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PreciousTalks Media I help brands and busy professionals change their raw ideas to content through writing. I assist several people in developing excellent English Language skills.

I also help them garnish their writing through astute editing and formatting.

๐™€๐™›๐™›๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ข๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ ๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™–๐™˜๐™š ๐™˜๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ ๐™—๐™š ๐™ค๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™๐™–๐™จ๐™ž๐™ฏ๐™š๐™™! Itโ€™s so easy; one little thing that is left unsaid ca...
31/08/2026

๐™€๐™›๐™›๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ข๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ ๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™–๐™˜๐™š ๐™˜๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ ๐™—๐™š ๐™ค๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™๐™–๐™จ๐™ž๐™ฏ๐™š๐™™!

Itโ€™s so easy; one little thing that is left unsaid can turn the whole workflow on its head.

๐‘บ๐’„๐’†๐’๐’‚๐’“๐’Š๐’ 1

On Monday afternoon, Manager A tells Mr. Levin to create slides for the presentation on Tuesday afternoon. Manager A gets busy with other operational duties, and Mr. Levin gets right on with creating the slides, sensing the urgency. Heโ€™s trying not to make the presentation look too short, so he adds pictures and infographics to complement the explanations. Then he encounters a technical problem with his laptop, which takes him nearly two hours to fix in the IT department. While the problem is being fixed, Mr. Levin carries on with other tasks for the day, and it takes him another 30 minutes before he gets back to IT to pick up the laptop. Now, closing time is in 30 minutes. Mr. Levin clocks off in 30 minutes with the intention of finishing the slides the following day. Manager A says nothing.

The following day, Mr. Levin puts off his normal tasks while he focuses on finishing the slides. Then one and a half hours before noon, he tells Manager A that the slides are ready. Manager A tells Mr. Levin that he should not bother submitting the slides because he has found an alternative. He also said he took that action because Mr. Levin did not do the task or deliver it when he needed it. Mr. Levin is slightly annoyed and unhappy that all his effort has come to nothing.

๐‘บ๐’„๐’†๐’๐’‚๐’“๐’Š๐’ 2

On Monday afternoon, Manager B tells Mr. Hart to create slides for the presentation on Tuesday afternoon. Manager B tells him that the slides should not be more than 12 and outlines the subtopics needed to be discussed. He also asks Mr. Hart to submit it to him by Tuesday morning so that he'll be able to vet it before the afternoon. Manager B gets busy with other operational duties, and Mr. Hart gets right on with creating the slides. He knows he has about 24 hours to complete this task.

While working on it, he encounters a technical problem with his laptop, which takes him nearly two hours to fix in the IT department. While the problem is being fixed, Mr. Hart contacts Manager B letting him know he had just encountered a major setback that would affect his delivery. Manager B acknowledges it, shifts the delivery time to noon, and delegates Mr. Hartโ€™s other tasks for the following morning. Mr. Hart carries on with other tasks for the day, and it takes him another 30 minutes before he gets back to IT to pick up the laptop. He updates Manager B on his progress and continues working on the slides. Now itโ€™s closing time, and he happily clocks off, knowing that he could simply finish tomorrow.

Mr. Hart resumes the following day and focuses on the slides, which he finishes before noon. Manager B vets. There are minor corrections and additions. Mr. Hart returns to his other duties, and the presentation goes on as planned.

Naturally, most people will prefer to be in a Scenario 2-type of situation. However, do most people communicate effectively to achieve this?

๐™๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ

Communicate early and clearly: This means give out instructions at the right time, long before you need the results. Spell out exactly what you want done and how you want it done if it must follow a specification. Most importantly, tell your subordinates when the task will be due. Somehow, when leaders skip this, they leave the subordinate to spend whatever time they can on the task. Thereโ€™s usually no automatic submission.

When tasks are late, ask for updates and listen for feedback. As tempting as it can be, NEVER assume that the task was just left to rot away. NEVER give a reaction to that assumption first before finding out what really happened with the task.

Be ready to lend whatever support is needed if your staff genuinely needs it to execute a task.

๐™๐™ค๐™ง ๐™จ๐™ช๐™—๐™ค๐™ง๐™™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™จ

Always ask when your task is going to be due whenever itโ€™s not mentioned. If the timeline and expected delivery look rushed, youโ€™re supposed to ask for a time that works within a reasonable timeframe.

