I often get appeals for help to provide private tuition for English Language for a young child. Sometimes I do want to help especially if the child is very young. However, usually my offer to help will get turned down.

This may seem strange since the parents of these children were the ones who had asked for help. The truth is that many of these parents seem to think that only private tuition is the answer. In Singapore, by private tuition, it usually means drilling children on examination-style questions. This is what parents want. There may be a place for that somewhere, I seriously doubt it will be of any good when a child is trying to pick up a second language, English in this case, and he is still only seven. I strongly believe that providing him with only the usual drill-and-practice approach will only put him off the language and stifle his learning the language.

But every time I suggest another approach to these parents, they will inevitably disagree. I usually suggest a program that involves giving the child greater exposure to the language. This would include reading, writing, listening and speaking. I would steer clear of classroom type exercises. The idea is just to let him get familiar with the language in every way possible.

In my program, reading is important and I would give every opportunity possible for the child to read or listen to someone read. At that age story-telling also becomes important. Stories never fail to entice kids. It is just a question of picking the right one. I would let them read almost anything that interest them. My son who is eighteen still reads his cereal boxes though of course he has gone beyond it too. If children love to read about aircraft, then get books about aircraft and pilots. If it is animals, then bring in the jungle into the picture.

Singing songs would be part of the things that I would do to encourage language acquisition. Songs are a great way to bring fun to language learning. Teaching them the lyrics, explaining the meaning and context of songs can all help him be a good listener and speaker.Get them to sing to listen to their own voices speaking the language. Does wonders for confidence.

Audio books allow for them to listen to stories. Or read to them. Provide them with examples of good reading. Again choice is important. Let them listen to the kinds of stories they want to hear. Word games and even tongue-twisters are also great fun. Use them.

Get them to write short letters to their mum, dad or grandma. Allow them to draw and decorate. Use lots of colors. Get these people involved so the children can see that writing to someone will get a reaction and lead to communication, and not just marks!

And I would bring them to a public library just to show them that you can get books and other reading materials without buying them. Show them where to get them in the library. Teach them how to find them. Having said that, I would also make it a point to bring them to book shops to buy books! This is to teach them the idea that we should invest in books. Books are just as vital as toys!

Most of all, let the parents know what you are doing and explain why. Getting them involved through following you to the libraries and bookshops and just sitting in with you can teach them wonderful ways to help their children master a language.

So for young children don’t put them off a language through tuition. Give them exposure to the language. But don’t let it be a chore and don’t be a bore.

(PS I do believe the same can work with older kids who have difficulties with language acquisition.)

I cannot help feel that often foreign observers who view the Singapore education system tend to see it through rose-tinted glasses. This is not to say that there are no strong points in the Singapore education system. However, some of the examples cited by foreign observers makes me wonder if they are really seeing it for it really is.

For example, the oft-cited prowess of Singapore students in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Singapore’s 10 and 14-year old students came out tops in both Maths and Science among the 49 countries assessed. The Minister for Education, Dr Ng Eng Hen, recently said about the TIMSS results:

But more importantly, note that our lowest quartile is above the median of the world. In other words, students who are academically weaker do better in our system compared to others.

While trying hard not to belittle these results, one wonders how much of it is really due to the school system and the teachers in Singapore? It is a well-known fact that many students in Singapore go for extra tuition with private tutors. Top students go for tuition to get even better grades and weak students go for tuition to improve on their pass grades. That is Singapore’s most well-known educational secret. In fact, the government, has tacitly also encouraged the tuition industry by encouraging local \\”self-help\\” groups like Mendaki, CDAC and Sinda to organise tuition classes as perhaps their main activity to uplift the locals. With a whole army of tutors coaching both top and weak students can we honestly say that the education system in Singapore is as great as they say. This is not to mention the huge amount fo extra classes that the teachers and students have to put in schools in Singapore to drill the students on exam paper type questions. If the system is so good why is there a need for all these?

In my view, what it does suggest is that the school system alone is inadequate to even get most of our students to do well on its own. The exam-oriented curricula covers way too much for most students to absorb or do well within the given time. What the system does is not hothousing the students. What it does is to make them go through a sweat shop. There is a difference between the two. Foreigners who still think that the system is good and is responsible for the good test scores, just need to talk to parents about it. Ask them how much time students have for any other thing besides school and tuition.

What is even more scary is that some schools in neighboring countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and even China want to copy the Singapore school system without considering all these. Do parents really want a system that would mean a lot of private tuition for their children? Is this what education is all about?