Is it ok if I send this email to my English tutor?

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

I am Taiwanese and have an English tutor from U.S.A.

After having had several classes, I seem to have to tell him something in order that I can benefit from my English classes. Does the following content of the letter offend you if you are my teacher?

Dear teacher,
I have to make sure something about our English classes.

First, please correct me when I speak wrongly.
Like I told you in our orientation, it is an English class, not just a chatting.
I will appreciate if you could instruct me to ues right English, especially when I am not the person who is afriad of speaking English. :smiley:

Secondly, should I keep sending my composition to you?
You told me you would correct my composition by computer,
so you wanted me to send you my “homework” by email.
However, after I sent three pieces of composition, I just got your oral feedback
If you are too busy to correct my writing in detail,
I probably should not mail anything to you. :smiley:

2

Except for the ’ :smiley: ’ it reads pretty well.

It certainly won’t offend him. Although maybe you should say this to his face.

3

May I know why? I mean this :smiley: . Thank you very much.

4

it’s personal preference thats all.

I don’t mind their use in forums and on MSN but i never use them in e-mails

But i’m sure other people on here will have different opinions. So wait and see what they say as well.

5

May I know why? I mean this :smiley: . Thank you very much.[/quote]
Because he’s your tutor, not your school friend. Think of it as a “business letter.” You don’t use emoticons in a professional situation. And why don’t you use his name instead of “Dear teacher”?
Otherwise its fine. Except… Are you paying him for his work? If so, I would be a bit more brusque – you are his boss, after all, and the customer is always right.
I would make clear that you expect him to mark and return your work and to be less damn lackadaisical in his approach or you’ll take your business elsewhere.

6

May I know why? I mean this :smiley: . Thank you very much.[/quote]

This is a formal letter, a business communication. Smileys are silly.

You wouldn’t say “Please supply 10 million pieces as discussed. We will remit payment to your Swiss Bank Account. :smiley:”

You wouldn’t say "We ordered X and you have supplied Y, please resolve this immediately. :smiley: "

You would just explain the problem and state what you need to resolve it.

Or… you could send the letter as is and see if he corrects your use of smileys. :smiling_imp:

7

Yes. ‘Teacher’ is not an acceptable form of address in English. Your teacher should have taught you that at your first meeting. Call me Joe, call me coach, call me Mr Bloggs, call me sir, but don’t ever call me ‘teacher’.

If he agreed to correct your compositions when he agreed to teach you then the time required should be included in his fee. So you’re paying him and he’s not giving you what you pay for. Don’t be nice about this. Remind him that you have HIRED him to correct your English, and you would like to see all the compositions you have sent him so far printed out and covered with red ink.

Judging by your first post your compositions will be full of errors. You’re paying him to help you get over them.

Despite the errors, your letter is perfectly understandable. You have done an excellent job of communicating your intention and are obviously serious about improving further. Don’t take my comments as a crticism in any way. I simply mean to advise you about the cultural aspect of communicating in English. You’re at the point in your language studies where you also need to study the way we do things, not just the way we talk.

Hope this helps. If it doesn’t then try myu.com.tw (And if that’s where your teacher came from then remind him that you can give feedback at the site about his service.)

8

Yes, the smileys are inappropriate.

Have you talked to him? A ‘warning letter’ is not really the way to go in a one to one situation. It’s overly formal.

Tell him your expectations, in a friendly manner and ask him to draw up a study plan so you can be sure you will do what you expect in class. True, he is an employee, but you still have to manage the relationship if you want to study with him. He’s hardly likely to work harder if he doesn’t like you.

He sounds pretty inexperienced. You might not get what you want from this one…

9

Teachers are not told what is expected, they tell you what is expected.

10

I would say find a new tutor.
Three compositions and that is all he can come up with?
He should be correcting you on language use and structure.
Dump this person and find yourself somebody who’s going to give you value for your money.

