Thumbnail Image

What My Students Taught Me This Year

Thulee

This year, my students reminded me of something powerful:
Learning a language isn’t only about grammar… it’s about growing as a person.

Every lesson I taught came with its own surprise.

Here are a few of the beautiful things my students taught me this year:

1. Everyone has a voice, sometimes they just need someone patient enough to listen.

I met shy beginners who barely spoke above a whisper.Week after week, I watched them open up, share their stories, laugh, and even debate confidently.They taught me that progress isn’t always loud, but it always happens when a student feels safe.

2. Real English lives in everyday life.

My students would tell me about work stress, travel plans, new relationships, or life challenges.
Through their stories, I learned how deeply English connects to real emotions and experiences.
That’s why my lessons now focus more on practical, life-based English, the kind you actually use.

3. Consistency beats perfection.

The students who improved the most weren’t the ones who were “perfect.”
They were the ones who showed up,even when they were tired, busy, or nervous.
Their dedication inspired me, and I built more gentle, flexible lesson options because of them.

4. Small victories matter.

A perfect tense.
A confident answer.
A new vocabulary word used naturally.
My students taught me to celebrate these tiny wins, because they create big results.

My students taught me courage, patience, and joy. And because of them, I’ve become a better tutor, someone who listens deeper, teaches simpler, and supports stronger.

If you want to learn with a tutor who grows with you… I’d love to meet you.

Added to Saved

This column was published by the author in their personal capacity.
The opinions expressed in this column are the author's own and do not reflect the view of Cafetalk.

Lesson

Easy Conversation for Adults

50 min
1,000 Points
Comments are not accepted for this post.
Recommend ribbon

from:

in:

Lesson Categories

Language Fluency

English   Native
French   Just a few words

Thulee's Most Popular Columns

« Back to List of Tutor's Column
Got a question? Click to Chat