A German tutor is a professional who offers additional instruction and guidance outside of regular classroom lessons. He or she will have had extensive training in speaking and writing the German language; native German speakers may also become tutors for non-native German speakers. A German tutor may work for an educational institution or he or she may work independently as a freelance tutor. These tutors do not generally write lesson plans and deliver instruction in the same way a teacher does; instead, they will assess a particular student's strengths and weaknesses, and develop tutoring strategies from there.
The specific duties of a German tutor can vary according to the student for which he or she is offering services. The first duties of the tutor will be to assess the student's particular needs, then develop strategies for improving the student's writing and reading skills. Very often, the German tutor will simply offer conversation practice for the student, correcting common mistakes and giving the student tips for speaking more fluently. The student's ability level will often dictate the specific topics covered in a tutoring lesson.
If the tutor works for a particular educational institution, he or she will usually get paid an hourly rate and will hold regular hours in a tutoring center. He or she may also create unique schedules to work around scheduling conflicts with students. If the German tutor works independently as a freelancer, he or she will need to develop a pricing structure as well as a schedule to accommodate the needs of students. The rates for tutoring can vary significantly according to the student's needs, the frequency of the lessons, the qualifications of the tutor, and other factors specific to the student-tutor relationship.
The German tutor will need plenty of qualifications to work in the education realm. Native speakers of German have a distinct advantage in this regard, though being a native speaker does not always necessarily qualify the person to become a tutor. Educational institutions, for example, may require that the tutor has either earned or is working toward earning a bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification in languages or education. A tutor may need to pass a test or certification examination in order to offer tutoring services at an educational institution. Such testing is usually not necessary if the tutor works independently as a freelancer, but the tutor will need to offer other qualifications to ensure he or she will offer a high quality German education.