I supposed I was fortunate enough that my grades were quite good. I didn’t need to attend cram school or take up after school curriculum. Out of curiosity, I did sit in on two cram school sessions in Shih-Lin District. I wanted to see what a cram school class was like. I also went to a couple of "hush-hush" tutoring sessions held by my 7th grade math teacher. Public school teachers were prohibited from engaging in any after-school tutoring activities back then. My math teacher wanted to earn a few extra bucks on the side hence the "hush-hush" private sessions.
I’m not sure if there are cram schools here in the US. I guess they are called the learning centers or something else. During my second visit to Taiwan in 1995, I decided to take a peek at one of the English "tutoring" schools in Taipei.
Some 4-6 people were handing out flyers, pamphlets to anyone who passed by the school, located inside a tall office building. I took a quick glance at the pamphlet, "….knowledgeable, experienced staff…..received US/UK education…..", you get the idea.
I chatted with the gal that handed me the pamphlet and she said it was by far the best English language school in Taipei. "Sure, if you say so." I thought to myself. I was just cruising the city streets with nothing on my agenda, why not check it out?
The school was on one of the upper floors in the building. A sea of signs, banners lead me all the way to its front desk. A staff member greeted me with a big, cheerful smile. I told her that I was interested in their curriculum and would like to know more. And perhaps speak with one of their instructors if possible. I was handed a clipboard with a form to fill out. I didn’t bother with it.
A few minutes later a gentleman in his early 30′s came out to greet me. Let’s call him "Bill". Bill was born and raised in Taiwan, he was an English major in college (in Taiwan). He had spent a number of years in the US, pursuing his graduate degree.
Bill was quite pleasant, he asked if I had checked out other schools in the city. He asked me what my goals were. And of course, he threw in some sales pitch, XX Language School was the best in town. And that he was one of the chief instructors. Wait! What? Let me rewind that a bit, one of the chief instructors eh?
I told him I wanted to improve my English skills and perhaps to further my education overseas. Our conversation carried on, all in Chinese of course. Bill would throw in a few English words, sentences from time to time. I was given a brief intro to the school, their "star-studded" staff that "No other schools could match.", according to Bill.
Bill paused briefly and asked if I had questions for him. "Sure I do! Can you tell me more about your education background? How many years have you spent in the US? How long have you been teaching English?…. I didn’t ask the questions in Chinese this time, but in English. Bill was surprised to say the least.
In my teen years, I had worked as a crew trainer all through high school at a local McDonald’s. After my McCrew days were over, I had worked in a production line setting, spending many years with the training department. I certainly wouldn’t claim a 100% fluency in English but I’m quite confident to say that I’m not too far from it.
Back to the topic. Bill had to collect his thoughts for a moment, but he was able to answer all my questions. I told him I was visiting Taiwan for a few weeks and that my family had moved to the US in the early 80′s. He wasn’t offended at all, he actually asked if I would be interested in becoming one of the staff instructors. "Thanks for the offer, but teaching isn’t my forte.", I said to him.
Today, cram schools, language centers overpopulate all street corners in Taiwan. Just how many of them truly have a qualified teaching staff? An online community / forum which I visit regularly features close to a dozen or more "English tutors/instructors/consultants". Some of them are very well qualified to teach, as I have seen their online demo lessons. Others, they are just in it for some fast cash in my opinion.
One member there, supposedly an English instructor at one of the universities in TW, has posted erroneous article after erroneous article. I’m not talking about typos or simple mistakes. Run-on sentences, grammatical errors, misused phrases are everywhere. If that weren’t sad enough, he also runs an online workshop, soliciting services such as proofreading, essay editing, etc. I cringe every time I see a new posting from him.
I have never taken any English proficiency exam, such as TOFEL, TOEIC, IETLS, EOSL, to name a few. If anything, all the A’s I had received in all my English classes should help validate my English proficiency. I have taken a few online sample exams just to satisfy my own curiosity. I’d say the difficulty level is no higher than that of Grade 10 here in the States.
Another member from the same online community who listed himself as an "English Consultant" posted his bio, "…a score of 915 on the TOEIC exam." I didn’t know if that was a good score so I looked up TOEIC online. The perfect score is 990. I did a rough calculation in my head, 915/990 would yield about 92%. I don’t know if I would hire someone who is 92% knowledgeable in any field. Would you hire an electrician who can guarantee 92% of his work?
Perhaps I’m being a little picky here. I think the bar should be set at a minimum of 95%, 98%+ would be ideal. I chatted with a good friend of mine who happens to be a school teacher, she agreed. I think given the right tools and learning environment, many can improve their English skills. However, there is a large gap between being proficient in the language and having mastered the language.
If you haven’t mastered something, how can you teach it to someone else?
original post date: December 30, 2009
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