"They learn to use `eraser' instead of its Indian equivalent, `rubber,' and understand that `I need a pit stop' could mean `I need to go to the loo,"' said Saji Philip, a software entrepreneur of Indian origin and the company's chairman and co-founder who works in New Jersey.
Still, the cultural divide is real. In Cochin, Leela Bai Nair, 48, a former teacher who has 23 years of experience and is an academic trainer for Growing Stars, said she was "floored at first when 10-year old American students addressed me as Leela. All my teaching life in India, my students addressed me as Ma'am," she said.
That same morning in Cochin, an English teacher, Anya Tharakan, 24, directed her student away from the subject of video games to concentrate on a passage from Alice in Wonderland, enlivening the lessons with puzzles and picture games.
Tharakan, who tutors Serena Marinaro among others, said a bit of the cultural gulf was being bridged when students asked her "How big is your home?" or "Do you have friends at work?" or "Can you send me your photo?" For her part, Tharakan is learning about soccer and rap music from her
students.
Thomas Marinaro, a chiropractor in Los Angeles and the father of Daniela and Serena, had been unhappy with the face-to-face tutoring he had previously arranged for his daughters at home. After three months with Growing Stars, however, Marinaro said the girls' math skills were already much improved. As a bonus, it cost a third of what he paid the home tutor.
Marinaro said that he had misgivings when he first considered enrolling his daughters for English tutoring. "I thought, how could somebody from India teach them English?" But after a few weeks of moni-toring, he said he relaxed. "I want my girls to develop a good vocabulary and write better, and I believe they are learning to do that."
Biju Mathew, an Indian-born software engineer, set up Growing Stars after moving to Silicon Valley five years ago to work for a technology start-up company. In India, he had been paying US$10 a month for twice-a-week tutoring sessions for his children.
In the US, he found, a similar service could cost US$50 or more per hour. The idea of homework outsourcing was born, and the company began offering its services in January last year.
Growing Stars has been cautious, offering its students a choice of US- or India-based tutors for English. It charges a US$10 premium above its normal US$20 rate for students who choose a tutor in the US. When parents have expressed concern over a tutor's accent, the firm has offered a change of instructor.
RSS