In conjunction with the Speak Good English campaign to be held, there have been many letters and articles in the papers on the language. Colin Ong wrote in to comment on assessment books and model essay books being sold to help students master English. However, he mentioned that links to academic websites where worksheets can be downloaded for practice is more feasible than private tuition.
I'm not really sympathetic to this statement not because I'm a private tutor who does not charge market rates. My rates are rather low in comparison, Worksheets can be downloaded, together with their answer sheets but who will explain the rationale behind the answers to the students? To merely use the answer sheets to mark the worksheets without explaining the 'why' behind them is tantamount to memorising the answers to the questions. English has a wide syllabus and we can't predict what is going to be set in the examinations, unlike Mathematics where we set varying questions based on certain formulae to be memorized.
Not all parents are academically qualified in English and not all students can figure out why their answers are wrong as opposed to the suggested ones on their own, so aren't private tutors an alternative?
Besides, the answers on the sheets are suggested ones. To regard them as the sole answers would be quelling creative thinking. Private tutors can then affirm the alternative but equally good ones which students may give to the questions. This does boost their morale and enthusiasm for learning, besides enhancing their thinking skills.
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