11
  1. I use :smiley: to reduce my uncertainty and his possible unconformable feeling.
  2. Of course I will use his name instead of “teacher”. That I used it here is beacuse I did not want to find a untrue name for him.

[quote=“sandman”]
Are you paying him for his work? If so, I would be a bit more brusque – you are his boss, after all, and the customer is always right.
I would make clear that you expect him to mark and return your work and to be less damn lackadaisical in his approach or you’ll take your business elsewhere.[/quote]

  1. Yes, I pay him.
  2. In my culture, god, land, kings, parents and teachers are respectable.
    As a result, I think, at least phychologically, I am not my teacher’s boss.
  3. I am trying to tell him what I think. If he does not change in the future, I will find a new teacher.
12

The laddie described him as his tutor. A hired hand who said he would correct the bloke’s compositions via computer and is now apparently stiffing him.

This is good but gives him an “out” and he might say “Ok, fine.” Better to also add “and we can then reassess your fee in view of your reduced workload.”

But Buttercup’s probably right, at least as your first step.

13

Firstly, welcome to forumosa. Spend some time here, read some threads, and feel free to post your thoughts about anything. Most of the active people on this site know what it’s like to learn another language and are more than happy to help.

Now to address this point

[quote]2. In my culture, god, land, kings, parents and teachers are respectable.
As a result, I think, at least phychologically, I am not my teacher’s boss. [/quote]

Personally, I think it’s great that teachers are highly respected in Taiwanese culture. However, in English-speaking countries, they’re not. You are the 老闆 when dealing with a foreign teacher/tutor. Don’t forget that, because that’s what your teacher will be used to.

14

[quote=“durham”]2. In my culture, god, land, kings, parents and teachers are respectable.
As a result, I think, at least phychologically, I am not my teacher’s boss. [/quote]

So talk to him in Chinese.

If you want to talk to him in English you also have to talk to him in a way that he understands. Be direct, or you’ll get nowhere.

Having said that, Buttercups made a good point. Writing a letter to your tutor may be considered too formal.

However, on the other hand again, if you’re uncomfortable with confrontation - and I’m guessing your teacher may well get defensive if you tackle him face to face, and that will be embarassing for both of you - a letter can be a more neutral way to communicate.

You can turn it into an academic exercise instead of a criticism.

Begin by explaining that you’re writing because you’re embarassed to discuss this face to face, and/or because you want to have a written record to avoid misunderstandings. How will he react if you’re just writing to clarify things because you feel that you haven’t explained your expectations very well? In that way you could get your message across without blaming him.

You may also consider finishing your letter with some kind of invitation. Ask him if you have managed to explain yourself, and invite his feedback. He should write back and complement you on straightening things out.

If you’re feeling really daring you could also ask him to correct the letter, and advise you on how to deal with this sort of situation in future. Inter-cultural conflict resolution is probably the most difficult skill to master as a language learner so it’s a great theme for a class.

15

[quote=“Loretta”]
If he agreed to correct your compositions when he agreed to teach you then the time required should be included in his fee. .[/quote]

Being English teachers, do you consider preparation for lesson obligatory?
You know, the preparation must occupy your private time.

May I know what the errors could be. Thank you very much. :blush:

It helps. Thank you. My teacher does not from the site.
Even so, I will not tell him in that direct way.

16

[quote=“durham”]
Being English teachers, do you consider preparation for lesson obligatory?
You know, the preparation must occupy your private time.[/quote]

I prepare for roughly two hours for each classroom hour I teach. This is not done in my free time; my students pay a very high fee for that time (ok, ‘teacher’ high, you know what I mean). I don’t work for free, unless the student is a personal friend. If you are paying less, your teacher isn’t going to spend a lot of time preparing; he’s just running a business like everyone.

He might be lazy, or he may genuinely have no idea how to teach one to one lessons.

Letters are for people who live far away, or for official purposes.

17

Professional ones do consider it part of the job, as far as I know – although I’m not a teacher. However, that is not the point here.
The point here is that the two of you agreed to a certain method of doing business together and he is not holding up his end of the bargain.
Earlier I said you were his boss. That’s not really entirely correct. Think of yourself as the customer and Joe Schmoe as the service provider. Old Joe is not providing the service you agreed to pay him for.

