These are the charges for tuition:
1. Groups of 5 = 240/student
2. Groups of 4 = 280/student
3. Groups of 3 = 320 per student

I no longer give economics tuition. Thanks!

Cheers Ian

am going to start another gp class – 280/4 lessons.

drop me an sms at 97533641 to find out more. students retaking A levels welcomed.

A level results are out. Some students did very well. Some students did okay. But all of my students (except one – her results unknown since she’s in China) improved from prelims to A levels.

Okay i’m done blowing my own trumpet. These days i prefer to let others do the word-of-mouth. I’m getting old.

Anw, drop me a note/sms if you are interested in attending tuition classes. I prefer to keep it at 2/3 per lesson – partly cuz that’s the optimal level. Classes in Bishan.

Cheers, ian (97533641, aceitall@live.com)

1. Is it important to be happy?

2. Pessimism is a good thing. Discuss.

Optimism and survival

It’s obvious that healthy people live longer than sick people. If optimism actually improves health, it should also boost longevity — and according to two studies from the U.S. and two from the Netherlands, it does. The first American study evaluated 839 people in the early 1960s, performing a psychological test for optimism–pessimism as well as a complete medical evaluation.When the people were rechecked 30 years later, optimism was linked to longevity; for every 10-point increase in pessimism on the optimism–pessimism test, the mortality rate rose 19%.

The two Dutch studies reported similar results. In one, researchers tracked 545 men who were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer when they were evaluated for dispositional optimism in 1985. Over the next 15 years, the optimists were 55% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than the pessimists, even after traditional cardiovascular risk factors and depression were taken into account.

An Oxford-based research firm has announced the results of a release of genetically modified male mosquitoes in the Cayman Islands, the first experiment with GM mosquitoes to take place in the wild.

From May to October of this year, Oxitec released male mosquitoes three times a week in a 40-acre area. The mosquitoes had been genetically modified to be sterile, so that when they mated with the indigenous female mosquitoes there would be no offspring, and the population would shrink.

Mosquito numbers in the region had dropped 80 percent by August, which the researchers expect would result in fewer dengue cases.

Since it’s only females who bite humans and transmit diseases like the untreatable dengue fever this study examined, British biologists suspected that introducing males sterilized by a genetic mutation into the gene pool could dramatically decrease their numbers over time.

via For The First Time, Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Are Released Into The Wild | Popular Science.

thanks for your email queries.

1. this blog is not dead. though it has a lazy and busy owner. bad combi.

2. yes i’ll be giving tuition for yr 2011 – though i’ve stopped all my tuition services for this year. it’s getting a bit late if you are seeking help for A levels 2010 don’t you think?

3. if you are interested in attending tuition classes for next year (2011), drop me an email at aceitall@live.com with your name, and other details like which year you are in, what school you come from etc. we will see if we can work something out.

4. if you need some last min help with A levels/promos, drop me an email too. I’ll see if i can give some tips. go download whatever free resources there are on the right panel –>

Ok all the best everyone! Hard work is good. So work harddddd for your results.

cheers, ian

drop me a mail at aceitall@live.com, or msg me at 97533641 for more queries.

cheers, ian

1) Thursdays 7.30pm to 9.30pm – starting from 1st April

2) Saturdays 2 to 4pm – starting from 3rd April.

Both sessions will be held at City Hall/Dhoby Ghaut area. There are 5 weekly lessons, each for 2 hours and at $70 per student.

The details to Module 1 are as follows:

1) MODULE 1: THE ART OF PROPER ARGUMENTATION AND WRITING (OPEN FOR REGISTRATION)
Description: This module focuses on getting your GP fundamentals robust and strong. After this course, students will generally be able to decide on ONE stand, and CRAFT PROPER TOPIC SENTENCES, PARAGRAPHS, which are well-backed by proper examples and in the end, produce a reasonably decent essay. You’ll be surprised how many students can’t do this without going out of point.

JC students are not stupid, but most schools do not focus on imparting proper writing techniques. But such techniques are the difference between an A and a B. This course will also clear up several common grammatical mistakes that students commit – including errors relating to punctuation, word syntax, sentence structure etc. Techniques to tackling AQ will be covered here as will.

Methodology: you will be trained to analyse essay questions by breaking them into subparts, and tasked to critique a variety of argumentative essays focusing on different topics ranging from sociological trends to political science.i’ve designed several assignments that are helpful in guiding students to spot poor writing habits, and craft proper arguments using common examples. If you are one of those who get confused arguing in a certain direction, and end up contradicting yourself, this course will help you. Even if you are not, this course will teach you how to argue better, and more succinctly. Linguistically, you will be taught how the simple use of various words can dramatically improve your persuasiveness in your essay. always remember: a GP essay is nothing more than an attempt to persuade.

