LIVE Online Classes

Mention “Home-Based Learning” and most students would shudder. They know better than anyone that when left to their own devices, their attention drifts and their productivity plummets. A one-hour video typically takes four hours to watch, and even then, it isn’t watched carefully. Assignments are left to the last minute and then rushed through. There is simply no discipline when YouTube or Instagram is one click away.

Our conversations with students and parents have convinced us that the easy solution is not necessarily the best one for our students. Online learning must take place LIVE if it is to work at all. Students learn best when they are engaged. They are most motivated when they are face-to-face (so to speak) with a person rather than a talking head or a disembodied voice. Most importantly, they need to be able to ask questions instantly rather than wait an eternity. All this can only happen in a LIVE classroom, and it is here that the teacher plays a crucial role, perhaps even more-so than in a physical classroom.

How do we know this? We’ve been conducting trials since November last year and we’ve learnt a lot since then. While we can’t say that our system is the absolute best there is, we can at least say that we are absolutely ready to provide a polished experience with minimal time wasted. This has been reflected in our students’ extremely positive feedback (many have even noted that they prefer the online classes). But you don’t have to take our word for it. Contact Mr Liau right now for an online demonstration. (WhatsApp: 91781642)

LIVE online classes are subject to the payment and registration policy of My Mustard Seed Tuition Centre. Even after our physical classes resume, we will continue to offer LIVE online classes (timings to be confirmed). Students who enrol in the LIVE online classes now will still be eligible to join the physical classes when the suspension on physical classes is lifted. All lessons will personally be taught by Mr Liau himself.

Our online classes succeed because they are extremely well-organised, guided by the intelligent use of technology, and facilitated by pre- and post-lesson engagements. To find out more, contact Mr Liau via WhatsApp at 91781642.

“Classes with Mr Liau always bring fresh insights that have never crossed my mind during my self-study or even during GP lessons in school.”
– Jiwon

#1: Build Content Knowledge

It’s therefore no surprise if you score poorly when your scripts are filled with comments like: “lacks balance”, “weak argument” and “poor evidence”.

No matter how effusive your language, you will not get a good grade. Cambridge said so.

So, how can we help?

This is the trickiest part about GP. Memorising model essays will not work. Neither will copying and pasting canned arguments. Because every question is different, every response must be unique.

Within those 90 minutes, you must formulate and express your own arguments.

This is where we come in.

#4: Ace your Comprehension and Summary

But perhaps the better question to ask is—is it achievable?

The answer is an unequivocal yes. Yes, you can conquer comprehension and summary with these three steps:

1. Understand how teachers mark. In our lessons, we don’t just show you the correct answer, we explain how we arrive at it. Once you get it, you can easily replicate the correct answers.
2. Figure out what’s wrong with your own answers. There’s no use knowing what the right answer is. You need to know how to avoid making the same mistakes that led you to the wrong one. We’ll explain your mistakes.
3. Learn to paraphrase without synonyms. Sometimes, there simply are no appropriate synonyms. We’ll teach you how to rephrase ideas without a thesaurus.

#5: Learn from the Proficient

Question: Is diversity necessarily a good thing?

BEFORE

What the student wrote:

Not always a good thing. It is human nature that people get along with people of the same kind. There wouldn’t be issues like discrimination if everyone is the same. It is inevitable that there are always stereotypical views towards people of different identities and that is when problems arise. Society could be more harmonious and cohesive without diversity in identities. Therefore diversity of identities is not a good thing as people feel more comfortable with people of the same kind.

Comments: 

The first sentence fails to convey the gist of the argument. It merely states the author’s stand and is moreover an incomplete sentence. Sweeping claims are made throughout this short paragraph. Any ideas worth considering here are underdeveloped and no evidence is provided.

AFTER

Suggested rewrite:

Diversity is not always a good thing because it tends to lead to conflict in most societies. (Topic Sentence) Psychologists have found that humans naturally feel more comfortable around people of the same ethnicity or religion as themselves. This could be because they share physical characteristics and thus seem more familiar to one another. It could also be because they share similar beliefs and cultural practices and therefore are less likely to find areas of disagreement. On the other hand, diversity means that different kinds of people must live together in the same society, contrary to their instinctive preference for homogeneity. Conflicts thus inevitably arise when misunderstandings are combined with innate biases against people with different physical appearances. (Explanation) Most recently in March 2019, more than 100 people were killed in a tribal massacre in Mali because of longstanding grievances between two ethnic communities—the Dogons and the Fulani. (Evidence) In many other countries, racial and religious conflicts also continue to persist because of their diverse compositions. In India, for instance, intense animosity between the Hindus and the Muslims has persisted since the partition of India in 1947 (which failed to create a truly homogenous country). Although India continues to valorise Mahatma Gandhi, their pro-independence champion of nonviolence and peaceful coexistence between Hindus and Muslim, it seems incapable of rising above its ethnic differences. In recent years, the rise of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and the election of its leader, Narendra Modi, has been accompanied by an increase in hate crimes against Muslims (as reported by the United Nations in 2018). (Further Evidence) The persistence of ethnic conflict in countries with diverse populations thus suggests that diversity is not the unalloyed good that some of its idealistic proponents make it out to be. (Link)

