The Alternative Story (TAS) - Discussion

[smurfette3]

Hi TAS,


Do you have any classes for K2? My nephew just came back from China after his dad was sent there for work. He needs a lot of help for his English. I know you have a Tuesday class at AMK and a Sat class at Payar Lebar but any plans to start anymore classes?

[ridcully]

The Alternative Story:

Anyway, just to highlight for the question \"It was a neat little house\"

The verb in this sentence is 'was'. It is a linking verb. Its purpose is
to link a subject and an object together.

For this question, the 'it' is the subject pronoun. It is used to rename
the subject.

No, you are wrong. My primary purpose in posting was to correct you. If you purport to teach English, then you should not be confused over what linking verbs and false subjects are.

The purpose of a linking verb is not to link a subject and an object together: Its purpose is to join a subject to its complement.

For example, if I say:
I am happy

'happy' is not an object; it is a complement. An object receives the action of a verb whereas a complement provides further information about the subject. 'Happy' is not receiving the action of 'am'!

Swot up on 'false subject', 'object', 'linking verb' and 'complement'. Accept the correction; do not dig your hole further.

If you cannot accept the correction after swotting up, then it is to the disadvantage of your students.

Rgds
R

[ridcully]

markfch:

Granted, coming from a language tutor, it is not impressive to be caught writing less than stellar English.


However, there's no need to gloat with glee like some of the people are doing here.

I find this practice totally unnecessary and quite uncharitable.

I think it is necessary if people purport to teach English. In fact, I do not mind less than stellar English, but I do expect a certain minimum. The poster's reply was so riddled with mistakes that it deserved attention. Don't forget: The poster was responding to a parent querying whether the standard of English was up to scratch at TAS!

I accept that the manner could be interpreted as somewhat uncharitable. Hopefully, the uncharitable approach will help ensure greater accuracy from the original poster in future, but alas I see from the poster's reply that that might not be the case.

Rgds
R

[antebellum]

ridcully,

I am impressed. It is refreshing to find someone who speaks frankly in this forum.

Are you an English teacher ? Just curious.

I have a question. Is it necessary for a child to understand all these terms like subjects, false subjects, etc if her ambition is not to be an English teacher ? Is it possible for a child to do very well in creative writing if she does not know how to explain all these terms ?

[ridcully]

antebellum:

ridcully,

I am impressed. It is refreshing to find someone who speaks frankly in this forum.

Are you an English teacher ? Just curious.

I have a question. Is it necessary for a child to understand all these terms like subjects, false subjects, etc if her ambition is not to be an English teacher ? Is it possible for a child to do very well in creative writing if she does not know how to explain all these terms ?

Possibly too frankly at times. I hope my sincere message in improving people's English is not spoilt by my giving offence.

For my sins, I am an English teacher with over thirty years' experience.

Well, that's a very interesting question about whether it is necessary for a child to understand all these terms like subjects etc. I would have to say no. Writing expressively requires style and content substance rather than grammatical exactitude. However, most parents want their children to write decent compositions for school examinations, especially the PSLE; therefore, grammatical exactitude, together with extensive vocabulary, is indeed necessary. The PSLE compo paper is not creative writing.

Notwithstanding my initial 'no', I would say though that stylish writing requires a feel for the language and clarity of thought. These, in my experience, are greatly assisted by having a technical command of the language. There are some children who are natural writers, but a little bit of grammatical polish does not harm. On the other hand, a lot of children will not be stylish writers; they should at least not burden the reader with a double whammy of poor style and inexactitude.

:salute:
R

[markfch]

ridcully:

I accept that the manner could be interpreted as somewhat uncharitable. Hopefully, the uncharitable approach will help ensure greater accuracy from the original poster in future, but alas I see from the poster's reply that that might not be the case.

Even if your intention is good, there is no need to dish out the kind of sarcasm you did in the last few posts.

I think everyone here is free to interprete the motivation for your posts.

[ridcully]

markfch:

Even if your intention is good, there is no need to dish out the kind of sarcasm you did in the last few posts.

Apologies offered for any offence caused by my responses.


R

[quirkymum]

Ridcully,


I have read your posts before and I appreciate you helping us parents with queries but I do not think it is nice to go around tearing others down. It is rather unpleasant to read your recent posting here.

I am not speaking up for TAS because my kids are there but because I feel that the KSP forum has been a very useful place for us parents to learn and grow together. Let us keep this spirit. It would be sad to see the day come where the KSP forum is used as a place for competitors to throw mud at each other and take pleasure in pointing out each others mistakes.

[coolit]

Phew, this discussion seems to be getting heavy. But I want to speak up for

TAS. My children have been at TAS for almost 2 years. Their teachers have
always been giving their best and they teach very well. My ds has been
getting over 33 marks for his compos since he joined. He used to be
between 26-30 in the past. Dd also doing well. I have recommended more
than 5 friends and relatives to them and all like the lessons and are doing
well.

One of my friend’s child is a special needs child and the teachers in school
and her former tuition centre already gave up on her and recommended
putting her in a special school but she joined TAS last year and now she is passing her composition for the first time and passing her comprehension
as well.

What works so well for my friends and I may not work well for everyone
but it cannot be a fluke that TAS has helped my friends’ children and
my dd and ds so much.

[ridcully]

quirkymum and coolit, and others


I have already apologised. May I ask you to be gracious and accept an apology when it is given.

For the record, I did not attack TAS. In fact, reading through some of the earlier postings by TAS in this thread, I must say that the answers are very helpful and accurate. What I attacked was the latest poster from TAS reassuring a parent that his/her English was up to the mark when in fact this clearly was not the case, at least on the basis of the proffered postings. Maybe after a good cup of coffee, that poster is completely different.

Thank you for reading my previous posts. What you will notice is that I only challenge people, usually from tuition centres, who purport to teach English well, but then who make several mistakes in their advice. If you are happy to remain in blissful ignorance about what is being taught to your children, then that is your prerogative; and you do not have to read my postings. But yes, perhaps I should be kinder in my expression.

If you are implying that I am a competitor throwing mud at others, then you are very much mistaken. Although I teach, I have never revealed where I work nor promoted the place. Several parents have emailed me seeking private tuition and I have refused. In contrast, the tuition centres I challenge in this forum are commercial entities actively promoting themselves and seeking your dollars. Let the buyer beware.

The nail which stands out takes a chance in getting hammered down. It is easy for you to post saying "I don’t like that!", but you should ask yourselves whether you really try to help others here, or do you simply consume others’ knowledge and advice?

Rgds
R