Teaching private students can be a great way to earn a bit of extra money. It can also be great to work with just one student and see their progress. Money can be an issue when teaching private students. For more information about contracts and payments see Getting Private Students. Below you will find some tips for teaching 1-on-1 classes.

- Create a syllabus. Even if you only have a rough guide saying what grammar, vocabulary, or theme you want to work with each week, you should create something so that you have a guide to follow. Going along with having a syllabus, you'll need materials. Whether you create your own, get things off the internet, have a book, or use a combination of the above, you'll want to have something to work with.

- Cover the four skills. Sometimes when working with 1-on-1 classes, teachers lean strongly towards one skill and forget the rest. Be sure that you're working with all skills and doing so in class. Although doing writing in class may seem to be not a good use of time, if you walk students through the writing process, you'll see that they can greatly benefit from writing during classtime. Read more writing tips. In addition to the four skills, you'll also want to cover vocabulary and grammar.

- Be prepared. Although you only have one student, you still have to prepare your classes well.

- Assess your student. Tests and quizzes can be used to measure your student's progress and let you know if you need to re-teach anything. Read more about testing/Assessing Students.

- Be flexible. Although you've written a syllabus, you will have to remember to remain flexible. Sometimes your student may take longer to understand a concept and other times they may grasp it very quickly. Don't be afraid to vary the time, take things off, or add things to your syllabus.

- Discuss payment. Although discussing money is always difficult, make sure you come to an agreement beforehand. For more information about contracts and payments see Getting Private Students.

- Give homework. Giving homework will ensure that your student studies outside of class. Read more homework tips.

- Be professional. Remember that although you only have one student it's still a class. A bit of casual conversation is ok, but make sure to keep on track and teach as well.

- Tailor your material. The advantage of having only one student is that you don't have to worry about mixed levels. This means that you can easily make the exercising more difficult or easier depending on your student's level.

- Have fun. Try playing some games in class. They make learning fun and can help your student. Try these games.

- Don't talk too much. If you have a shy student, you'll have to get used to silence. Just because a student is silent doesn't mean they don't understand. Many times they'll just be thinking of how to say something. You might suggest that your student write down something before speaking, it is less stressful if they could write it down and correct the mistakes before speaking.

Sharon de Hinojosa (naturegirl321) has lived and worked in the US, Scotland, Spain, the Czech Republic, China, Korea, and Peru. As well as teaching short-term in Venezuela and Taiwan.

She has created TEFL Tips which has information for teachers from writing a CV, to giving a demo lesson, learning the local language, teaching tips for the classroom and more.

Since living in Peru since August 2004, she wrote The Ultimate Peru List http://www.theultimateperulist.blogspot.com/. With 80 pages it's a comprehensive guide for those living in or moving to Peru.