Question: Consider the view that economic growth can lead to a more equitable society.

BEFORE

What the student wrote:

Economic growth does lead to a more equitable society as there will be more job opportunities for the unfortunate people. Working is a way for the unfortunates to get out of poverty. When they work, they will eventually obtain sources of income. In addition, it may even lead to actual growth, allowing the firms to hire more factor of production which is the labour. As such, more job opportunities will be given. This causes a reduction in unemployment rate, which also reduce income inequality in the society. However, this scenario will only be applicable provided that there is no mismatch of skills in the industries. According to Work for Department and Pensions, a mammoth 55 percent of individuals in workless households are in poverty. This falls to 24 per cent for those in households with at least one person in part-time work, to 20 per cent for those in couple households where one person works full-time or at least one person is self employed, and to just four per cent in single or couple households with at least one person in full-time work. As such, this suggests that working is one of the effective ways to get out of poverty. Hence, we should not denigrating the value of work and give others a chance by providing more job opportunities.

Comments:

While this paragraph may appear impressive due to its use of economics jargon, it actually makes very little sense. Jargon cannot be used as a substitute for sound logic. It is moreover a bad idea to present your GP tutor with economics jargon.

Let’s look at what this student is saying. She says that economic growth creates job opportunities which allows the poor (let’s not call them “unfortunates”) to escape poverty. However, rather than develop this idea, she proceeds to argue that this allows them to “obtain sources of income” which then leads to “actual growth” and more employment.

Phrasing aside, these statements are simply a jumble of assertions with no logical flow. There is no attempt to specify the causal relationships between economic growth, employment, and inequality. The statistics used here are also poorly explained (not to mention the fact that it is copied word for word from the original CATO article).

AFTER

Suggested rewrite:

Economic expansion helps to reduce inequality by creating more job opportunities for the poor. (Topic Sentence) Jobs are often created during periods of economic growth as businesses start hiring more people to meet increasing demand for their goods and services. As more jobs become available, unemployed people can find jobs more easily and start earning an income. This then gives them an opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty. Thus, economic growth can help to reduce inequality by reducing unemployment. (Explanation) The important role played by employment in lifting people out of poverty cannot be understated. A Department for Work and Pensions report on poverty in the UK (2017) revealed that in households with two unemployed adults, 55 per cent of them were in poverty. When at least one person found part-time work, only 24 per cent of them remained in poverty. This number fell all the way to just four percent when at least one person found full-time work. (Evidence) Clearly, gainful employment is key to increasing the incomes of the poor and this can only happen when countries experience economic growth. (Link)

Economic expansion also helps to reduce inequality by increasing wages for the poor. (Topic Sentence) During periods of prolonged economic growth, levels of unemployment tend to fall. When this happens, businesses start to encounter greater difficulty in recruiting workers because there are simply fewer people looking for jobs. This then gives workers greater bargaining power and forces businesses to raise wages in order to recruit and retain talented workers. (Explanation) This is precisely what has happened in America in recent years. According to a 2017 report by the Economic Policy Institute, continued economic growth since the Great Recession of 2008-2009 has led to a greater increase in wages for the poor than for the rich. While the report acknowledges that increases in minimum wages at the state-level has contributed to this reduction in inequality, it argues that a large role is also played by the tightening of the labour market. (Evidence) In fact, the tightening labour market is also precisely why Amazon suddenly and unilaterally raised the minimum wage for its workers to US$15. Amazon did not do it merely because of mounting political pressure—it had resisted this pressure for months and could conceivably continue to do so for much longer. Nor did it suddenly grow a conscience—this is the same company that paid $0 in federal income tax in 2018. This happened only because the labour market was extremely tight (the unemployment rate dropped below 4%) and Amazon needed an additional 100,000 employees for the upcoming shopping season. (Further Evidence) Thus, economic growth can reduce inequality by creating tight labour conditions that in turn force businesses to pay their workers more regardless of whether they care to be socially responsible corporations. (Link)