How to Choose an Online English Tutor (A Checklist From a Tutor)
A tutor's honest checklist for picking an online English tutor: what matters, what is marketing, and what one trial lesson should show you.
Insights
Speak clearer English. Guides from Ashley.
Pronunciation, accent, confidence and how to choose the right tutor, written by a native speaker who has taught 1,500+ online lessons.
Results
Choosing a tutor
Choosing a tutor
How Much Does Accent Reduction Coaching Cost in 2026?
Accent coaching runs from $15 an hour to $5,000 a program. Here is what each price buys, and how many hours most adults actually need.
Choosing a tutor
Is Accent Reduction Worth It? What Actually Changes (and What Doesn't)
Accent reduction is worth it when being misunderstood costs you something. Here is what changes in 10 to 20 lessons, and what stays.
Choosing a tutor
Native or Non-Native English Tutor: Which Is Better for You?
Native tutors win for accent and natural phrasing. Non-native tutors can win for grammar and empathy. Here is how to decide by your goal.
Choosing a tutor
Private English Tutor vs Preply or italki: Costs, Rules and What You Actually Get
Marketplaces are the best place to find a tutor and often the worst place to keep one. A tutor who has worked both ways explains the trade-offs.
Choosing a tutor
12 Questions to Ask an English Tutor Before You Book
Twelve questions that reveal in one message whether a tutor has a method, with the good answer, the red-flag answer and how I answer each one.
Choosing a tutor
What Happens in a Pronunciation Lesson? A Minute-by-Minute Look
The five blocks of a 50-minute pronunciation lesson, with minutes, drills and what you take home, plus how the first diagnostic lesson differs.
Choosing a tutor
How to Prepare for Your First Online English Lesson
Five written answers, a six-point tech check and one sentence to say in the first minute: everything a first online English lesson needs from you.
Choosing a tutor
Trial Lesson With an English Tutor: What to Expect and How to Judge It
What a real trial lesson contains, why mine costs $25 instead of nothing, and an eight-point scorecard for judging any tutor after one hour.
How to learn
How Many English Lessons a Week Do You Really Need?
One lesson a week maintains, two changes an accent, three is for a deadline, and the days between lessons decide the result.
How to learn
How Long Does It Take to Reduce an Accent in English?
What changes in one month, three months and a year of accent work, and the three factors that decide which timeline is yours.
How to learn
Shadowing: The Fastest Way to Sound More American (Step by Step)
The three-pass shadowing routine I give every student, the audio that works, and the four mistakes that make shadowing useless.
Ready to be understood the first time?
Private American English coaching with Ashley Curry: pronunciation, accent and confidence, built around your goals.