Due to the tight curriculum schedule, school classes in Singapore progress at a lightning pace. It can be hard to follow. The large class size can make it intimidating for your child to ask questions too. The fear of being mocked can impede their progress.
The problem for Chinese classes is more pronounced, especially for the essay writing component. In order to go through the essays in detail, a teacher needs time, which is hard to come by in a class of 40 students. The teacher can either go through your child’s work superficially or pick a few essays to analyse thoroughly. This is where a Chinese tutor can help.
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Reinforce and complement learning
Sometimes your child is unable to catch up in school. Even before they can form a sentence with a new word, the teacher has already moved on. Other times, your child simply just don’t understand what was being taught. A Chinese tutor can help by reinforcing what has been taught in school to help your child catch up, or to simply present the knowledge in an alternative way that the student can understand.
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Slow down
Being pushed and prodded constantly at school can make your child hate the language. Having a Chinese tutor means that your child is able to progress at a more comfortable pace and overcome the learning obstacles on their own terms. There’s more time to catch up, ask questions and dwell deeper.
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Encourages self-directed learning
In the interest of time, teachers in school may resort to revealing answers instead of walking the students through the necessary thought process. Tuition gives the tutor and students space and time to explore concepts and thoughts without overly spoon-feeding the students.
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Point students in the right direction
With the small class size, there’s enough time to go through every piece of work in detail. Certain components are subjective, such as sentence construction (造句) and composition (作文), and require deeper explanations, not just giving answers or suggestions. A Chinese tutor has time to elaborate all the intricacies of a well-constructed sentence or a riveting essay.
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More participation opportunities
No child has to vie for attention during a tuition class. Tuition, especially group language classes, allows students the chance to interact with their classmates and the tutor and apply what they learn immediately in a controlled environment. If your child is a passive learner, they may even feel the pressure to participate, because they are unable to hide behind friends who are more participative.
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Freedom to ask questions
It’s hard to encourage students to ask questions under the pressure of time. School teachers tend to be unable to entertain too many questions. Some even have to shut down the student’s question so that they can complete the syllabus in time. In a tuition class with much fewer classmates, your child has more time to clarify doubts. They’ll feel more confident about asking questions, big or small, without feeling overly self-conscious. The tutor is less likely to shut down any questions as well.
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More constructive feedback
A typical Chinese teacher in school sees about three to four classes, which amounts to at least 120 students under their care. Many of us would have difficulty remembering all 120 names, let alone each student’s strengths and weaknesses. The resulting feedback, if any, tends to be superficial, but it’s not the teacher’s fault; there’s simply too many of them!
With much fewer students under their care, a private Chinese tutor is able to monitor your child more closely, giving more frequent and valuable feedback to keep you updated. They may even be able to give you professional advice on how you can help your child improve.
The many constraints that a typical school teacher face can make learning difficult for your child. Engaging a tutor can help your child overcome the learning difficulties, be more confident and help your child love the subject more.
Is your child not doing well for Chinese? We can help spark their interest in the language! Find out more about our classes.
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