Update your manager every step of the way. Let them know that youโ€™ve just spent two hours on the task and it will take approximately another two hours to complete. If you encounter setbacks, communicate your setbacks immediately. Donโ€™t struggle to finish the task alone.

Leaving a task undone as soon as it is given is absolutely unacceptable. Work within the time prescribed. If there is any valid reason you would be unable to begin with the task immediately, communicate this as soon as it is assigned to you. NEVER take on a new task in addition to the current one youโ€™re handling. Donโ€™t think that youโ€™ll deliver them all together. This slows down productivity and can increase stress levels.

Finally, when these little communication gaps are filled, work flows more smoothly for all involved.



ยฉ๏ธ Tutor Precious
๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ Africa's foremost Educator and Thought Leader

๐™‹๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™๐™ž๐™ฅ ๐™๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ ๐™š๐™™.  It is not sustainable!If you hire people based on pity, keep them hired based on pity...
27/07/2026

๐™‹๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™๐™ž๐™ฅ ๐™๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ ๐™š๐™™.

It is not sustainable!

If you hire people based on pity, keep them hired based on pity, or do anything in the workplace out of pity, there's a higher chance of receiving a negative outcome than there is of receiving a positive one.

It's not rocket science; it's leadership science. The workplace is not meant for unnecessary familiarity. It's meant for business first. Business is formal, so keep it at that. There are times when we have to choose humanity or consideration over business rules, but this happens in certain situations and not daily, as part of the modus operandi.

Someone's not doing their job; make inquiries as to why. Resolve whatever issue they're facing. If they persist, issue warnings, and if they do persist some more, queries. Finally fire such an employee where there's blatant disregard for processes and rules.

Why do you have to tolerate someone whoโ€™s functioning at a subpar level with excuses such as โ€˜but they should not go hungry.โ€™

โ€˜If I fire employee X, they'll just say I'm wicked.โ€™

โ€˜I don't want to do something bad to employee X.โ€™

It's understandable. Firing can be a delicate issue, but after all due diligence, it shouldn't be choked with sentiments anymore. If an employee is to be fired, it should be crystal clear to both the employee and employer. They would have exhausted all warnings for it to happen, and they would be aware of the offense that pushed them out. In this way, it wouldn't be wickedness or unfairness.

Leaders must learn to maintain systems. Systems are not maintained by pity, sentiments, or anything other than doing the right thing at the right time and following due process.

Here's the kicker. The employees you โ€œpityโ€ would not bat an eyelid if they found themselves in a situation where the company would be put at risk. They will not โ€œpityโ€ the company. They will take actions that will favor them 90 percent of the time even if it means. Somehow, employers still get surprised by this.

Set up systems!

Set up systems!

Set up systems!

Systems create due process.

Systems protect employees.

Systems protect employers.

Systems protect clients.

Business does not quite function on a โ€œone good turn deserves anotherโ€ basis. Some employees are bad just as some employers are bad and vice versa. Systems, not pity, save everyone.

Pity leadership has never really worked.

ยฉ๏ธ Precious Ochuware
ยฉ๏ธ The Premium Educator
ยฉ๏ธ The Premium Writer
ยฉ๏ธThe Premium Voice
๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ Africa's number one Global Thought Leader

๐™‰๐™ž๐™œ๐™š๐™ง๐™ž๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™ฅ๐™ช๐™—๐™ก๐™ž๐™˜ ๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก๐™จโ€ฆ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ? When do we get to have world-class public schools? For far t...
23/04/2026

๐™‰๐™ž๐™œ๐™š๐™ง๐™ž๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™ฅ๐™ช๐™—๐™ก๐™ž๐™˜ ๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก๐™จโ€ฆ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ?

When do we get to have world-class public schools? For far too long, public schools in Nigeria have had the least infrastructural development and academic depth when compared to standard public schools around the world.

Since I was a young girl I abhorred public schools because of the โ€˜traumaโ€™ I received when I attended one. I attended one of the best public schools in my city at the time, but it was not the best type of education I received.

I told my mother to take me away from the school, and I attended private schools until I finished my secondary education.

Physical structures that existed since the 1800s when the missionaries first started building schools are still being used just as they were in those days. When the government wants to develop a school, they build the same basic structures, never world-class structures, yet this is 2026.

The people don't even know that they're receiving the bare minimum from their government. I mean, who cares, right? Since they now have schools in their communities as opposed to having none.

