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Homework Outsourcing
Hi,
:eek: :eek:
Quote:
Source:TOI
KOCHI: A few minutes before 7 on a recent morning, Greeshma Salin swivelled her chair to face the computer, slipped on her headset and said in faintly accented English, “Hello, Daniela.” Seconds later, she got the response, “Hello, Greeshma.”
The two chatted excitedly before Salin said, “We’ll work on pronouns today.” Then she typed in, “Daniela thinks that Daniela should give Daniela’s horse Scarlett to Daniela’s sister.” Then, she asked: “Is this an awkward sentence? How can you make it better?”
Nothing unusual about this exchange except that Salin, 22, was in Kochi and her student, Daniela Marinaro, 13, was at her home in Malibu, California. Salin is part of a new wave of outsourcing to India: tutoring US students.
Salin, who grew up speaking Malayalam, has been tutoring Daniela in English grammar, comprehension and writing.
Using a simulated whiteboard on their computers, connected by the Internet, and a copy of Daniela’s textbook in front of her, she guides the teenager through the intricacies of nouns, adjectives and verbs.
Daniela, an eighth grader at Malibu Middle School, said, “I get C’s in English and I want to score A’s,” and added that she had given no thought to her tutor being 20,000 miles away, other than the situation feeling “a bit strange in the beginning”.
She and her sister, Serena, 10, are just 2 of the 350 Americans enrolled in Growing Stars, an online tutoring service based in Fremont, California, but whose 38 teachers are in Kochi. NYT News Service
There’s a new wave of outsourcing to India - tutoring US students. Teachers at Growing Stars, an online tutoring service, offer tutoring in mathematics and science, and recently in English, to students in grades 3 to 12.
Five days each week, at 4:30 am in Kochi, the teachers log on to their computers just as students in US settle down to their books and homework in the early evening.
Growing Stars is one of at least half-a-dozen companies across India that are helping American children complete their homework and prepare for tests.
As in other types of outsourcing, the driving factor in “homework outsourcing”, as the practice is known, is the cost. Companies like Growing Stars and Career Launcher India in New Delhi charge American students $20 an hour for personal tutoring, compared with $50 or more charged by their American counterparts.
Growing Stars pays its teachers a monthly salary of Rs 10,000 ($230), twice what they would earn in entry-level jobs at local schools.
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Still, the cultural divide is real. In Kochi, Leela Bai Nair, 48, a former teacher who has 23 years of experience and is an academic trainer for Growing Stars, said she was “floored at first when 10-year-old American students addressed me as Leela. All my teaching life in India, my students addressed me as Ma’am”.
NYT service
Peace
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Virtual classrooms MAY be the next 'happening' thing ...............
BUT, playtime would be a REAL biatch :D
World champion at hide'n'seek though
and Eye spy would require ESP to win :D
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Hrm. I can remember several Term papers I'd love to have outsourced...
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Am I the only one that finds it ironic, and somewhat troubling that a a native English speaker is being taught grammer in such language by a woman in India with a native Malayalam tongue? I can understand that this girl is 13, and that it is completely possible for someone to be expert in more than one language. I just find the situation dissapointing considering the nature of those using the service.
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Quote:
Originally posted here by Evil Moo
Am I the only one that finds it ironic, and somewhat troubling that a a native English speaker is being taught grammer in such language by a woman in India with a native Malayalam tongue? I can understand that this girl is 13, and that it is completely possible for someone to be expert in more than one language. I just find the situation dissapointing considering the nature of those using the service.
Hey Hey,
I think that you are the only one finding it ironic.... I'm not sure what's disappointing about it. I actually had to read what you wrote twice in order to understand parts of it, perhaps you could benefit from the service. I've found, working in a college environment, that ESL people usually have a better grasp of the language than we do. While learning the language, they tend to be very strict regarding its use and don't fall into the mistakes and slangs that we commonly use. Another benefit is that living in a country where English is not the first language, she's not introduced to the mannerisms that tend to destroy the language... she has a great advantage when it comes to assisting the students. As long as the student is able to understand the student I think it's a great idea... Not only will it allow for a "high tech" tutoring environment but it will also allow for a bit of cultural exchange, a benefit of this method of learning.
Peace,
HT
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Hi,
Quote:
Originally posted here by Evil Moo
Am I the only one that finds it ironic, and somewhat troubling that a a native English speaker is being taught grammer in such language by a woman in India with a native Malayalam tongue? I can understand that this girl is 13, and that it is completely possible for someone to be expert in more than one language. I just find the situation dissapointing considering the nature of those using the service.
Yes I think you are the only one ............... The Ones who are Born with English as their Mother Toungue take Grammer For Granted , ........... but for those who's First language is not English Learnig The Grammer of the language is one of the most Important Part of learning that language and generally put more emphisis on it ......... Indians have traditionally been British-trained and still Follow British English .....
