What feedback actually helps learners improve

“That didn’t sound natural” is easy to say — and hard to act on. Learners need specifics: where they hesitated, which pattern to replace, and what to practice this week.nnAt TQT, teachers and mentors use clear criteria: clarity, completeness of ideas, core pronunciation, and ability to keep a conversation going. Each criterion maps to a fix.nnIn Startup School, feedback also follows milestones. Mentors do not grade ideas as “nice/not nice.” They ask: whom did you talk to? What evidence supports the hypothesis? What is the MVP testing?nnWhen feedback becomes a two-way habit — receiving it and self-evaluating — learners grow more independent. That is the long-term goal of practice-first education.