Who needs it?
There are 4 types of students.
a). There are students who do not have confidence,resulting in stutters ,nodding and shaking of heads or yes and no answers.They also do not elaborate,tend to give one-sentence answer that is being asked only.If the students are going to take their PSLE and O level,how are they going to do well?
I specialise in these type of problems.Firstly, i seek to raise their confidence by opening their hearts so that they could express their feelings.After that,find their strengths and talents to build their self-esteem.
With my 30 yrs experience of teaching,i can correct the students' mistakes using webcam,video and voice recording. During their self-study, they could even adjust their mistakes by themselves. If they are able to overcome the fear of facing the camera,their confidence are better than most people their age.
But all these can only be done by having 10-20 intensive lessons. After the holidays,who knows your child will change to become a totally new person with high self-esteem.
b). For students who are hyperactive with a short concentration span and hate Chinese, they might have attended numerous tuition centres and classes in the past, but they are still not showing any improvement.Recommended:(8 lessons)
c). Gifted students and fast-learners who ace in other subjects except Chinese.They are not able to breakthrough their average results .Their standard could not reach the school demands.This can be seen from students who have difficulty comprehending higher order comprehension passages.
This goes the same with Chinese articles 《少年文摘》or 《读者》.Hwa chong Sec 1 students and students from other SAP schools have do a project based on those articles which will be counted in the CA.
Another example would be gifted students from schools like RGS might not have the depth of Chinese literacy to comprehend the above mentioned passages.Thus other ordinary group tuition would not help as they do not have the resources to cater this need to them.He or she would need a personal tutor to help them with this need.Recommended:(4-8 lessons)
d) Then for those students who scores A1 for all subjects except for Chinese.Is Chinese important for them?
Of course!Firstly,the overall score would be pulled down by the borderline pass or even fail in Chinese. The student would not be able to go to the top class or desirable stream or even school in the case of students opting for IP/IB transfer.Applications or scholarships also take into consideration the overall result.Among my students,there's a lot who are from the third category.They belong to premier schools like ACS(I),MGS,Crescent Girls',RGS,RI and Hwa Chong.These students show the most improvement after tuition,usually about half a year later.recommended:(8-12 lessons)
Other than IT, how do you cover exam syllabus for PSLE and O level?
To prepare for O levels oral, I have a collection of past year papers and top school prelim exam papers for students to practice and analyse.
To prepare for PSLE,oral is one of the most important components of the exam.Its an easy way to pull the overall score up.I have passages and pictures from top sch notes and CD-Roms.Web cam and video recording would effectively increase the confidence of students to face the examination. They would also know their weakness in tonation,pronunciation and speech after each recording so that they could adjust to the correct one.
PSLE Revision:
Composition techniques are imparted.For example,students would learn how to start and end their compositions with style and creativity so as to stand out from the rest to add value to content.Theme should be included to enhance the meaning of the essay.Good phrases,idioms and proverbs will be given to students for memorising so as to strengthen the language component of the essay.(not only beneficial to essay writing but also to comprehension and Oral)
Sec 3 Higher Chinese(How to improve Oral in Exam?)
One type of students have problems using the useful notes the teacher give them.They do not know how to "digest" them. The contents must be used in a flexible manner,according to situations and not in a rigid manner.If they come for lessons with their notes i am able to use it to their advantage, in a variety of purposes.
Next type of students have a misconception that reading a passage fast equals to fluency but it is completely opposite.Most likely the student have no rhythm and expression when reading.Nervousness cause repetitions in phrases,or stuttering.
A lot of top schools especially SAP schools do not carry out preparation on oral exams during the holidays. At most the teachers would just give them some notes to study. The schools feel that there is not a need for students to be adequately prepared as oral is easy.But there are some who have a weak foundation in Chinese and others who can write beautifully but could not express their thoughts in speech.They are not fluent enough and have inappropriate pauses in their conversations.A strong knowledge of current affairs is also needed for a distinction in Oral.
Written paper
Writing skills and summary techniques will be taught.Many SAP schools have their exam papers set to an extremely high standard higher than that of O level, raising concern over students who failed Higher Chinese in SA1.Holidays is a good time to strengthen the language pillar so as to raise confidence in the students to empower them to face the tests and exams when school reopens.
PSLE Oral Examination(how to improve?)
Conversation:Sec 4/P6 who are very shy and not expressible,do not know how to elaborate their points.
Reading: there would be some people who are weak in articulation and tonation of characters and there is some who have a limited vocabulary resulting in them skipping a lot of words during reading,thus reducing fluency.Some other students are caused by fear of opening their mouths to articulate the words properly,havin the "Jay chou" accent.Here during lessons i can correct them using webcam and voice recording.
Home or Group tuition? How many are there in a group?
Both of them. With just one or two students,tuition at my place can start.But if there is a heavier demand,maximum no. of students would only be 4.
Where do you cover?
Bukit Timah, Orchard,Holland Road,Mount Sinai Rise, Dover,Sunset Way,Marine Parade,East Coast,Serangoon Garden,
How many years of experience do you have?
38 yrs of experience.I had been a teacher in schools like Maris Stella and Montfort Sec,Kong Hwa and CHIJ Pri
Which schools do your students come from?
SEC:ACS(I),ACS(BR),MGS(Holland rd),VS,Maris Stella,Tanjong Katong Girls Sec,Hwa Chong,Nanyang girls high,Cresent Girls,Anglican High,Duman High,Chung Cheng,SJI,Catholic High,RGS and RI
PRI:ACS,MGS(holland rd),Tao Nan, Kong Hwa,CHIJ,Maha bodhi,Catholic High,Maris Stella,SJI(junior),Nanyang,RGS
What do u cover(4-8 intensive lessons)
-- Sec 3 Higher Chinese preparing for "O" level Express Chinese Exam written paper(Nov)
-- P6 Written paper (October)-Compo/ and Comprehension
Note: Intensive would mean Mon-Fri
- FUN way for Enrichment(4/8 lessons)
-- P 2-5 will be exposed to multimedia to spark their interest in learning Chinese
-- Sec 1-3 Express/Higher Chinese will learn how to apply the knowledge of current affairs through websites and e-books.
-- Guidance with Holiday assignment,Book and newspaper article review ,
- What are the methods u use?
--Websites and methods like computer typing or phone typing to improve the reading and writing ability,
--analyse past year exam papers,top sch papers, to pick up exam techniques and time management
--Using Webcam,video recording and voice recording,oral CD-ROM,i aim to raise the confidence of the students especially those who are very shy and do not talk much.
--spot possible topics that might come out,and if they didn't come out,special methods to counter tough questions
Written paper/ComprehensionP2-P6/Sec1-3 who are not competent in the language, might fail the main paper and lose marks greatly at the comprehension section. Thus we teach them analytical skills to help them in answering questions.
What levels do you teach?
,P2-5,Sec1-3 express or higher Chinese,
PSLE preparation from P5 and "o" level preparation from Sec 3
Oral Programme during June holidays
When?
Mon-Sat 8am - 3.00pm,at MY place ,Weekdays 4pm-10pm at YR place
Where?Marine terrace near ECP
What is the long-term aim of this programme?
Language more than a subject,a medium to appreciate entertainment like songs,movies and literature,read newspapers,vital social skills like public speaking,understand Chinese philosophy and culture
