the only thing you need to take into account.

A good Spanish tutor should be aware of both interpersonal skills with their students and the materials for teaching Spanish. To be a good Spanish tutor requires two things: 

• Look for common ground with your students: have you visited their country, what did you like best, what do you know about the culture? It is important to show respect.
• Learn the language. To be a Spanish tutor, you need to know enough to be able to defend yourself. Generally, students ask for the translation of certain words and expressions into their original language. It is clear that Spanish must be spoken in the classroom, but there are occasions when exceptions can be made. And even more so when they are starting from scratch and understand practically nothing. 

Sometimes, the preparation of private tuition or an entire course can take up all your time, including leisure time. However, it is a point that cannot be overlooked. Spanish is a language in great demand by many foreign students, therefore, the diversity will be enormous. We have to know how to adapt to each student.

Become a private tutor

How to find a job as a Spanish tutor

You might think that finding a job as a Spanish tutor would be easy, especially if you are fluent in the language and it is your mother tongue. However, as with everything else, you will need to meet a number of requirements: 

• Degree in teaching or related to Spanish philology. To become a Spanish tutor in schools, universities and tuition centres, it is necessary to have a teaching degree with a specialisation in Spanish or a degree in the study of the Spanish language. 
• Master's degree for tutors. If you have not taken the courses mentioned above, you can always do a master's degree in teaching. In fact, if you want to apply for a competitive examination to become a tutor, this is a requirement. 

These two studies are key to becoming a tutor. In public and public schools you will often be asked for them, but there is an alternative: giving private tuition. To become a private tuition tutor you don't need to meet any requirements - find out how to give private tuition. 

How to start teaching Spanish

Once you've figured out what you need to know to teach, it's time to find students to give private tuition or a job as a tutor in a tuition centre! After that, it will all come together. 

Many tutors consider the first introductory lesson to be one of the most fun lessons of the course. It is the moment when you go from being complete strangers to laying the foundations of your relationship. 

Usually, to break the ice, it is necessary for you, as the tutor, to start by telling them about your journey or telling an amusing anecdote. Don't be afraid to communicate with them. As the class picks up its own pace, take the opportunity to ask a series of questions: 

• What is their level, what is their starting point, are they students who have tried Spanish before or are they starting from the basics? If they are students who know some Spanish but have not worked with it for a long time, you also need to know.
• Their interests. Knowing what learners expect from the course is always positive. It will help you to set the syllabus, to prepare the topics that will be most useful to them and you will be able to advise them. 

By knowing your students, you can tailor your lessons and course to what they hope to achieve. Maybe it's to be able to live in a Spanish-speaking country, or to get a job in a job that requires Spanish, or they simply want to learn the language because they love the culture. 

In any case, it is important to get them talking right from the start. This way you can establish a rich relationship with the class. 

Tips for giving Spanish classes

Finally, here are some tips on how to give private tuition. Often, you don't even know where to start giving Spanish classes and you get confused. 

Here are some guidelines to follow when you feel this way. It should be said that a tutor's materials or resources make all the difference. 

Make sure you keep up to date with Spanish teaching methods and try to innovate!

1. Back to basics 

Don't know where to start? They start at the beginning. This is the time to take it easy and go back to the basics of the language: 

• Basic grammatical structures. Subject, verb and predicate. These are the basics for communication in our language. Work on this structure with your students. Only when they have mastered it will they be able to start introducing more complex elements such as adverbs and adjectives. 
• Pronunciation. This part of the language is also important. It is also a good opportunity to get students to speak in class and practise phonetics. Depending on where they are from, some words will be harder for them than others. 
• Vocabulary. A basic recommendation when teaching vocabulary is to structure it by theme. If you choose, for example, the theme of travel, you should practise as many words and expressions as possible with them. For

On the other hand, it is important to have forward-looking themes, which can be useful when moving around the world. 

2. Where are students most confused? 

Depending on the country, pupils will have different difficulties in learning. In general, where they show more problems is in: 

• Articles: Which article to use and what are the exceptions. It is already given to us. We know which thermometer will have the article he and which house will have the article the. But if students come from countries where this distinction does not exist, such as in English-speaking countries, this can lead to doubts. 
• Feminine and masculine words. This is closely related to the articles. Many students fail to see which words are feminine and which aremasculine. Focusing on this issue can be key to their learning. 

• Conjugating verbs. This can be a nightmare for native speakers, but even more so for foreigners. In Spanish, we have the indicative, subjunctive, imperative, gerund and so on. Throwing them in all at once can cause trauma, so take it slowly. Only when you are sure you have mastered one tense do you move on to the next.

3. Communicate the rich culture of your country 

Spanish is a very rich language. We must provide tools so that students can work outside the classroom. A good way to share the culture of the country is to teach them the dialects and their particularities. Especially because they can face them in the future. 

Not everyone speaks standard Spanish, and that's a good thing. It means it's a very rich language. 

On the other hand, encourage them to immerse themselves in our literature. Spanish is one of the oldest languages in the world. Moreover, there are great Spanish writers known internationally such as Cervantes, García Marquez and more. Let's try to awaken their passion for Spanish through books.