Hey everyone,
I'm looking for some advice please - I have just picked up a new student (my first here in France) and I have my first lesson with him on Saturday. It's going to be 2 hours long (at his request) so I need some ideas to try and fill the time. I really don't want there to be any awkward pauses. The problem I'm finding is that he is an older businessman and not the usual young students I'm used to that I can just play games with or talk about celebrities.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Katrina
Hey,
Thanks for the advice. I know 2 hours is long and I was quite hesitant at first but this was at his insistence. I’m hoping that because he is an adult, he will be able to concentrate better than kids!
This will be my first private lesson with an adult so I’m kind of going in at the deep end.
Will let you know how it goes 
Hi Katrina
I agree with Elaine, my first lesson with any student is an assessment otherwise you would have absolutely no idea what to plan for and how long each activity might take.
There is some very useful information for business students out there on the Internet. The other thing I do, when I have assessed them and found out which Company they work for, is to find out and print off as much as I can about their Company in English - print out any photos as well as you can get them to describe the pictures in detail and find out more about their jobs that way.
Good luck, hope he is the first of many
Anne
Hi Katrina
No expert but some suggestions. If you haven't already done so, you can spend some time doing your own analysis of needs. Why does he need English, what areas of work require English (telephone, email, letters, techncial documents, presentations etc) that will give you an idea of future lesson planning. I would also look at BBC English - they have 6 minute listening units and also news items which he can listen to and you can do some comprehension type work to see how much he understood. You can carry this on to ask for opinions, what to do next (eg petrol crisis) how will it affect his business................ You could then move on to see what his written work is like - send an email to all staff suggesting company policy for saving petrol? Also taking downloads from English journals and newspapers for reading, pronunciation and general discussion.
Hope his helps.
Good luck
Annie