Best Practices

🌐 How to be safe on our platform

Best practices

Your username, profile video, photo, and other information you add to your profile is publicly available online. Be sure to only include information you are comfortable sharing. To help maintain your privacy, you can use a tutoring name that is different from your real name. If you'd like to do so, you can update your Display Name (appears on your profile) at any time from the Profile Tab.

All video sessions and chat messages on Cambly are recorded and securely stored on our servers. Students can review their past sessions, which many have found to be an essential part of their learning process. Cambly also reserves the right to review and internally share sessions for quality control and training purposes. This helps us maintain a high level of excellence so both our tutors and students have the best experiences possible.

As students have access to their Cambly videos, it's possible that some may choose to share their tutoring video(s) with friends or online. We encourage our students to always ask tutors for permission before sharing videos with others.

★ How to have a good lesson

Best practices

On Cambly, you may encounter students who have questions about religion, politics, or other potentially controversial topics while practicing English. Some tutor-student relationships are open and respectful enough to have fulfilling and productive conversations about these topics, but sometimes these topics can lead to negativity and can distract the student from their goal of learning English.

If a student wishes to engage in a conversation, or if as a tutor you feel it would be productive to bring up these topics, please do so with an extremely high level of sensitivity. If you sense that the conversation is becoming hostile, we strongly recommend that you desist and move to another topic.

We suggest that students should be speaking at a minimum of 50% of the scheduled lesson time, as we've seen success when tutors maintain a 80-20 split in favor of their students. This works especially well with intermediate-level or advanced-level students. Many students sign up to Cambly primarily as a way to allow them to practice their English output, therefore students can be very disappointed when tutors end up dominating conversations (even if they may be polite about it during lesson time.)

We understand that sometimes tutors forget how much they are actually talking compared to their students. Try to always stay mindful of your talktime and make it a habit to elicit as much as you can from the student before explaining things or giving your own examples.

It is not always easy to communicate with learners, particularly if their level of English is low.

Instead of using slang / complex sentences / advanced vocabulary, it may be better to use alternative ways of expression. We also recommend being mindful of your speaking speed. While we do not want our tutors to speak unnaturally slowly, sessions are more effective when tutors can adjust their speaking speed to the student's listening level. Speaking clearly at a good volume can also aid student comprehension.

Tutors who are sensitive to student levels of understanding are better equipped to deliver high-quality sessions. Sometimes that is easier said than done, especially with beginners as they may lack the language or confidence to let you know when they're not following you. We suggest always being on the lookout for non-verbal cues such as a furrowed brow, a blank stare, head tilting or darting eye movements. A vague and non-committal sounding 'yes' or 'uh huh' with rising intonation or higher than normal tone in reply to a question is also often a sign that a student doesn't fully understand.

Offering students corrective feedback, namely correcting grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation errors, can feel uncomfortable, especially if you have to interrupt the student. However, please remember that the chance to receive personal feedback and corrections is one of the main reasons that many of our students use Cambly.

In addition, one of the best ways to leave students satisfied with your sessions is to offer them useful vocabulary, as well as natural phrases and idioms related to the topic of discussion and appropriate to their level. Therefore we recommend trying to ensure that you have written or spoken at least 8 pieces of corrective feedback or useful language for every 30 minute session. Not only will the students greatly benefit, but it may also lead to more regulars for you.

However, as student preferences can vary greatly, it's always a good idea to ask new students for their correction preferences and then do your best to follow them.

✓ How to be professional

Best practices

We recommend that you are sitting up or standing, with your computer resting on a flat surface to avoid camera shake.

Your face should be fully visible and directly facing into the camera, not looking off to the side. If you choose to stand while tutoring, we recommend that you raise your computer or webcam to about eye level.

It is important to keep in mind that each student you connect with on Cambly is ultimately paying to improve their English skills. Because of this, tutors should always be fully engaged with their students and free from any distractions such as using a cell phone or browsing the internet.

If you have a pet, consider finding a way to ensure that they do not distract from the lesson. If at all possible, we recommend that tutors not teach in the same room as their pets, as this may contribute to ambient noise. Occasional pet noise is okay, but constant pet noise is not conducive to learning.

Students may sometimes ask to see your pets, and this is okay, but we suggest that it shouldn't take more than a few seconds to show and then let the pet go on its way.

Tutoring from a quiet, tidy, and well-lit area will help you feel more professional and will drastically reduce distractions for your students.

Whether you choose to decorate the area around you or simply tutor in front of a blank wall, we recommend that the background showing in your video feed be neat and free of any kind of distractions that might prevent the student from being able to focus during the lesson.

Our appearance reflects on ourselves and on Cambly, and cultural norms for dress and appearance vary around the world. We value openness, inclusivity, and discovery of people and cultures in an educational environment that is supportive for all participants - tutors and students alike.

Your students look up to you as an English-tutoring professional, so it's important to look the part! To be more inclusive to students and be more successful with booking lessons, we recommend that you maintain a well-groomed and professional appearance while working with students. It's similar to one you'd find in a university setting.

We have seen situations where students complain about or are uncomfortable with sleeveless attire, exposed shoulders, exposed chest or cleavage, sunglasses, or clothing with offensive images/language.

