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.
Most students pick an English tutor by photo, price and star rating, then discover in lesson three that there is no plan. These are the questions to ask an English tutor before you pay, with the answer you should hear and the answer that should make you keep looking.
The short answer
Ask about training, level and goal fit, accent, online experience, lesson structure, diagnosis, homework, correction style, progress tracking, price, cancellation rules, and what happens if the fit is wrong. A good tutor answers every one with specifics: named sounds, minutes, examples from real lessons. A weak tutor answers "it depends on the student" twelve times. You can ask by message before booking, or bring the list to a first lesson and judge the answers live.
Why twelve questions beat a five-star rating
A rating tells you a tutor is pleasant. It does not tell you whether they can hear that your think comes out as sink, or whether they will still be correcting the same mistake in lesson twenty.
Questions do. When I was a hospitality recruiter, the candidates who asked specific questions about the job were the ones who stayed. The same is true in reverse here. A tutor who answers you with detail has thought about how they teach. One who answers in slogans has not. If you want the wider checklist on price ranges, certificates and platform rules, I wrote it in how to choose an online English tutor.
Questions to ask an English tutor about training, accent and experience
1. What training do you have, and what did it teach you about pronunciation?
Why it matters: most certificates spend a day or two on pronunciation. A tutor who has taught a thousand conversation lessons can still have no idea where the tongue goes for the American R.
A good answer names the training and then goes past it: "TEFL certified, and I learned most of what I know about sounds from fixing them one by one with students." A red flag is a list of certificates with nothing about how they actually teach.
My answer: BA and MA in History, TEFL certified, and most of my pronunciation method came from 1,500 online lessons and from learning German to B1 myself. Being on the student side of a new sound system taught me more than any course did.
2. Do you teach my level and my goal?
Why it matters: a tutor who is excellent with beginners often has no method for a B2 speaker who is stuck. The needs are different. You need someone to hear the four things that mark you as non-native and fix them in order.
A good answer tells you who they do not teach. A red flag is "I teach everyone, any level, any goal."
My answer: adults at B1 and above, for American pronunciation, speaking confidence and work situations. I do not teach children or beginners, and I say so on my profile.
3. What is your accent, and can you explain a sound, not just model it?
Why it matters: hearing a native model is useful. Being told exactly what to do with your mouth is what actually changes the sound. Ask them to explain one sound in the message, for example the difference between ship and sheep.
A good answer gives you mechanics: "for sheep the tongue is high and forward and the lips spread; for ship everything relaxes and the sound is shorter." A red flag is "just listen and repeat after me."
My answer: neutral American accent, the one you hear on national news. I explain every sound in terms of tongue, lips, jaw and air, then we drill it. The native or non-native question matters less than whether the tutor can do this.
4. How many lessons have you taught online, and what do students usually come for?
Why it matters: online teaching is its own skill: managing a screen, hearing sounds through a microphone, keeping notes you can both see.
A good answer gives a number and a pattern. A red flag is vagueness about both.
My answer: over 1,500 online lessons, and most students come for one of three things: sounding clearer at work, getting rid of a specific accent habit, or building the confidence to speak in meetings without rehearsing every sentence.
Questions about the lessons: structure, homework and correction
5. What happens in a typical lesson?
Why it matters: "we just talk" is the most common lesson format online and the least effective one for anyone above B1. Talking is practice, not teaching. You can talk for free.
A good answer has stages with rough minutes. A red flag is "it depends on what you want to talk about that day."
My answer: five minutes of real conversation while I listen for errors, fifteen to twenty on one sound or pattern with drills and minimal pairs, ten of shadowing a short clip, then ten to fifteen of using the target in conversation about your work or life, and two minutes on homework. I walk through the full structure in what happens in a pronunciation lesson.
6. How do you find out what I need to fix?
Why it matters: you cannot hear your own accent. Neither can most friends who are non-native speakers. The tutor's diagnosis in the first lesson decides the next ten.
A good answer describes a process: a reading passage, free speech, a list of what they heard, in priority order. A red flag is starting from a generic textbook chapter regardless of who you are.
My answer: in the first lesson you read a short passage that contains every problem sound, then you talk about your work for a few minutes. I note what I hear, then I show you the three to five things that affect your clarity most and the order we will fix them in. You leave with that list in the classroom notes.
7. What homework do you give, and how long does it take?
Why it matters: one 50-minute lesson a week is less than one hour out of 168. What you do in the other 167 decides your progress. A tutor with no homework plan is selling you a nice hour.
A good answer is specific and short: ten to fifteen minutes a day, with a recording you send. A red flag is either no homework or a heavy workbook that nobody with a job will finish.
