Every student wants to improve, but to do that, they need to know what to improve. One of the most powerful things a Cambly Pro tutor can offer is clear, personalized feedback that identifies strengths, pinpoints weaknesses, and guides the next steps.
You don’t need to sound exactly like a test examiner, but you do need to go beyond general praise like “Good job!” or “That was great!” Give feedback that students can actually act on.
1. Observe carefully and take mental (or physical!) notes
While you’re chatting, listen with purpose. Is the student struggling with articles? Does their pronunciation of /r/ and /l/ confuse the meaning? Are they using the same 10 words over and over?
Start to spot patterns around:
- Grammar accuracy (e.g., verb tenses, prepositions, articles)
- Pronunciation (e.g., specific sounds, stress, intonation)
- Vocabulary range (e.g., overusing simple words, missing topic-specific language)
- Fluency (e.g., hesitations, filler words, stopping mid-sentence)
- Confidence and risk-taking (e.g., avoiding longer answers or complex structures)
2. Give targeted feedback that’s easy to understand
Every lesson try to pick 2-3 high-impact areas the student can focus on.
✅Good: “You use the present simple well, but sometimes forget the ‘-ed’ in past tense. Let’s practice using past tense verbs next time by talking about what you did over the summer holidays.
🛑 Less helpful: “Work on your grammar.”
✅Good: “Your pronunciation is generally clear, but the ‘th’ sound in words like think and that is tricky. I’ll send you some helpful videos to review and then let’s practice that together in the next class.”
🛑 Less helpful: “Your pronunciation is pretty good!’
Keep your tone friendly and constructive. Students are more likely to stay motivated if feedback feels doable, not overwhelming.
3. Plan lessons based on what you see
Feedback isn’t just for the student, it’s also for you. Use what you observe to shape the next lesson.
- If they keep saying “He go to work”, plan a 10-minute review of subject-verb agreement with speaking practice.
- If they have great passive knowledge but hesitate in conversation, lean into fluency-building sessions using guided discussion questions that encourage expansion.
- If they use simple words like good and bad, work on replacing them with stronger adjectives.
This shows the student you’re listening and thinking about their journey, not just chatting.
4. Use the Feedback tool to leave action items
Before your session ends, take a moment to write some personalized notes directly in the Feedback tool (click the clipboard icon in the top right of your classroom). This makes it easy for students to access and benefit from your insights, and anything you type auto-saves! The feedback tool currently has three options, use the first box to praise something the student did well (try and be specific if you can), the second box is a check box where you can select an area of focus for the student, and in the third box you can go into more specific examples.
Have a look at the sample below:
- One thing you did well this lesson: You quickly understood and were able to use the new vocabulary related to cities.
- Keep working on your: Grammar
- Here’s an example from your lesson:
- Remember to use past tense verbs (walk → walked, play → played)
- Keep practicing ‘th’ sound in think and thanks
- Try to expand your range of adjectives to give opinions, not just ‘good’ and ‘interesting’. We can work on this next time!
Encourage students to review this feedback before their next class (they can find it in their lesson history which they can access by clicking on their past lessons through their portal). Then, in your next session, spend 5 minutes revisiting one or two of those points as a warm-up. If you don't finish your feedback in class, no worries! It auto-saves, and you can pick up where you left off from your history page before sending it.
5. Connect feedback to self-study
Give advice they can act on outside class. This might mean:
- Watching a pronunciation video (you can link it)
- Writing a sentence a day using a new structure
- Practicing a list of new adjectives or idioms from your last lesson
- Recording themselves speaking about topics covered in class and playing it back
6. Tools for consistent feedback
- In-lesson chatbox: Type feedback live and recap at the end.
- Shared Google Doc: Keep running notes for recurring students.
- Cambly Feedback Tool or Cambly messenger: Provide written feedback after class detailing student strengths and weaknesses and provide future lesson focus points to address these.
7. Review student performance periodically
In addition to ongoing in-the-moment feedback, it’s helpful to zoom out and reflect on your student’s overall performance at regular intervals. This gives students a clearer sense of where they stand and how far they’ve come.
You can structure these as informal check-ins every few sessions, or plan a more thorough review every 5-10 lessons, depending on the student’s goals and preferences.
Example: “Let’s take a few minutes to look at your progress. Since we started, your fluency has improved a lot! You speak with less hesitation and more confidence. Now I’d like us to focus more on grammatical accuracy, especially using conditionals.”
Example: “Your vocabulary range is growing nicely. Let’s start using more industry-specific vocabulary so you’re better prepared for your business meetings.”
You might even rate a few key areas (fluency, grammar, pronunciation, etc.) using basic labels like:
- Strong / Developing / Needs Focus
- Excellent / Good / Emerging
This simple evaluation method:
- Shows students that you're tracking their development
- Helps you prioritize lesson content
- Encourages students to take ownership of their learning journey
Let students know you're happy to offer these reviews regularly or on request, most will appreciate the structure and attention.
Why it matters
Personalized feedback is how your students know you care. It’s how they make progress. It’s how they grow. So by noticing specific issues, giving clear advice, and building review into your routine, you’ll be demonstrating the effective Pro experience our students are looking for!
And when students start correcting themselves or reusing what you taught them last week, you’ll know that you’re truly driving their language mastery.