Workload: Various take-home assignments including 1 essay and 1 AQ. There will be a proper debrief session for all assignments. Students are expected to perform all readings in advance.
Fees: $350 for 5 lessons of 2 hours. Payment to be made upfront at start of each lesson ie $70/lesson.

Maximum intake: 6 students per class

You should drop me a note at aceitall@live.com if you are interested! I’ll cap the classes at 6 students each.

Cheers, ian

i taught many students last year. these are their grades for GP:

2As, 3Bs, 2Cs

Yup i taught seven students for GP, in 3 groups. Actually for the 2 Cs, I predicted one of them will get B, but she did not. I did not expect the 2As (I thought they would surely get at best a B). In fact, I thought 2 students would get D – their final mock papers were graded E (by me), and my experience shows me that they would get at best a C. Turns out both got B. What a fluke. I’m always glad to be proven wrong in such cases. HAHAHAHAH.

For econs, I taught 2 of them and both got A. But I predicted both to get A. Hahahah.

Alright I’m not trying to brag or anything – I’m just happy! Genuinely happy especially for some of them who retook A levels as private candidates (you know how hard it is for people like these. I’m genuinely bowed down by their diligence and perseverance). But they’ve put in their fair share of hard work. I only did what I’m best at doing – taught, marked, guided.

Anyway, it’s after a long arduous process of improvement in terms of MY teaching skills – my earlier batches probably had to endure with my experimental techniques – bless them! I started teaching since army and that was 5 years ago. =)

NOW ON THE IMPT THING… I’M LOOKING TO OPEN 2 CLASSES FOR MODULE ONE (refer to earlier post below):

1) MODULE ONE: THE ART OF ARGUMENTATION AND WRITING

MONDAY 7.30PM TO 9.30PM

2) MODULE ONE: THE ART OF ARGUMENTATION AND WRITING

SATURDAY 2 TO 4PM

If you are interested, send me an email at aceitall@live.com right away. I’m capping the class size at 6. You should pair up with a fellow friend if you fear you might be alone with no friends in class (I mean, it’s for learning but you might be really shy. *shrug*). Of course, I’ll be honest about it – more students for me, yes, but surely more enjoyment for you. Win-win situation. Go read the post below this for more info.

some of the classic smses i got after sending sms to ask them about their grades:

1) JH: thank you. I got 5As.

me: A for gp?

JH: Yea. Miracle lol! I screamed Haha.

2) Rox: Hey ian! Thanks for the help with gp! I got a B but it really is much better than the S I got for prelims. Hahah thanks loads!

Actually both JH and Rox saw me after their prelims for a really intensive crash course.

3) PH: Hey I got C for gp. But I’m happy enough hahaha.

p/s: the rest just reported their grades without any fanfare so there’s no point to quote.

happy ian signing off.

–

Alright I’m sorry I’ve been away! Busy school life – I’m sure you guys can empathise with that.

I have received a few queries on the model essays as well as my gp tuition services.

YES you can still purchase the essays. YES I still offer gp tuition services. (The links are all on the RIGHT column of this blog under ‘services I provide’. Drop me a mail at aceitall@live.com if you have queries.)

I’ll be making gp lessons a lot more focused and strategic. In the past, it was around 80% focus on content, with 20% focus on skills/techniques. My students have provided feedback over the years that the ratio should be 50:50 – at least. I’ve kept that in mind and derived the following course syllabus.

Disclaimer: Classes may or may not be offered pending demand and supply. If there are not enough students (at least 3 to 4) to form a class, I would not start the class. You should forward this to your friend and get them to join with you if you are keen.

I’ll not offer Modules 3 and 4 yet – they will only be offered sometime in May. You can subscribe to this blog for further updates (look to your right column’s sign me up!). All classes will end by September – as I will be going overseas for exchange after that. By then, you should know everything you need to know about GP.

Classes would be held in the vicinity of City Hall or Dhoby Ghaut and they will commence as long as I receive enough students. The cap on each class is 6 – it is on a first come first serve basis, so you should apply right away if you are interested.

MODULES OFFERED

1) MODULE 1: THE ART OF PROPER ARGUMENTATION AND WRITING (OPEN FOR REGISTRATION)
Description: This module focuses on getting your GP fundamentals robust and strong. After this course, students will generally be able to decide on ONE stand, and CRAFT PROPER TOPIC SENTENCES, PARAGRAPHS, which are well-backed by proper examples and in the end, produce a reasonably decent essay. You’ll be surprised how many students can’t do this without going out of point.

