When we decide we want to learn a new language, we want to find a suitable tutor or a course to guide us through our journey of learning a foreign language. When is it right to have individual lessons? Let me share with you some ideas:

LANGUAGE SPECIFICATION You might want to learn an unusual or specific language, dialect or register, e.g. legal French or business Japanese.

GOAL You might have a specific goal, e.g. you want to sit an exam in 6 months.

TIME You might need to make progress within a time-scale, e.g. you have 3 months to learn communicative Spanish and you want to study every day at 7am.

BUSY You might have a busy work/life schedule, e.g. you only have time very early in the morning or at lunch-time.

TRAVEL You might travel frequently. Travelling may make studying difficult so it is important to plan your lessons in advance.

SELF-STUDY You might only need a little guidance, as you are studying on your own, e.g. help with pronunciation, specific grammar points or detailed questions.

PERSONALITY Being shy, introverted or individualistic may mean that you’ll be more active and you’ll use the language more frequently when having 1-to-1 lessons.

I believe these might be the common reasons for choosing individual tuition. What is your opinion or experience? When do you think we should have 1-to-1 lessons? Please let me know in the comments below.