常见问题解答 / Q&A

1. How is AlphaTutors different from a normal foreign-teacher speaking class?

AlphaTutors is not a simple conversation class with a foreign teacher. In many ordinary speaking classes, the lesson can be quite casual. Children may only have a simple conversation with the teacher, and the lesson content may not be systematic or connected to the vocabulary, sentence patterns, and grammar the child is learning over time.

Our courses place much more emphasis on structure. Before class, children prepare words, sentences, stories, and audio on the website. During class, the teacher asks questions, guides the child, and extends the content. After class, children review and consolidate what they have learned through the SRS system.

In other words, we do not want children to simply “chat in English for a few minutes”. We want them to use a long-term system to truly understand, say, and use the vocabulary, sentence patterns, and grammar they have learned.

2. Is English learning in China now placing more emphasis on listening and speaking?

The overall direction is moving that way. English teaching and assessment in China are placing increasing emphasis on practical language ability, especially listening and speaking. The exact exam arrangements vary from region to region, but in general, it is becoming less sufficient for children to only do written exercises and memorise vocabulary.

English is first of all a language. In the end, children need to be able to understand it, express themselves, and use it in real situations. This is especially important at primary school age. If children build listening response and speaking habits earlier, they will be better prepared for more complex reading, listening, and expression tasks later in middle school and high school.

For this reason, our courses are not designed simply around exam drilling. They are designed to help children build real English ability in advance.

3. How do your courses help with school English?

The most obvious benefit of a foreign-teacher class is listening and spoken expression. After a period of listening and speaking training with us, children often find school listening tasks easier, because they are already used to hearing English questions and understanding the meaning of spoken sentences.

At the same time, although our courses focus mainly on listening and speaking, we also include reading. Before class, children prepare short stories. Each story contains a useful range of vocabulary and sentence patterns. Over time, this helps children build vocabulary, understand sentence structure, and improve reading comprehension and short writing.

We also do not simply chat. Grammar is naturally included in the lesson, especially tenses, sentence patterns, and complete-sentence answers. The teacher asks children to answer in full sentences and corrects inaccurate expression. When a child can say a sentence correctly, they are also more likely to write it correctly later.

So this kind of listening and speaking training is not separate from school learning. It can support school listening, reading, sentence understanding, and written expression.

4. Can children with no foundation or a weak foundation join?

Yes. Our Stage One course is designed for children with no foundation or a weak foundation.

Stage One does not begin with difficult stories or complex expression. It starts with the most basic sentence structures, such as be verbs, yes/no questions, wh-questions, singular and plural forms, the present continuous tense, and the simple present tense. Through many simple sentences and question-and-answer exercises, children gradually build listening response, grammar awareness, and spoken expression.

Many children are not completely new to English. They may have learned some words and rules, but they cannot actually listen, speak, or express themselves in complete sentences. For these children, we first help them organise and stabilise their basic sentence patterns, and then gradually move into stories and richer topic-based expression.

5. If my child already does very well at school, do they still need listening and speaking classes?

If a child does very well at school, this usually shows that they have good learning ability and a certain foundation in school English. However, strong school results do not necessarily mean that the child can naturally understand English questions or express their ideas in complete English sentences.

Some children can complete written exercises and achieve high exam scores, but when they communicate with a foreign teacher, they respond slowly or can only say short words rather than full sentences. This shows that the gap between “knowledge input” and “language output” has not yet been fully closed.

For this type of child, the value of a listening and speaking class is not to relearn the most basic material. It is to activate the vocabulary, sentence patterns, and grammar they have already learned, so that they can understand, answer, retell, and express. This is very valuable for long-term English ability, and it can also support school listening, reading, and writing.

6. How do you decide which stage or class a child should join?

We do not place children only by age or year group, and we do not rely only on school exam results. When placing a child, we consider their age, year group, previous English learning experience, school performance, vocabulary range, sentence-pattern control, listening response, spoken output, personality, and whether they have had foreign-teacher lessons before.

In most cases, when a parent enquires, we first learn about the child’s basic situation and then make an initial judgement about the suitable stage. If it is a group class, we usually arrange for the child to try a class that we think is likely to be appropriate.

If the child’s situation is more unusual, or if we need a more accurate judgement of their level, we can arrange a one-to-one assessment of around thirty minutes. After that, we can recommend a suitable class.

If, after a trial, the class is too easy, we help the child move to a more challenging class. If it is too difficult, we move them to a more foundational class. Our goal is to place children with classmates who are similar in age, level, and classroom response, so that they can follow the lesson and still have enough opportunities to speak.

7. How are trial lessons and class times arranged?

Trial lessons are usually arranged according to the child’s situation. If the child’s level is fairly clear, we may place them into a suitable existing class for a trial. This gives both the parent and the child a more realistic view of the class rhythm, the teacher’s questioning style, and the group interaction.

If the child’s level is unclear, or if their situation is more specific, we can first arrange a one-to-one assessment before deciding which class is suitable.