Sigh!

The only thing manageable about public schools is the employment structure. It is the way the employees there have leverage, longevity, and job security. Every other thing about the public school system is an eyesore, including some of the teachers within the system.

I will call a spade a spade. First I'll speak to my learned colleagues who contribute to keeping the system in shambles, and then I'll talk about one or two things the government does that keeps Nigerian public schools at the bottom globally.

My learned colleagues who have the mediocre and carefree mentality when it comes to their jobs, kindly come closer (I might have to write another letter to you).

If you know you don't enjoy teaching, kindly find ways to get into the other professions you like. You don't have to remain within the education system and offer minimal service. However, if you must remain within the education system, you have to make every effort to do your job as it should be done.

Now if you do enjoy teaching and you know your job, why don't you just do your job? Mediocrity will continue to cost the children you're teaching too much by the time they finish going through the system you are a part of.

This goes to all teachers who don't do their best. You won't go to class, and if you do, you won't put the effort into teaching well. You put more effort into your side businesses than into the molding of future generations. You don't deeply explain and dissect for the children. You're more concerned about the extra money you can make. In your thinking, โ€˜itโ€™s government job na.โ€™ In other words, because it's not your personal business, you can afford to watch it be subpar. You put in little effort that will push weak outputs but not so weak that the whole system collapses. Then you say things like, at least some students are doing well, at least GOD is helping us, at least we're able to do this (little)." Come on, that's another level of manipulation. Why do we have to settle for โ€œat least"? Are we not able to be more than the least? Some of you even still send the students to your houses to do chores in this big 2026.

I know that there are other challenges teachers face while trying to discharge their duties, but I'm particular about the problems teachers create themselves within an already strangled system.

Now to the government. This mentality of building bare minimum structures and developing only selected government secondary schools is highly problematic. After so many years in existence, there are still government schools that have received no development infrastructurally.

When I compare what a country such as America (with problems in their public schools) has as their public school facilities, I wonder when Nigeria will get there. The people need to start demanding more from their government. Colonial structures are still revered and installed as the standard structures for public school education infrastructure. New ones are just added to the old ones. They're cheaper and less durable, yet the government considers them best for the people.

Nigerians are not animals as the colonial slave masters called the dark-skinned human beings, so why do you maintain the makeshift structures they built to administer in-passing education at a time when they were only trying to establish a colony?

Build structures in public schools meant to position Nigeria on a path to global impact and tenacity. Where are the music rooms, cafeterias, sports facilities, swimming facilities, state-of-the-art classrooms, and other facilities that make for a well-rounded education? They're non-existent. It is private schools, mostly the league of international schools, that offer state-of-the-art facilities, which should be the normal output and standard for all education.

I never knew I was going to become an educator, but since I have become one, I have had a profound understanding of the depth of the problems. I cannot sit idle, oblivious or indifferent, about these problems. The solutions start with each of us doing our little bit right even before we're able to hold the government by the jugular.

All hands must be on deck to move Nigeria's education to global standards.

ยฉ๏ธ Tutor Precious

๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ The Premium English Educator

๐˜ผ๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ? When I see people who call themselves โ€˜dictionโ€™ or 'elocution' professionals in Nige...
15/04/2026

๐˜ผ๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ?

When I see people who call themselves โ€˜dictionโ€™ or 'elocution' professionals in Nigeria today, so many of them sound like they have a rehearsed accent. An accent or way of speaking that sounds like a construction not well-put-together but has somehow become the standard for speaking English for non-natives in these agencies and for these 'professionals.' It is, in fact, taught in schools.

I'm sorry, but a lot of these folks are seriously interested in making money, and this is one of the easy ways they found to make money.

When you say you're a diction and elocution specialist, what easily comes to my mind are two things.

You can speak and teach others to speak English with native speakers' fluency and accuracy. Just like it was in the old days when the British still ruled. Go back and study old tapes; watch videos of heads of states even before and during 1967. There was near-native speaker fluency and elocution when people of that time spoke. Listen to newscasts in the 90s; you'll also hear it. It was clear, sing-song like the British, and captivating. Now, some folks on this table might have mastered the American pronunciation of words and sound more American when they speak. That's all fair and good. We can even argue that American English is easier to adapt to than British English. The point is just that it sounds as close to the original as possible.