JC students are not stupid, but most schools do not focus on imparting proper writing techniques. But such techniques are the difference between an A and a B. This course will also clear up several common grammatical mistakes that students commit – including errors relating to punctuation, word syntax, sentence structure etc. Techniques to tackling AQ will be covered here as will.

Methodology: you will be trained to analyse essay questions by breaking them into subparts, and tasked to critique a variety of argumentative essays focusing on different topics ranging from sociological trends to political science.i’ve designed several assignments that are helpful in guiding students to spot poor writing habits, and craft proper arguments using common examples. If you are one of those who get confused arguing in a certain direction, and end up contradicting yourself, this course will help you. Even if you are not, this course will teach you how to argue better, and more succinctly. Linguistically, you will be taught how the simple use of various words can dramatically improve your persuasiveness in your essay. always remember: a GP essay is nothing more than an attempt to persuade.

Workload: Various take-home assignments including 1 essay and 1 AQ. There will be a proper debrief session for all assignments. Students are expected to perform all readings in advance.
Fees: $350 for 5 lessons of 2 hours. Payment to be made upfront at start of each lesson ie $70/lesson.

Maximum intake: 6 students per class

Dates: Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays 7.30 to 9.30pm or Sat 2 to 4pm

2) MODULE 2: READING AND SYNTHESIZING USEFUL CONTENT (OPEN FOR REGISTRATION)
Description: you read the newspapers, online, offline, and you surf the web for content. But do you really know how to utilise the knowledge you have? Do you even understand the content? This module teaches you to employ your amorphous knowledge and concretise the things you know into logical arguments using connectors. Students will be trained to tackle both AQ and Paper 1.

Techniques taught here will refine students’ ability to spot and sieve content items that are essential for a particular essay topic and ideate essay questions based on the content. To do this, students must have a firm understanding of what typical essay or AQ questions are like.

This module will also train students to avoid the common pitfalls in writing – focusing too much on content and going out of point. Knowledge can only be useful if used wisely and appropriately. Taking this module will also train you to answer hybrid essay questions – more and more common in today’s A level exams.

Workload: 1 full essay, 2 AQs, various other writing assignments. All assignments will be marked and debriefed.

Fees: 4 lessons @ $280, max class size of 6

Dates: Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays 7.30 to 9.30pm or Sat 2 to 4pm

3) MODULE 3A: INTENSIVE CONTENT DRILLING (NOT OPEN YET)
I’ll go through typical questions in these areas as well as the associated arguments.

Focus topics: Crime and Public Policy, Gender, Mass Media, Poverty

5 lessons @ $350, max class size of 6

FAQ: Can I choose the topics I want?

Answer: No – since the rest of the class signed up for this platter of content. J

Workload: 2 full essay, 2 AQs

Fees: 4 lessons @ $280, max class size of 6

4) MODULE 3B: INTENSIVE CONTENT DRILLING (NOT OPEN YET)

I’ll go through typical questions in these areas as well as the associated arguments.

Focus topics: Religion, Environment, Globalization, Science and Technology

FAQ: Can I choose the topics I want?

Answer: No – since the rest of the class signed up for this platter of content. J

Fees: 4 lessons @ $280, max class size of 6

5) MODULE 4: ACING PAPER 2 (NOT OPEN YET)

Students will be trained to synthesize passage ideas, rephrase quoted statements using one’s own words and tackle inferential questions. Students will practice at least 2 comprehensions which would be graded. A full debrief will be provided.

Fees: 3 lessons @ $210, max class size of 6

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

If you are interested to enrol, send me an email (aceitall@live.com) with the following details

1) Your name

2) The Module you are interested to take: 1 or 2

3) ALL the days and timings you can make it (this helps me to determine if I can find enough students for the class)

4) Contact number

–

once again, the disclaimer:

Disclaimer: Classes may or may not be offered pending demand and supply. If there are not enough students (at least 3 to 4) to form a class, I would not start the class. You should forward this to your friend and get them to join with you if you are keen.

I’ll not offer Modules 3 and 4 yet – they will only be offered sometime in May. You can subscribe to this blog for further updates (look to your right column’s sign me up!). All classes will end by September – as I will be going overseas for exchange after that. By then, you should know everything you need to know about GP. 

Classes would be held in the vicinity of City Hall or Dhoby Ghaut and they will commence as long as I receive enough students. The cap on each class is 6 – it is on a first come first serve basis, so you should apply right away if you are interested.

best, ian