For existing group classes, the lesson time is usually fixed. If a child joins that class, they need to attend at the class’s existing regular time. Once a class is stable, the time is not usually changed casually.

For one-to-one or one-to-two lessons, we first coordinate a time that both the child and the teacher can maintain long term. The trial lesson is arranged at that time. If the trial goes well, the regular lessons will also usually remain at that fixed time.

The general principle is that we try to coordinate times where possible, but the more important point is to place the child in a class that matches their level, rather than simply placing them anywhere because the time is convenient.

8. What do children do before class, during class, and after class?

Our courses do not rely only on the lesson itself. We aim to create a complete learning cycle.

Before class, children prepare the relevant words, sentences, stories, and audio on the website. From Stage Two onwards, students also receive supporting PDF short-story materials, which they can read before class and review after class.

During class, the teacher asks questions and extends the content based on what the child has already prepared. The child needs to understand the teacher’s questions and try to answer in complete sentences. The teacher then guides, corrects, and expands the child’s answers.

After class, children return to the website and SRS system to review the words, sentences, keywords, and story content they have learned. This means that the learning does not end when the lesson ends. Through repeated listening, reading, reading aloud, memorising, and review, children remember the material more securely and continue to use it in later lessons.

9. What is the SRS spaced repetition system, and why is it important?

SRS stands for Spaced Repetition System. It helps children review learned material repeatedly according to memory patterns, reducing the problem of learning something and then quickly forgetting it.

In our SRS system, children can review stories, sentences, keywords, and audio. Each story is placed in the system, so children can listen to MP3 audio, read aloud, and memorise. The system also contains keywords from each story. For each keyword, the system provides example sentences in different contexts, helping children understand how the same word can be used in different sentences.

This is very important because many extension sentences may not appear directly in the original story. They appear in the SRS system. Edward or other teachers may also use these keywords and extension sentences for natural question-and-answer practice in class.

If a child only attends class but does not review through SRS, the effect will be reduced. Effective learning requires preparation before class, use during class, and review after class.

10. How do you teach New Concept English?

We do not teach New Concept English in the traditional way by explaining every line of the text in detail. We also do not mainly focus on word-form changes, fixed phrases, or grammar exercises. Those areas are often better taught systematically by a Chinese teacher in a school-support or grammar class.

Our New Concept course focuses more on extracting the key vocabulary, sentence patterns, and expressions from New Concept English, and then combining them with short stories, pictures, audio, and classroom questioning. The aim is for children to truly understand, say, and use the language.

For example, if a child has learned certain words and sentence patterns in New Concept English, we help those words reappear through stories and questions. The teacher asks questions around the story, asks the child to answer in complete sentences, and then corrects and extends the answer.

So our New Concept course is not simply about “reading the text” or “explaining knowledge points”. It turns the language material in New Concept English into listening, speaking, reading comprehension, and expression training.

11. Do you teach grammar? Does grammar taught this way help school learning?

Yes, we teach grammar, but we do not simply ask children to memorise rules. Our grammar teaching is mainly done through sentences, questions and answers, and spoken practice.

For example, the simple present tense, the present continuous tense, be going to, comparative structures, time expressions, object clauses, adverbial clauses, and relative clauses can all be practised in this way. Children need not only to know the rule, but also to use it in listening and speaking.

Many children can do grammar exercises at school, but still make mistakes when speaking. For example, they may use the wrong tense, miss subject-verb agreement, produce incomplete sentences, or be unable to form questions. This shows that they may know the rule in theory, but they have not yet practised it enough in real expression.

In our classes, children repeatedly use correct sentence patterns through question-and-answer practice. When a structure becomes natural in the mouth, it is also easier to use correctly in writing. Over time, this supports school reading comprehension, listening, grammar exercises, and writing.

12. What changes can parents expect after one term, six months, or one year? Can children continue after entering middle school?

In the short term, such as one term or six months, parents may notice that their child feels less nervous when listening to a foreign teacher, responds more quickly to English questions, gives fuller answers, builds more vocabulary, produces more accurate sentences, and finds school listening and reading a little easier.

For a Year 6 child, even one year of foreign-teacher lessons can be meaningful. This is especially true if the child already has some foundation. They are not starting from zero; instead, they are activating the vocabulary, sentence patterns, and grammar they have already learned and turning them into language they can genuinely understand, answer with, and use.

Of course, how much a child changes in one year depends on their learning frequency and effort. If they only attend one lesson a week and do no review afterwards, the change will be limited. But if they use the SRS system and spend 20 to 30 minutes each day reviewing sentences, stories, vocabulary, and expressions, the accumulation over a year can be very significant.

Children can continue after entering middle school. Our courses are not only for primary school children, and they do not end after Year 6. As children grow older and become more capable, the course gradually increases vocabulary range, reading comprehension, topic-based expression, story retelling, and more complex sentence structures.

Some children can continue from primary school into Year 7, Year 8, or even longer. In the later middle-school years, some children may face more school pressure, exam pressure, and timetable changes. If the original class can no longer continue, we can arrange one-to-one, one-to-two, or another class at a suitable level where possible.