How do you choose the right language tutor?

The goal first, the person second

Almost every bad choice starts here: people browse profiles before deciding what they need. Write your goal as a single concrete sentence — «speak at work without freezing in meetings», «pass B2 by June», «understand my in-laws at Christmas». If you cannot write it, it is not yet time to book: it is time to study alone for a few weeks and see where you get stuck.

That sentence decides everything else. A conversation goal wants someone who talks a lot and corrects little, so as not to shut you down. An exam goal wants the opposite: someone who knows the format, the timings and the marking criteria, and is willing to be boring where boring is needed. Asking one hour of lesson to do both is the most common way to get neither.

What to look at in a profile, in order

The description, not the score. Nearly all ratings are high, so they separate very little. The description, on the other hand, tells you whether the person has a method or improvises. A profile that explains how the first lessons are structured is worth more than one full of adjectives.

The video, if there is one. Thirty seconds of speech reveals what no summary can: the pace, the accent, how hard you have to work to follow. If the video is a strain, the lesson will be a strain too — and that is not a flaw in the tutor, it is simply the wrong person for the level you are at today.

Real availability, in your own time zone. The best tutor in the world with slots only while you are at work is a tutor you will never actually see. Check the calendar before you fall for the profile.

Experience with your level. Someone used to beginners knows how to ration the language and where to be patient; someone who works with advanced learners knows how to push on nuance. They are different trades.

Using the 25-minute trial properly

The free trial can be taken once, so it is not for sampling everyone: it is for confirming the person who already convinced you on paper. Pick them the way you pick a finalist, not the way you open a shortlist.

During the trial, three things only. First: say your goal — that sentence you wrote — and listen to the answer. A good tutor will tell you how they plan to get you there, not simply that it is a lovely goal. Second: do at least half the talking; if you leave a trial having spoken ten per cent of the time, you already know what the real lesson looks like. Third: watch how they correct. Correcting everything freezes you; correcting nothing achieves nothing. How a person chooses what to let pass is their real skill.

At the end, ask something plain and revealing: «what should I do between lessons?». Anyone with a method answers in ten seconds.

Switching is not a failure

If after three or four lessons you are going nowhere, switch. There is no penalty, no explanation owed and no tie-in: the credits you hold stay yours and work with any other tutor. Staying out of politeness is the most expensive way not to learn.

The most reliable signal is not how much you like the person, but whether you notice a difference outside the lesson: a sentence that comes out without thinking, a video you follow better than a month ago. If after a month that difference is missing, the problem is the method or the frequency — raise it openly with your tutor before switching, since a small correction often fixes it.