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Posts: 1263

Shifu

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Q: This just struck me. (about ESL)

It's a huge industry and the reason that the majority (I think) of expats are here. Teaching English.

 

There are an awful lot who teach in so-called 'training schools'.

 

We all know the reputations of these places but, one thing has just struck me.

 

In the U.K, getting a private tutor is not something to be proud of. It shows signs that you are struggling with your education. Certainly when I was in Secondary education (94-00) then it would have been seen as being 'a bit thick'.

 

Here, everyone has private lessons or tutors. I wonder if they would be so keen on that if they thought that, in another society, it may make them look like failures?

 

Purely hypothetical of course, do you think they would 'lose face' if they knew that the need for a tutor shows you can't cope?

 

Feel free to put me right folks!

9 years 49 weeks ago in  General  - China

 
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Posts: 2855

Emperor

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No, because if you're seen with a tutor it means that you have money to spend on one, making you gain 'face.'

mike168229:

Ah, but one of my points being what if they understood what it meant to have a tutor in other societies? (my teenage outlook of you must be a bit thick if you need one)

9 years 49 weeks ago
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9 years 49 weeks ago
 
Posts: 916

Shifu

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Having a tutor here mean three things:

1. You want your kid to get ahead as soon as he can crawl, so you hire the best that money can buy.

2. Having a tutor means having face. If the tutor is native, more face.

3. Having a tutor means the mothers, MILs and FILs can have something to brag about in their afternoon tea chats in the park.

That's about it. 

Spiderboenz:

It's another status symbol

9 years 49 weeks ago
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9 years 49 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1198

Shifu

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to understand other societies in another country means you have a brain and a free will and are not selfcentered. Can we find this here? NOPE

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9 years 49 weeks ago
 
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From what I have seen they hire tutors of many kinds and attend extra classes because they're competing with everyone else to either go overseas or go to the best unis in China. Think about all the competition here. They fight, and pay, for any edge, perceived or actual.

 

I don't think they would change one bit or care that in other countries it may be seen as a sign of weakness. They don't live in another country, they live here. They might think the students in that country are lazy or their parents are too poor to afford extra classes. They're not going to reduce their efforts based on the opinions of some foreigners.

 

Most likely they would say 'that's interesting', try to determine if it's useful information for the Gaokao or SAT, forget about it and continue cramming GRE words or integral calculus.

 

 

 

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9 years 49 weeks ago
 
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Well, I have an English tutor for wife and me, we want to do the IELTS. It was a private tutor, who's professional, love the language itself, etc... or a bored drone who show slides and shout in a microphone. Since I can afford to choose, I made the choice.

mike168229:

Sorry but my point was about students in full-time education. Not people like yourselves who choose to learn later on.

9 years 49 weeks ago
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9 years 49 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2878

Shifu

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Ha i never thought of that!

 

But it's true...I had a math tutor when I was in middle school and yeah I kinda felt embarassed about it. Granted I was embarsased about practically everything when I was 12

 

but yeah, I definitely didn't think of it as "my daddy has the money for a tutor because we're a respectable family!"

 

My hunch is that they just can't get past the idea that all public consumption is cool. Tutor costs money, may give advantage, therefore tutor is good.

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9 years 49 weeks ago
 
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I'm not sure if your assessment is entirely valid. Back in Holland, I'd judge people to be dim or sharp based on the aptitude they showed for school subjects. A private tutor would rarely be talked about, and I can't recall anyone saying they had one. But there are tutors for advanced students wishing (or their parents wishing them) to learn more, and there are basic tutors for helping students keep ahead of the pace in public school. Depending on the abilities of the student, that might suggest a dimwit or an overachiever, but no more so than their own school performance. One thing I will say: Whether I was struggling with a subject or curious to learn more about it, I'd never be envious of those who took private tutoring.

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9 years 49 weeks ago
 
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No - Chinese minds are different to western minds. (like their bodies)

sorrel:

lol

9 years 49 weeks ago
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No, but like  most things that the Chinese do, it lacks common sense and logic. The mindset here is to believe that education is to be crammed into one's life and surpasses everything else in importance. Children spend an inordinate number of hours at school, get loaded with homework then have the prospect of facing more private schooling or tutoring during the weekends or holidays. Thus, it loses any kind of benefit because the children cannot handle that level of pressure and they become endlessly bored and resentful. They also lose the ability to socialize and play like western children do so they merely become "learning machines".  That leads to natural regression in their development.

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