How tutoring works

Our goal is to help you improve your English skills.

If you are enrolled in the “Full Program” at the ELI, each week you will have private tutoring.

Tutoring frequency

You will get one tutor per week for each ELI class that you take. Depending on your class schedule, you may have tutoring in the morning or in the afternoon. Tutoring is offered on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. There is no tutoring on Fridays so that you can participate in ELI trips and events on Fridays.

Cluster tutoring

If you wish, you can choose to have a cluster (a group tutoring) instead of one of your private tutors. Clusters meet for two hours per week, but you have to share your tutor with other students.

Tutoring responsibilities

Tutoring requires both the tutor and you to work hard. Your responsibility is to bring questions and problems to each tutoring session. Your tutor’s responsibility is to answer your questions and help you with your English problems. For tutoring to work well, you both have to do your parts. If you are not prepared, then your tutor cannot help you. You should come prepared to study; you should not expect to use the tutoring time to just “chat.”

Tutoring hours

The tutoring hour is 50 minutes long.

Tutoring activities

There are many things that you and your tutor can work on together to improve your English skills. Here are some things that you can work on during the tutoring hour:

  • Pronunciation practice
  • Grammar study
  • Reading or Listening comprehension
  • TOEFL practice
  • Composition and writing practice
  • American culture and history
  • Essay revisions
  • Word games

Unfortunately, there are some things your tutor is not allowed to help you with. ELI tutors cannot help you with essays that you will be using for college applications or for scholarship applications. Tutors also cannot write papers for you or do your homework for you.

Tutoring materials

You should bring your textbooks, TOEFL workbooks, or other materials, such as magazines or newspapers, that can help you with your English. The Tutoring Center also recommends that you keep a notebook with you and write down questions about English and American culture during the week. You and your tutor can use these questions during the tutoring session. If you do not bring anything to do, there are some books and materials in the Tutoring Center that can be used during your tutoring time.

Grades and attendance

Here is what you need to know about grading. Students with 100% attendance are eligible for the Tutoring Center Award each session. However, if you are 10 minutes late or if you leave more than 10 minutes early, you will be marked absent. Your attendance for tutoring will be part of your total attendance for the session (classes and tutoring). This means that, if you are absent from tutoring, the absences will be added to your class absences and may prevent you from graduating or qualifying for Graduate CAP. Also, if you are late, your tutor may start working with another student. In that case, you may have to work with a substitute, if one is available. In addition, if you are absent for three times with one tutor or miss the first two weeks of tutoring, your tutoring hour could be made available to other students.

Be sure to take full advantage of your tutoring hour so that you and your tutor can work together to make this a useful and enjoyable time.

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