You can speak or teach others to speak English with native speaker or near-native speaker fluency, but with a different articulation or elocution owing to your Nigerian accent. Now this is not a bad thing at all. Listen to notable people like Chimamanda speak. Chimamanda in particular is careful not to lose her 'Nigerianness' in all she does, including the way she speaks, but she is very fluent, and she uses language fluidly just like a native speaker would. Other notable folks in Nigeria today speak this way too, and there's no confusion about how they pronounce words. They're articulate and they pronounce their words correctly.

Anything outside these always sounds like some unfortunate twisted string of language, put together in a mix of different accents to produce something artificial, not very grounded, and not original in many ways.

I'll suggest this to many of these elocution and diction agencies. It's not all about making money. It's also about delivering quality. Do the research of how to actually teach the spoken aspect of English. Practise and master a grounded way of articulation. Then teach that.

Schools blindly pay for these services because they really hope that the 'specialists' know exactly what they're doing. Alas! These specialists don't even know the first thing about actual diction training. They don't model British or American speaking. There's a formulated one they work with. In fact, many don't know the basics of phonetics and phonology even though they've tagged themselves as the 'experts.'

Diction or elocution training should be like many years ago when folks who went to school learned to speak English very well. Watch and listen to newscasters, actors, public speakers, and the like from the 80s and 90s right here in Nigeria. Before even stepping out to other countries where English is also learned in this way, you'll find the sharp contrast to what is taught by diction agencies today.

I simply just see through so many of these diction specialists when they speak. If you're going into a field, at least be as solid as a rock. I don't want to see through you.

Send a DM to book a session with me for significant improvement in your spoken and written English.

ยฉ๏ธ Tutor Precious

๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ The Premium English Educator

๐™„ ๐™ฌ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™˜๐™๐™–๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ ๐™ž๐™™๐™จ ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ž๐™ง ๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก ๐™—๐™ช๐™จ ๐™ง๐™ž๐™™๐™š ๐™—๐™–๐™˜๐™  ๐™๐™ค๐™ข๐™š. One thing struck me as we drove through the streetsโ€”...
13/04/2026

๐™„ ๐™ฌ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™˜๐™๐™–๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ ๐™ž๐™™๐™จ ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ž๐™ง ๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก ๐™—๐™ช๐™จ ๐™ง๐™ž๐™™๐™š ๐™—๐™–๐™˜๐™  ๐™๐™ค๐™ข๐™š.

One thing struck me as we drove through the streetsโ€”I continued to see dots of schools scattered over the axis of the city we drove through.

I began to think, so many schools exist on every street and corner and in all manner of spaces and structures. Some schools were former flats, others occupied small spaces without room for outdoor activities, and one in particular had a high fence just in front of a ditch.

Sigh!

Why do we have so many schools littered around streets, corners, and spaces?

Is it a thing of school owners taking great pride in owning schools? Is it one of the quickest businesses people now venture into? Or is it a reflection of a deeper issue we have not yet acknowledged?

๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ The Premium Educator

๐™„ ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™–๐™˜๐™ ๐™˜๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ก ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ ๐™Ÿ๐™ช๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ก๐™ž๐™จ๐™. Yes, I'm an educator. Yes, I'm an English and Literature educator. Yes, ...
28/03/2026

๐™„ ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™–๐™˜๐™ ๐™˜๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ก ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ ๐™Ÿ๐™ช๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ก๐™ž๐™จ๐™.

Yes, I'm an educator. Yes, I'm an English and Literature educator. Yes, I'm a writing specialist, but I teach critical thinking as a skill.

You can't be in my classroom and experience a deterioration in your critical thinking skills. No. Critical thinking is the fuel the lessons run on.

โ€œThomas picks up a book to read while relaxing. In the book, he reads about humans surviving on another planet to help them escape the harsh hunting eye of an alien called Gamadem, the leader of the alien conquerors. What genre of book do you think Thomas picked up?โ€ The answer to this question is science fiction.

This kind of question appearing more often as opposed to "What is science fiction?โ€ is the difference between an English or literature class that sharpens your critical thinking skills and one that doesn't.

Of course I also use other explicit questions during lessons, but implicit questions that directly tap into critical thinking are engraved into the lesson.

Send a DM to book a session with me for significant improvement in your spoken and written English.

