Native vs. Non-Native Speakers, Who Are Better Teachers?

Advantages of native speakers:

• Whose accent and language ability are what we ultimately want to acquire
• Can give us a sense of what does it feel like to chat with native speakers, which can be a great motivation of learning
• You can learn some cultures of their country where this language is spoken
• If your teacher is unable to speak your language, you need to speak in their language the entire time, even for topics you are not familiar with

Advantages of non-native speakers:

• They have amazing tips that they themselves used to get to where they are
• They can relate to your struggles because they have been there before
• If your teacher shares the same mother tongue with you, they are more likely to understand you even when you made mistakes in sentences
• Most of the time you will understand them better because they are less likely to say something too complicated without being conscious

Who to choose?

Beginner

If you are still struggling with grammar rules or cramming more vocabularies into your head, a non-native teacher who has actually “studied” the language to be able to speak fluently has everything you need to get past this stage.  

Intermediate

The major challenge in this stage is to stop translating in your head and learn to think in this language. Non-native teachers will have great tips for that without a doubt.

As you progress into upper-intermediate, you need to start engaging yourself in more conversations with native speakers to get used to the speed in which the language is normally spoken.

Depends on how much time you spend on this language every day, it can take you years before you enter into advanced. At any point of time, you might notice what are the things you are missing and that are bringing you plateaus. Again, non-native teachers will take the pick on this for having overcome their own.

Advanced

If you are advanced or fluent, you might be intrigued by some very slangy words or jokes that only native speakers or people who have the same cultural background can understand.

Preparing for test

Anything relating to test, accent training, negotiating skills etc., are specific skills, and therefore people who specialize in these areas should be the first choice no matter of their nationalities. They know the details better than anyone else and most importantly, only a professional knows how to train another professional.

Finally

If you are hiring someone to teach you language, you want them to speak more than one language. Afterall, only a person who has acquired a second language by the process of learning, has what it takes to do the same.

And this is exactly what TUTEEMI has been practicing, every single tutor in TUTEEMI speaks at least 2 languages fluently. So, if you are reading this article with a clear destination in mind, go find someone who has the map and had gone there before!

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