I agree if the Girl Understands the teacher then it's Good for both ........ :)
Even Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) exam board ( England ) sends Thousands of exam papers from England to India as part of the marking process ...... :D
Peace
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Her parents are cheap... they live in Malibu and cant get a English tutor?
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Quote:
Originally posted here by HTRegz
Hey Hey,
I think that you are the only one finding it ironic.... I'm not sure what's disappointing about it.
What I was referring to in my regards to disappointment was that these people are living in an upper class setting (and thus can be expected to be more substantially educated which reasonably leads to a degree of higher vocabulary with less 'slang' usage) yet fail at the basics of their own tongue. Now, don't interpret this as me stating that education or wealth equates intelligence, or disregard the possibility of learning deficiencies, but I still find the idea of someone foreign to a language teaching a native (particularly in such an opportunity laden environment) to that subject troubling. To put my point-of-view in context of a simple analogy, I (a man) might as well teach a female about what it means to be feminine and live as a woman. While possible to a degree, is inherently contradicted and troubling as to why that person would need the aid to begin with. That’s all I was saying.
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Quote:
Originally posted here by Evil Moo
What I was referring to in my regards to disappointment was that these people are living in an upper class setting (and thus can be expected to be more substantially educated which reasonably leads to a degree of higher vocabulary with less 'slang' usage) yet fail at the basics of their own tongue. Now, don't interpret this as me stating that education or wealth equates intelligence, or disregard the possibility of learning deficiencies, but I still find the idea of someone foreign to a language teaching a native (particularly in such an opportunity laden environment) to that subject troubling. To put my point-of-view in context of a simple analogy, I (a man) might as well teach a female about what it means to be feminine and live as a woman. While possible to a degree, is inherently contradicted and troubling as to why that person would need the aid to begin with. That’s all I was saying.
Hey Hey,
How could it not be interpretted that way.... you basically just said that being upper class means you have a better education... That lets me now understand a great deal more about the comments that you post...
I'm still not sure why you find it troubling, it makes perfect sense to me... The best possible education is all that matters. Who here has gone to college or university and not, at one point or another, had a foreign professor... I'd bet that no one has. I, as I'm sure many of the members of this board who are ESL themselves, find that very insulting as they tend to have a better grasp of the language than most of us.
As for your comparison... You attack me for being an idiot, yet that analogy is awful.. There's a big difference between learning the points of a language and learning to be a female. Language is factual, set in stone and has a history to back it up. Women are individuals and unique. They think, they show emotions and they react based on life experience. Much of what we learn as people we learn by watching others, but that's the basics... we learn from instincts and experience.. Nothing in your comparison is similar.
Peace,
HT
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Well in America private schools have a 98% average college acceptance rate. At least my school did. But at the end of the day, given the same tools everyone’s equal.(if you will) I believe our nations brightest prodigies come out of our public school system.
You get what you pay for......policies, standards, smaller classrooms, college level teachers etc..... those are the advantages to "paid schooling". Being born not so bright......doesn't matter how much money you have or what school you went to.
Policies, standards, smaller classrooms....that's the change I want to see in our public school system....forced learning.
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Quote:
Originally posted here by !mitationRust
Well in America private schools have a 98% average college acceptance rate. At least my school did. But at the end of the day, given the same tools everyone’s equal.(if you will) I believe our nations brightest prodigies come out of our public school system.
You get what you pay for......policies, standards, smaller classrooms, college level teachers etc..... those are the advantages to "paid schooling". Being born not so bright......doesn't matter how much money you have or what school you went to.
Policies, standards, smaller classrooms....that's the change I want to see in our public school system....forced learning.
Hey Hey,
I actually agree with what you said here... and well said it was...
I just have one question... How do you consider that you've earned everything in your life (as stated in another thread) yet you went to some fancy private school? How'd you earn that.. sounds like you had the good life handed to you on a silver platter.. which makes me believe you're just a bitter rich snob who really has no clue... just an opinion I'm jumping too... but I'm curious as to your justification on earning everything.. but starting out with obviously some sort of help...
Peace,
HT
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Hey Hey Hey Hey
HTRegz...................when are you going to come out of the woodwork so I can neg your ass off?
I am overdue an apology?
Or are you still in your wanking chariot dreaming about Dutch bulb fields?
:cool:
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Quote:
Originally posted here by nihil
Hey Hey Hey Hey
HTRegz...................when are you going to come out of the woodwork so I can neg your ass off?
I am overdue an apology?
Or are you still in your wanking chariot dreaming about Dutch bulb fields?
:cool:
I've posted outside of cosmos on any tech related question I felt was worth answering... I can't help it if the site is lacking in any real content right now.
As far as an apology... why? Because you were attacking newbies and I defended them? I don't think that an apology is needed there.... You want to become immature because of my defense... that's your choice.
Peace,
HT
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