Nothing like the profit motive to drive excellence

Maybe you could read to your child, or with your child. Pick up an article in the newspaper or magazine that contains issues that a child might be able to understand at least superficially, such as a piece of reporting on train breakdowns, or an article on the benefits of a particular food. Do it in small blocks of say, 30 minutes at the start. Read for a couple of minutes, then break up the monotony by stopping to discuss the text. Why did this happen? What do you think are the consequences? Do you agree with what the writer is saying? Why did the writer use this word, and not another? What is the other way you can spell this word? Where else have you seen this word? Can this particular idea be better expressed with a different sentence construction? Is that comma there really necessary?


Reading with your child can be fun, and it is a positive example for children of an age where imitating is a big part of learning.

cheers..:)

If I may offer some observations and suggestions.......creative English writing is not just about the language. Even teachers who are creative writers will find it hard to impart such a quality to students based on a several hours-a-week type of instruction. I have seen lesson materials for \"creative writing\" classes which are really passage after cliche-filled passage meant to be memorised and regurgitated come exam time. English is after all a tool we use to communicate, and to take in information with. It would be better in the long run for your child (who is still young enough) if he were to build up the habit of reading more, on his own. The key to that would be to surround him with English reading materials on matters and stories that are of interest to him (this may take some research and observation on your part) and, if distractions (the TV, computer games, etc) are a problem, to limit the availability of these distractions. If he takes to reading at least part of the time, in a year or two you should see marked improvement in most aspects of his English, and it would have been painless, and the critical life-skill of obtaining information from written material will have been learnt.


Oral English is a big problem for us: we just don't have the ideal environment for it. We adults speak adulterated English (even in parliament!!), and children pick it up. English teachers in school do their best, and then the science teachers undo it all (lol). Perhaps as a priority, you should get your child to first learn to speak grammatically, and worry about the enunciation later (opinions might differ on this). A tutor with strong verbal ability in this would be helpful.

Cheers