My answer: ten minutes of shadowing a clip I choose for your target sound, plus one 60-second voice recording of you using the sound in your own sentences. I listen to it before our next lesson, so we start from what you actually did, not from memory.
Questions about correction, progress and money
8. How do you correct me when I make a mistake?
Why it matters: correcting every error kills fluency. Correcting nothing wastes your money. The tutor should have a rule.
A good answer explains the rule: during fluency time, notes only; during drill time, immediate correction. A red flag is "I don't like to interrupt students," which usually means you will never hear your errors.
My answer: in conversation I write your errors in the shared notes and we look at them together at the end of the block. In drills I stop you immediately, because a wrong repetition trains the wrong habit. Students like Julia tell me the notes were the first time anyone had shown them their patterns in writing.
9. How will I know I am improving?
Why it matters: accent change is slow enough that you will not notice it from the inside. Without a fixed measure you will quit at week five, right before it becomes audible.
A good answer involves recordings you can compare. A red flag is "you'll feel more confident," which is true but not measurable.
My answer: we record the same passage in lesson one and again every ten lessons. You listen to both. Then we check the target sounds inside free speech, which is harder than reading and is the real test. I also keep a running list in the notes: fixed, in progress, not started.
10. What do lessons cost, and are there packages or plans?
Why it matters: the per-lesson price matters less than the total for a realistic course of ten to twenty lessons. Also ask whether the price includes a platform commission, because on marketplaces 18 to 33 percent of what you pay never reaches the teacher. I compared the two models in private tutor versus Preply or italki.
A good answer is a price list you can read without asking. A red flag is a price that changes after the trial.
My answer: a first lesson is $25, a single lesson is $30, and packs of 5, 10, 20 or 30 bring it down to $28, $26, $24 and $23 per lesson. Monthly plans exist too, at one, two or three lessons a week. The full list is on my pricing section.
11. What are your cancellation and rescheduling rules?
Why it matters: your work will move a meeting onto your lesson time at some point. The rules decide whether that costs you $30.
A good answer gives a clear window and a way to reschedule yourself. A red flag is "message me and we'll see."
My answer: reschedule or cancel free up to 24 hours before, on the calendar yourself, in your own timezone. You get reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before, so a forgotten lesson is rare.
12. What happens if we are not a good fit?
Why it matters: a tutor who is confident in their teaching will make it easy to leave. One who locks you into a 30-lesson pack before the first lesson is not.
A good answer suggests one paid or trial lesson first, with no package pressure. A red flag is a discount that only exists if you buy big today.
My answer: start with a single first lesson. If you leave it without a clear list of what to fix and how, do not book a second. Most people decide within the first twenty minutes, and I explain how to judge that in what to expect from a trial lesson.
The red-flag answers in one table
| You ask | Keep looking if you hear |
|---|---|
| Who do you teach? | "Everyone, any level." |
| How do you explain a sound? | "Listen and repeat." |
| What is a lesson like? | "We just talk." |
| How do you diagnose? | "We start with chapter one." |
| Homework? | "None," or "the whole workbook." |
| Correction? | "I don't like to interrupt." |
| Progress? | "You'll feel it." |
| Cancellation? | "Message me and we'll see." |
None of these answers mean the person is a bad teacher. They mean the person has not built a method, and above B1 the method is what you are paying for.
What to do this week
Pick two or three tutors. Send each one the same three questions by message: how they explain the ship and sheep difference, what a typical lesson looks like in minutes, and what homework they give. Compare the replies side by side. Then book one first lesson with the tutor whose answers were most specific, and bring the remaining nine questions with you. If you want to test my answers, book a first lesson and ask me all twelve.
Questions students ask
Is it rude to send questions to an English tutor before booking?
No. A tutor who teaches for a living expects it, and the good ones enjoy it, because specific questions mean a serious student. Keep the first message to two or three questions and save the rest for the first lesson.
What are the most important questions to ask an English tutor if I only have time for three?
Ask how they explain one specific sound, what a typical lesson looks like in minutes, and how they will measure your progress. Those three answers reveal whether the tutor has a method or just a friendly personality.
Should I ask for a free trial lesson?
You can ask, but a free trial usually turns into a twenty-minute chat with no diagnosis. A low-priced first lesson that runs the full 50 minutes and ends with a written plan tells you far more.
Does a native speaker automatically give better answers to these questions?
No. Being a native speaker means the model is right; it does not mean the explanation is. Some native tutors cannot describe what their tongue does. Ask question three and judge the answer, not the passport.
What if the tutor answers well but the first lesson is still a poor fit?
Say so and stop. Personality and pace matter, and one lesson is a cheap way to find out. A good tutor will not pressure you into a package, and you should be suspicious of one who does.
