English Teachers Might Not Get The Results You Want
If you’ve ever felt stuck in your English learning despite years of study, the issue might not be your ability – but the way you’re learning.
According to Stephen Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis (Krashen, 1982), stress and fear of mistakes can block language acquisition, making it harder to absorb and use new vocabulary and structures.
This is where having a coach, rather than just a teacher can makes all the difference.
In this blog, I’ll be using drawing as an analogy to make the differences between teaching and coaching clear.
I have taught both art and English, and there are useful parallels most people are unaware of.
Commonalities in Art and Language Education
In both fields, you are gaining initial techniques, which you then develop to express yourself in your own voice and expression.
Drawing also works as an analogy for learning English if we agree that achieving a kind of subconscious fluency is the goal in both.
Both are often used in a 'practice makes perfect' kind of conversation.
Still lingering in both art and language education is the theory that if you just do 1000 hours of something you master it.
(This theory has been debunked as its study samples were flawed. It’s widely agreed that a more rounded method of development gets better results).
Helping You Choose
There is a great deal of overlap between teaching and coaching – and when the teacher is excellent, the differences are more subtle as they may intuitively use coaching techniques.
Use this blog to follow my analogies to work out for yourself, which training style you are ready for – or use my rough guide by language level at the end of the page.
(Remember we have an Online English Needs Analysis Service which can help!)
Firstly
Do You Need a English Teacher or Language Coach at All?
Both teaching and coaching not only make the journey you think you need quicker and sweeter, they also open your world to perspectives, ambitions and English-speaking versions of yourself (including roles and professions) that are impossible to image learning language alone.
When your experience is memorable,
Your English is memorable.
Gaining Basic Skills & Overcoming Reluctances
Having taught art for many years, I often hear remarks like, ‘I can’t draw’ or ‘I’m not creative’ when I mention my profession at social events.
People say to me, ‘I couldn’t even draw the curtains’.
I interpret this as ‘I’m not interested in drawing.‘
I mean, everyone COULD draw if they wanted to. They either fear failure, worry about perfection or simply have zero interest in drawing as an activity.
- If that person were their student, a teacher would give solid pointers as to where to start and how to improve, choosing exercises designed to produce small wins and build confidence.
- If that person were their client, a coach would also teach a similar drawing exercise – while also trying to discover the root of the person’s reluctance to take risks. They might ask, what does the person have to gain by drawing?
At this beginner stage, the learner principally needs practical training which both teach are coach are equipped to give.
But the coach’s additional mindset work has potential to keep them motivated, inspired and thus stay on the learning pathway for longer.
The Early Stages of Learning Require Lots of Practice
At primary school, I was puzzled when kids said to me, ‘I can’t draw horses’.
I would add my version of a horse to their fields (already full of cows and sheep and other four-legged creatures). (It was certainly no better than what they could have done if they hadn’t feared doing it).
At high school, I heard, ‘I can’t draw hands’.
(They still hopefully proffered their paper to me if the teacher wasn’t looking).
It puzzled me, this division of things that could and couldn’t be drawn.
Why could someone draw a face but not a foot? A cow but not a horse?
A Fundamental Difference
It IS hard to get a hand that doesn’t look like a bunch of bananas, but my coaching conclusion says maybe it doesn’t matter if an exceptionally nice portrait has sketched out banana hands.
A conventional art teacher in a conventional system would mark it down. They have to.
Assessment is based on failure. It’s not a ‘can do,’ system, it is ‘can’t do’.
- Teaching systems are often about assessing what can’t be done – exposing gaps in knowledge to build on them.
- Coaching is personalised, and builds on what CAN be done and spreading those skills wider and wider.
Sometimes the conclusions are the same. Perhaps a coach and teacher would say, ‘Now, let’s work on hands’.
The difference is that for a coach, the first drawing isn’t a fail because of the hands – it’s a success because of its successful elements.
Perhaps you are thinking, ‘Ah, those crappy hands DO ruin the drawing.’
As a coach, I’m thinking about how good the next drawing will be because this one demonstrates huge (but not perfect) skill.
A Quick Lesson in Present Perfect (and Drawing Hands)
Now that I’m a language coach I hear, ‘I’m no good at the Present Perfect’.
A tense, (yes, even the Present Perfect!), becomes an automatic structure with enough practice.
Both teachers and coaches know how to exercise your Present Perfect responses so that they come naturally in conversation.
