Why School English Can Feel Harder Than Private Lessons

If you teach English as a foreign language, you’ve likely heard a common refrain from younger students. When asked to compare, many will tell you that their regular school English classes feel easier, while their private conversation lessons are more challenging.

This might seem counterintuitive at first. Private lessons are often designed to be engaging and fun, focusing on communication. So why the perception of difficulty?

The “Easier” School Class Paradox

The feeling that school classes are “easy” often stems from the type of work required. In many public education systems, especially in exam-focused environments, the early years can involve a lot of:

• Repetitive vocabulary drills
• Simple memorization tasks
• Basic pattern practice

Students might not feel cognitively stretched because the tasks are familiar and the goals are clear-cut: memorize, repeat, test. The pressure for perfect scores exists, but the linguistic demand in the classroom can feel low.

Where the Real Challenge Lies

The difficulty students mention in private lessons isn’t about test scores. It’s about active language use. In a good conversational setting, students are pushed to:

• Think on their feet and formulate original sentences.
• Understand natural speed and pronunciation.
• Navigate real-time conversations without a textbook script.

This is cognitively demanding! It requires a different, more intuitive skill set that feels “harder” because there’s no single right answer to memorize.

The Tipping Point: Junior High and Beyond

The dynamic often shifts dramatically as students get older. Around junior high, the academic load increases and free time vanishes. This is a common dropout point for extracurricular language studies.

More significantly, school English itself transforms. It stops being mostly about memorization and starts delving deep into:

• Complex grammatical structures
• Detailed translation
• Rigorous test preparation for high-stakes exams

Suddenly, the “easy” school class becomes the hard one. The expectations skyrocket, focusing on meta-linguistic knowledge and precision.

Bridging the Two Worlds

This is where a teacher’s strategy can make all the difference. Some educators successfully bridge the gap by supplementing conversational fluency with explicit grammar instruction in the student’s first language.

This approach helps students connect the dots. They already have an intuitive grasp of grammar from their conversational practice. By learning the formal rules and terminology in their native language, they gain a powerful tool for:

• Excelling in school exams
• Tackling standardized tests
• Building a more complete understanding of how English works

The student isn’t learning something entirely new; they are acquiring the academic vocabulary to describe what they already know how to do.

The Takeaway for Educators

The student perception of “easy” versus “hard” English highlights the different goals of each learning environment. One values communication and intuition; the other values academic precision and analysis.

The most successful learners are often those who get support in both areas. Our role can be to provide the lively, challenging space for real communication, while also giving students the analytical keys to unlock the demands of their academic world. By acknowledging both sides, we empower them to become confident, all-round English users.