A reading tutor assists others in developing and improving their reading abilities. He might be able to assist someone in improving their basic pronunciation and word recognition skills, as well as their reading comprehension abilities. In some cases, a tutor may work with his students to not only improve the technical quality of their reading, but also to increase their enjoyment of it. A professional in this field may also assist a student in learning how to read faster, such as when he needs to improve his reading speed for a test. This person could work with people of all ages who need reading assistance, or he could specialize in one type of student, such as elementary school students.
When a person becomes a reading tutor, he takes on the responsibility of assisting people in improving their reading skills. He could, for example, assist people who are having difficulty learning the sounds that different word combinations make or recognizing commonly used words. He might also be able to assist people who read too slowly or have trouble making words flow smoothly. His job occasionally entails assisting people in improving their reading comprehension skills. A person who works in this field may also tutor people in speed reading, which is a useful skill for certain types of tests.
Some reading tutors assist students of all ages. A tutor, for example, may be equally effective at helping young children develop reading skills as he or she is at assisting adults with reading difficulties. Others may concentrate on a specific group of students, such as elementary school students or those who need to improve their speed and comprehension in order to prepare for standardized tests.
Reading tutors may also differ in terms of where they work and for whom they do it. Some work for schools, tutoring companies, after-school programs, literacy programs, and other similar organizations; others work for themselves, providing tutoring services to clients in person and online. In this situation, a reading tutor may offer a tutoring location, visit clients at their homes, or agree to meet in a neutral location, such as a library.
A reading tutor can assist people with a variety of reading problems, but he can also assist people with learning disabilities. For example, he could help someone with dyslexia, a learning disability characterized by reading and spelling difficulties. However, a tutor may require additional training to effectively assist people with learning disabilities.