家教熱蔓延西方 國外的小孩也忙著補課(雙語)

It's not piano lessons or dance classes. Nowadays, the biggest extra-curricular activity in the West is going to a tutor. "I spend about 800 [Canadian] dollars a month on tutors. It's costly," says Pat, a mother in Canada. However, she adds, "after finding out half my daughter's class had tutors, I felt like my child was going to fall behind because everyone else seemed to be ahead"

       不是鋼琴課也不是舞蹈班，如今西方最大的課外活動將是上家教。「我每個月在家教上要花800加元。這很貴，」加拿大籍母親派特說。然而她補充道：「當發覺我女兒班上一半人都有家教后，我感覺我的孩子將落於人后，因為其他孩子看起來超前了。」

       Shelley, a mother of three, also has tutors constantly coming in and out of her home. "When I used to sit down with my children, it was hard to get them focused. I was always yelling. When I got a tutor once a week, they became focused for one entire hour and could get most of their homework done."

       三個孩子的母親謝莉也一直有家教老師在其家中進出。「我過去常與孩子們一起坐下來，卻很難使他們集中注意力。我常要大喊大叫。但當我每周聘請一次家教后，孩子們都可以專註一整個小時，而且能完成大部分家庭作業。」

       Tutoring isn't simply a private school phenomenon. Nor is it geared only toward (只滿足於) lower-achieving students. In Canada alone, seven percent of high school students reported using a tutor in 2010. That increased to 15 percent last year.

       家教不單隻發生在私立學校。它也不只是滿足低水平學生的需求。在加拿大，2010年的數據顯示僅有7%的高中學生聘請家教。而此數據在去年已增至15%。

       Overall, parents hire tutors because they are worried schools are not meeting their expectations, but there is also a cultural shift. A special value is placed on education in Asia, where tutoring is viewed as an extension of the school day. As a large number of Asians emigrated to the West over the recent years, their attitudes towards education have had an impact.

       總的來說，家長雇來家教是因為擔心學校無法滿足他們的期望，但是其中同樣滲透著一種文化觀念的轉變。在亞洲，教育存在著一種特殊價值觀：家教被視為學校課時的延伸。近幾年裡，大量亞洲人移民西方，對他們（歐美人）的教育觀產生了重大影響。

       Another reason for the growth in business is parental frustration and their packed schedules. "A lot of parents just don』t have time to help their children with homework," says Julie Diamond, president of an American tutoring company. "Others couldn't help their children after Grade 3."

       家長們的挫敗感和其滿噹噹的日程安排是家教業務增長的另一個原因。「許多家長沒時間輔導孩子們做家庭作業，」一位美國家教公司的董事長朱莉·黛夢德說，「而另一些家長輔導不來三年級后的孩子們。」

       There has been a shift in the attitudes, too. "Children used to get bullied (欺侮) for having a tutor," Diamond says. "Now it's becoming the norm to have one."

       同時，觀念本身也在變化。「在過去，孩子們常因請了家教而受到欺侮，」 黛夢德說，「現在請家教正演變成一種日常。」

       Children don't seem to mind that they have a tutor. One parent feels surprised that so many of her child』s classmates have tutors. "For the amount we pay in tuition, they should have as much extra help as they need," she says. Still, she』s now thinking of getting a tutor. Why? Her daughter has actually asked for one.

       孩子們似乎不介意有個家教。某家長在看到孩子班上許多同學都有家教后，感到十分驚訝。她說：「就我們所付出的學費，孩子們理應獲得儘可能多的額外幫助。」不過，她也在考慮請個家教。為什麼？因為事實上她女兒希望有一個。