18

[quote=“durham”][quote=“Loretta”]
If he agreed to correct your compositions when he agreed to teach you then the time required should be included in his fee. .[/quote]

Being English teachers, do you consider preparation for lesson obligatory?
You know, the preparation must occupy your private time.[/quote]

Preparation means finding suitable teaching material, reading and making sure you understand it, planning out the structure/format of the lesson, and obtaining any additional material you may want to use. Yes, it’s obligatory and you do it in your own time in advance of the class. The rate you charge your students should reflect the amount of work you have to do to prepare for a class.

Take a look at [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/a-structured-method-for-teaching-1-on-1s/34213/1 thread[/url] for a good general purpose plan. I don’t know how you can give it to your teacher diplomatically, but it sounds like he needs it.

Correcting student compositions is not preparation. It’s extra work that should be agreed in advance. The teacher has to calculate how much time is required and keep it in mind when discussing his fee with you. As you mentioned that he asked you to email them to him I assume that you did discuss it and therefore his fee should include the work he’s agreed to do.

Typically a student composition of up to 250 words only takes 10-15 minutes to go through and highlight the errors. I don’t correct my students’ work, I point out that there’s something wrong and then they have to tell me what it is. As the student it’s up to you to do the thinking!!

One of the keys to good writing is to take time after you write to proofread. After I post on forumosa I usually read it through to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes. (I still make a few, as does everyone.) Do you do the same with all your compositions?

Why not take a look at your opening post again and start by asking a few simple questions? What kind of letter is this? How important is structure? Does it follow the rules that are appropriate for this kind of letter? Are there any standard phrases you should use or avoid? Do all your sentences contain verbs? Did you get the tenses right? Do the verbs agree with the subjects? Are you using the right prepositions in the right places? Is every word spelt correctly? Are the words in the right order or were you thinking in Chinese?

None of this is especially important if you just want to get the message across, but if you’re asking purely out of a desire to improve your English then it’s a good beginning.

FYI, not all of the questions I suggested you ask are necessary because you didn’t make those mistakes. Like I said, it’s not a bad letter. But correct the obvious errors and repost it. I’ll try and keep my mouth shut, and hopefully someone else will give you some feedback.

19

I think that you should continue to respect your teachers, and a private tutor is also a teacher. That is a good tradition and we in western countries also respect our teachers. I have had many good teachers and I will remember their names and show them respect for the rest of my life. Respect does not mean to agree with what the teacher says or follow them blindly; it means that you listen to their ideas, be polite in their presence, maintain certain standards of behavior, and then make your own decisions about what to do.

A private tutor is still a teacher and you should give him/her the respect that you would give any teacher. If you have a problem with a teacher/tutor that you are paying to help you, you should first use some verbal communication to work it out. Then if that doesn’t work, try the letter approach. Finally, if that doesn’t work, then it’s time to look for a new tutor.

Good English tutors/teachers are not so easy to find these days, so if you are serious about learning and putting the time and effort into your personal improvement, you should shop around and find someone who fits your needs. That will not be cheap. It may take some time, but if you put some effort, time and money into your English, you will improve with time.

20

There’s a big difference between the way Chinese and Western teachers teach. Generally, Chinese people think grammar/translation/correction is an appropriate method that will gain good results, but Western teachers are trying to teach you in the way they know.

I do think you could learn from your essays if your teacher made corrections, but all too often Taiwanese students think writing is something you do once, without rewriting after you get the corrections. If you do manage to squeeze some corrections out of your teacher and you show him that you have really given a great deal of thought to them, perhaps have even rewritten your essay with his feedback in mind, then he will be inclined to make corrections for you.

IMO, skimming corrections that have been made to your writing and having your train of thought interrupted for the sake of surface grammar corrections isn’t an efficient method for improving communicative skills.