One size doesn't fit all!

[Muin]

Sirs/ Madams,
I do some private tuition after school and those students are trying to find the easiest way to succeed. They always ask for a composition that suits most topics in general ,jus like a cliche or a stamp : a ready-made text. That means to memorise the topic but change some words here and there.
I keep telling them that it is not the way to learn writing but they insist.I improvised something for them just to meet their needs, but I am not convinced. Do you have any idea about this or any comment ? Thanks in advance.

[Kitosdad]

Muin, you are SO right. Memorising texts and just altering a few words demonstrates no initiative or imagination whatsoever.

Essays should be spontaneous and heartfelt.They are the yardstick to measuring the abilities both of writing and thinking in the student.

You find yourself in a difficult situation, but you would produce far better students
if you were to insist that they tax themselves to the extreme. I'm more than sure that their parents would approve of your actions.

My regards to you.

Kitosdad.
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Keep it simple ... Keep it interesting.

[Muin]

WOW !! Kitosdad. What a wonderful reply !! You sustain my point of view. But How can persuade those poor kids ? Simply and frankly , they want to pass the test and nothing else. I always tell them that English gained a global significance because it is the language of science and modern technology, but in vein ,gone with the wind .asif I am talking to the dead.
Anyway, thank you for your immediate reply and I extremely appreciate it .
P.S. Your style of high standard language made me feel so small !! I thought I have a good command of English but I have realised that there are so many people who are cleverer , better and even more informative. From now on , I will estimate people more even those who are novice teachers !!

[Shyone]

Try to make it clear to your pupils that whoever grades their essays would find it very awkward if they were all written in the same style, with nearly exactly the same words, and that in the end it would bring down their grades.

They have to realize that this is a way of cheating, and if they ever want to go somewhere it would become soon very obvious that in reality they know nothing.

I know that this is not easy; I learned reading and writing English a good while after I learned to speak it. But I have worked hard and it has paid off.
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No comment

[Kitosdad]

Muin, I agree wholeheartedly with Andreas remarks. As you so rightly say, the examiners must get fed-up to the back teeth hearing the same rhetoric day after day. Far better a simple essay, clear and well written, would gain the higher mark from me, if I were an examiner.

I thank you for your compliment, but I assure you that your knowledge of English grammar will be far greater than my own.

Kitosdad.
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Keep it simple ... Keep it interesting.

[Kitosdad]

Dear Muin, just a passing comment. As you quickly spotted, I am not a teacher, but I do give private tuition to younger German children at my home, and just recently have been able to add a couple of newcomers through the Skype network.

I appreciate just how difficult it must be for you when you have to lower your standards to satisfy the needs of these " want it all easy " students.

I make it clear to the parents from the outset, that I will not deviate from my programme of teaching. They all are aware that I am not a qualified teacher, and therefore I make no false claims. Most of the parents have called me to express their delight at the progress of their offspring.

The German school hour is forty-five minutes, and so I try to devise fifteen minutes of teaching, fifteen minutes of casual conversation, and fifteen minutes of recapping what we have covered, including a questioning session. They all appear happy when they leave, or sign-off, and to date, everyone has turned up for their next session.

I do hope I have not bored you with this little chat, but just laying bare my format of teaching.

Bill.
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Keep it simple ... Keep it interesting.

[Hello]

Dear Muin.

I would like to add this note for you ..

Teachers hope that their students will develop a lifelong curiosity about what they teach. Teaching by subject matter, though, stifles curiosity. If we as educators want to grow students' interests, it helps if we start with things they care about in the first place. It helps even more if they can see directly how what they are learning furthers their goals.

Good luck.

Salam

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Ability is what you are capable of doing .
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it .