If a head covering is worn, we recommend that it is open and leave a clear, unobstructed view of the face and eyes.

Students feel much more connected to their tutor when they can see your facial expressions and mouth movements clearly. Good lighting doesn't just make you look professional — it actually makes it easier for your student to understand your pronunciation and pick up on social cues.

We recommend that tutors aim for bright, even lighting on their face during sessions. Avoid sitting with a bright window or lamp directly behind you, as this can turn you into a silhouette. Instead, placing your light source in front of you ensures your student can see your smiles and follow your speech patterns, making the lesson feel much more personal and effective!

Students have more success when they are given a safe space to learn.

And while some students will have more difficulty than others with certain concepts, keep in mind that each student on Cambly is different and may require a slightly adjusted teaching style to help them respond better. If you are able to adjust and be a little more accommodating with beginners or with students who are having difficulty, this may help make your sessions go smoother!

Students feel most respected when their tutor treats the session with the same care and decorum as an in-person university classroom. Professional etiquette builds an element of trust in your lesson, allowing the student to focus entirely on their learning without any distractions from the environment or behavior.

This includes avoiding habits that might be distracting on camera, such as grooming or using your phone. By treating every session as a professional appointment, you signal to the student that their time is valuable and that you are fully committed to their success.

✦ How to give effective kids' lessons

Cambly Kids — best practices

Although tutoring styles can vary and not all advice will be useful for all tutors, we find that younger students have more success in their sessions when tutors take a softer approach.

For children, a smile isn't just a gesture; it's a safety signal that unlocks their ability to absorb a new language. If the tutor is too stern, the child's "processor" locks up in stress mode.

Tutors who message students and parents outside of the classroom through Cambly messages tend to have more regular students and therefore more predictable schedules due to better established professional relationships.

The number-one thing parents ask for is feedback! Sending a message of feedback and encouragement after the class is a fantastic way to show a parent you were focused on their child and that you are able to meet their academic needs. Maintaining good, positive communication with parents is a great way to increase student/parent satisfaction and return rates for your classes!

Additionally, open and clear communication about reservations or when things go awry in class can help minimize miscommunication and misunderstandings and instead develop a positive, professional working partnership with the parents.

When a tutor uses different approaches to assist a student in comprehension and encourages appropriate output, student confidence and satisfaction are greatly boosted.

Such approaches include, but are not limited to: modeling answers/responses, rephrasing, and using simplified but correct grammar.

When tutors adjust their rate of speech so that each word is clearly heard and detached from the next word, they have more positive outcomes as students can more easily grasp what the tutor says.

We recommend that tutors avoid connected speech, use a slower rate of speech, and limit extra or unnecessary words when possible.

Many of our Cambly Kids tutors use supplementary materials to engage with their young learners, such as games, songs, or videos. However, if you decide to use extra resources to supplement your sessions, it is best practice to stay engaged with your students as they use it.

Taking breaks to discuss what they've seen so far and asking questions as new concepts come up are great ways to both use a resource and also make sure that you're using your teaching skills to supplement the experience. Please avoid over reliance on these resources (using supplemental resources for extended periods of time without any interaction).

👥 How to give effective group lessons

Cambly Groups — best practices

We understand that students may occasionally run late, which can be particularly disruptive in a group setting. However, delaying the start of class compromises the learning time of students who arrived on time.

To respect everyone's time, we advise tutors to engage with any students who are present as soon as they enter the classroom, while waiting for any other students to arrive. During this waiting period, we recommend that tutors engage the present student(s) in casual conversation to discover more about the student's learning experience and study goals.

In the past, we've seen poor feedback from Groups students when tutors wait a significant amount of time to start the lesson, as the student feels they are being ignored and not being given enough time to practice their own English due to tardiness of other students.

We understand that it can be difficult to keep track of how much you are actually talking compared to your students, especially when you are telling your own personal stories, sharing your opinion topics, or giving corrective feedback and advice.

However, our priority in group sessions is to give each student as much chance as possible to practice their spoken English with tutors looking to facilitate the conversation as well as offer timely corrective feedback and useful language content as appropriate.

We suggest that students should collectively be speaking for at least 50% of the scheduled lesson time, with talk time distributed evenly among all students. We've seen most success when tutors maintain a 80-20 split in favor of their students. The more students present, the more we'd encourage leaning on prompts and redirects over instruction, giving each student as much speaking time as possible.

Some students may have strong opinions; however, if it interrupts the learning experience for any student, it's best for tutors to stop and redirect the conversation. If the student continues to disrupt the class, we advise that tutors should remove the student from the classroom.

You might like to mention at the start that you will be sharing talktime equally in the session, and that you may have to interrupt the lesson at times to maintain balance.

✦ How to give effective Pro lessons

Cambly Pro — best practices

Pro students sign up for a structured learning experience guided by an expert. As a Pro tutor, it's your role to take the initiative. Come prepared with methodologies and a plan, rather than waiting for the student to decide what to do. Shift your mindset from "What do you want to do today?" to "How can we build a successful learning journey together?".

That expert-led approach is often exactly what Pro students need to finally make progress.