"A family located in north London wants to find an remarkable and skilled instructor to guide their youngest child on his first steps to turning into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might easily miss the wording "beginning" as simple figurative language.
However, it could be the crucial part of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to find a tutor for a 12-month-old.
Hundreds of applications have now been sent in since the unnamed family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "a uniquely qualified person".
In recent few weeks, the advert has attracted attention across the press, with several asking why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, head and founder of a global tutoring firm, which is helping the family in their quest, explained that in spite of early doubt, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he consulted the family, he mentioned they recognized the unconventional character of their demand, and how young their son is.
However, they clarified that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to get a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that age "cultural influence had already set in".
What precisely did the family mean by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "all-encompassing", the expert replied. "How you eat, how you speak".
He explained the older sibling had adopted "very nuanced, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family informed the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their new baby.
The plan: To bring in a English tutor, who should speak with RP, to shape the baby right from the beginning.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the beginning here is somewhat absorbed naturally," stated the expert.
It's via this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will pick up the British traits they aim to cultivate.
Adam noted the tutor needed to be an individual who studied at "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the appropriate candidate, they'll be carrying out things they aren't even aware they're doing, simply by nature," he said.
Cost Not Relevant
The family informed him the chosen tutor should preferably also have understanding of or passion in riding, winter sports, the arts and musical activities so as to influence the child in a broad spectrum of interests.
More than that though, he said the family hoped the tutor to sign up the child on a selection of courses so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an tool by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's minds, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will lead to achievement and create opportunities.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's definitely a class statement," he notes.
But, in spite of all this guidance in "English culture", might the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he resides with regardless?
"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The parents know this could fail, but they've merely embraced the attitude of, 'we should try and let's go as early as we can', because the expense of it is irrelevant," he explained.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
There are some in the private teaching field who have these concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of a tutoring service, who also offer private tutors, wrote that "the journey of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be experienced personally, not manufactured."
The expert wrote that he had emigrated from Asia to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up knowing and practicing dual heritages. He went on to learn at a prestigious UK institution.
"The idea that one individual can act as a embodiment of English culture, someone who can possibly impart the characteristics of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as idealistic and unfeasible," he commented.
"Based on my background, having a typically UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically achieve the goal they hope for.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and however I have been lucky enough to live many of the experiences they aspire for their son."
He stated: "The fact is, self-identity should not be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Purchasing UK Culture
Naturally, English culture is something Adam hopes can be educated – and commercialized.
"I think the reality that the global community holds us in this light is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
