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The Tutor I disliked
Yangsun Yun
English 11 American Literature 11 EHS

“Fish and visitors stink in three days,” my dad likes this statement. And I never understood it
until I met an English tutor. My father wanted my brother Yangwon and me to improve our
English skills, especially speaking. After searching for a suitable tutor online, he found a
Native American teacher searching for a part-time job. At first, everything looked okay. But,
immediately after the first lesson, I felt uncomfortable with him pretty quickly for many
reasons.
The tutor came to our house every Saturday morning, wearing a casual shirt and a small
backpack. My dad welcomed him with manner and kindness, with a cup of coffee.
Everything looked fine in the beginning. But as soon as he started to teach us, I strongly felt
there was a problem. He spoke so slowly that it was hard to stay focused. He carefully said
each word and each alphabet thinking we could not understand his words.
In the first lesson, my brother and I thought maybe he was testing us to see our listening
skills. However, after three times of lessons, I felt he was not going to change something
about his speech. Our lessons were like this: Every day, my dad would bring him homemade
coffee, and the tutor would say "thanks", with the same smile. Then after having small talk
with my father, the lesson finally started, teaching us basic things we had already learned
years ago. We started accumulating bad feelings against that loop, and each day felt worse
than the last. Even more uncomfortable than his speaking was, he wanted us a fist bump
every time we made the correct answer. I feel irritated about it because it felt old-fashioned
and weird. But I didn't want to be rude, so I bumped my fist with him, even though it made
me irritating.
In the fourth session, I couldn’t endure it anymore. He was just teaching basic English and
then, he started talking about World War II, going into too much information about dates and
facts that can hardly used to learn and be fluent in English. It was merely a boring history
lesson by an English native when the only thing I wanted was to practice conversation and
help me prepare IELTS test.
After one especially frustrating lesson, I talked with my father while pointing out that he had
asked the English tutor about his speech rate. In the next session, my father finally
complained about his speed.“Why do you talk so slowly? I heard that you are from New
York, aren't you? I experienced people there talk faster.” I hoped he felt something from the
message, but he just smiled and said,“ I can talk faster, but I'm worried whether you
understand everything." I realized from his slow response that things are not going to change.
The next day, it was the same routine: my dad gave him coffee, we sat through another slow
lesson and then came another fist-bump I didn’t want. It was sick to sit there and listen to that
boring lesson. After the lesson, I suddenly remembered my father's favorite saying “Fish and
visitors stink in three days.” It points out that the tutor was that uncomfortable visitor who
had stayed too long, and I knew we needed change.
After he left, I went straight to my dad and said, “Dad, we need to fire that tutor. This one
isn’t helping. He talks too slow, and we’re not learning anything useful.”
My dad listened and answered. “You know, fish and visitors stink in three days,” he said, “but
it’s important to figure out if they started to stink. What did you feel about that teacher?”
I thought about it for a moment. Even though the lessons hadn’t helped our English, I realized
I’d learned something else. I learned to speak up when something isn’t working, and I
understood that not every teacher or guest fits well into our lives. And I wanted to let them go
when a similar thing happened.
Finally, my dad called the tutor to let him know we wouldn’t continue, and I felt relieved. I
feel like the lessons had been a bit boring and useless, but maybe I learned something. Not
every visitor leaves a good impression, but sometimes the lesson they teach us is worthy.

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The Tutor I disliked

English 11 American Literature 11 EHS

help me prepare IELTS test.

had stayed too long, and I knew we needed change.

when a similar thing happened.

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