You learn the grammar, and you gain the instinct to know whether ‘the time is open or closed’.
And you stop thinking, ‘Oh help, this is present perfect‘ every time you need to use it.
(Eventually, you stop thinking about ALL the language structures you are using).
(By the way, if you want to draw a hand, the secret is just not to be thinking ‘hand’ when you’re drawing either.
Simply observe, clear your head from any preconceptions about what hands SHOULD look like, and give it a go. You need to overcome the fear of wrecking your drawing.
Again, see how important the mindset work is alongside technical training. This is where a coach excels.
The Importance of Natural Talent
Like art, some people do have a better aptitude for languages than others, but EVERYONE can improve with help through the tricky parts (No, You’re Not ‘Bad at English).
Like drawing, everything practical must be met with open-mindedness and willingness to practice.
- You need to not fear making mistakes, take risks and practice a lot.
The Role of Repetition
When you practice drawing you develop a subconscious decision-making process linking your eyes and hand together.
It is similar to gaining fluency in a foreign language.
The more you practice, the less you have to think consciously and the more it feels like an instinctive, ‘natural’ thing to do.
Neither Coach nor Teacher Can Replace the Need for Effort
Repetition makes decisions automatic.
Repetition Can be Interesting
If you wanted to learn to draw, it would help a beginner to take a class and have a teacher show how to measure, consider negative space, find the weight in an object and how half-close one’s eyes to assess the accuracy of your drawing as you go.
There’s a progressive learning sequence that grows skills and ability. To stay committed to it, most learners would have to have their interest engaged through variety.
For example, you could draw the same subject again and again – differently – or you could also draw different things differently.
Repetition in a Language Class
This translates in the language class to using a variety of supports, rhythms, tools and techniques.
- A coach’s way would include getting the language to make sense TO YOU personally.
Neither a teacher nor a coach removes the need for practice, but they do create safe practice spaces. Both hone your practice to the best use of your time, getting you results more quickly and better than you would achieve just yourself.
The Transition from Teacher to Coach
There will come a point when you rarely need to be taught skills and techniques but you still need guidance, facilitation and inspiration (and error correction).
This is the transition point from needing a teacher and a coach.
English learning, differently!
The Advantages of a Real-World English Holiday
The Role of an Specialist Language Coaches in Language Learning
Your learning pathway, and the type of tuition you need on it, change with your competence and skill level.
Mastering the basic English language structures unlocks the door for you to then take your language skills in any direction you would like to.
Some coaches specialise in pronunciation, some professional skills such as negotiating, and some coach advanced conversation.
In today’s online English market there’s a coach for everyone.
rough guide by language level
Coaching Versus Teaching by Language Level
Both teacher and coach are useful at different stages of your language acquisition. This is a rough summary assuming you are not unusually fearful or anxious speaking Englsih:
Beginner English learners need a balance that is mostly teaching-based
Intermediate English learners need a combination of teaching and coaching mixed about 50-50.
Advanced learners need language coaching and support mixed with about 20% of taught content - they largely determine their path but a coach can help make it longer, wider, more fun and more ambitious.
Your English | Your Destination
The decision as to whether you need an English teacher or coach depends on what skills you already have and what you want to gain by investing in your English.
Both a teacher and coach will make your journey easier.
Once you have achieved a certain skill level, a coach can get you even further than you planned to go.
A Final Caution
Be Careful What You Wish for
We can be so caught in pursuit of perfection that we miss what is glorious about imperfection.
Don’t fear it, enjoy it!
Conclusion
A good English teacher furnishes you with many useful, practical skills for you to use when you need them.
An English language coach aids you to grow an identity as an English speaker - even shapes the direction of your English-speaking journey.
Looking for an Online English Teacher?
Wrong turns can cost your English.
And they cost you that goal you were aiming for.
The job, career moment, conversation, presentation.
Blue Noun Language Hub now has a Needs Analysis Service to save you time and frustration and get you quickly matched with the online English teacher/course to get YOU results.
Why Choose A Culture-Led Language Coaching Holiday?
Over a week, this immersive, low-stress environment helps break down barriers, making English feel more natural and effortless. With a coach, learning isn’t about memorizing rules—it’s about developing the confidence and fluency to communicate in the real world.
Further Information
Top Image: my own photograph of a Scott Carruthers artwork
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