ยฉ๏ธ Tutor Precious

๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ The Premium English Educator

๐™ˆ๐™š๐™š๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™– ๐™œ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฅ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™๐™–๐™ซ๐™š ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™—๐™š๐™š๐™ฃ  exposed to deductive reasoning, critical thinking, independent thinkin...
04/03/2026

๐™ˆ๐™š๐™š๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™– ๐™œ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฅ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™๐™–๐™ซ๐™š ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™—๐™š๐™š๐™ฃ exposed to deductive reasoning, critical thinking, independent thinking, and several implicit questioning styles has really made me begin to teach it more actively in my classes.

To explain the category of learners who have never been exposed to any of this, I'll give two scenarios.

Scenario 1

A learner doesn't study up for an exam or test, so the moment he sees a question he didn't study, he lets his mind wander and just picks or writes whatever option or answer that might not even have anything to do with the question.

Here's an example:

Tom picks up a book. In the book, the events take place in the year 2064. There are robots and spaceships with which the characters travel out of earth. What genre of book did Tom pick up?

A. Storybook

B. Science fiction

C. Sports story

D. Playful story

As deliberately simple as the options to this question are, this set of students could choose option A or any of the other wrong answers. They don't apply a single ounce of thinking even though the options have been deliberately made to serve them the correct answer (option B).

Scenario 2

A learner might have studied deeply or sparsely. Then in the question, they're thrown off by a word or phrase that's new to them. They become afraid that they haven't read enough and so lose confidence in their ability to tackle the questions altogether.

Here's an example:

Tom picks up a book. In the book, the events take place in the year 2064. There are robots, aliens, and hovercraft. What genre of book did Tom pick up?

A. Storybook

B. Science fiction

C. Sports story

D. Playful story

For a student in this category, they might get confused about a word or two that they don't understand or might have forgotten the meaning due to their sparse reading. However, instead of focusing on all they know, trying to think through the question they've read, and still coming up with a reasonable answer, they focus on the word(s) that they don't understand.

They almost instantly believe that they can't get it right because they don't know the word or because they didn't study enough.

The questions used in these examples are implicit-style questions. They require the learner to think (even if it's just briefly) before they can find the answer.

Send a DM to book a session with me for significant improvement in your spoken and written English.

ยฉ๏ธ Tutor Precious
๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ The Premium English Educator

Yesterday, I โ€œforcedโ€ a student to think through the meaning of โ€œdecision makers."We had read a text, and the text had m...
03/03/2026

Yesterday, I โ€œforcedโ€ a student to think through the meaning of โ€œdecision makers."

We had read a text, and the text had mentioned the word. The question asked who the author was referring to by using the word โ€œdecision maker." The student said he didn't know.

I refused to accept that he didn't because "decision," however it was viewed, was a relatively common word.

I immediately activated his critical thinking skills unknown to him.

โ€œFrom the word 'decide,' we have 'decided' as the past tense and 'decision' as the abstract noun.โ€ I said and wrote each word on the board.

โ€œHave you used the word 'decide' before?โ€

He thought for a second. โ€œYes.โ€

โ€œSo what did you mean when you thought of the word?โ€

He searched his thoughts. โ€œWhen I decide not to do somethingโ€ฆโ€

โ€œIs it only when you decide not to do something?โ€

โ€œWhen I decide to do something tooโ€ฆโ€

"Alright," I said. โ€œSo how can you tell me the meaning of decide?โ€

โ€œIf I say that I will do something or that I will not do something.โ€

โ€œOkay. You know what "maker" means, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"How can you apply this to the meaning of 'decision maker'? Who is a decision maker?โ€ I probed further.

He thought through piecing his words together. โ€œA decision maker is a person that can decide what to do or what not to do.โ€

โ€œGood!โ€ I said. โ€œNow read the question again and read how the word is used in the original sentence where it was said.โ€

He did this.

โ€œCan you now tell me who the writer is referring to as the decision makers according to what you read?โ€

He thought again, and finally he said, โ€œthey're the people who decide what to do or what not to do.โ€

โ€œWhere?โ€

โ€œIn the companies the writer was talking about.โ€

โ€œAlright. That was a good one. Now let's put the answer this way. The decision makers are the people in positions of power who decide what to do or not to do.โ€

"Okay, Ma'am.โ€

โ€œGood job!โ€

โ€œThank you, Ma'am."

โ€œCan you see that it's not that difficult? You're capable of thinking through something you first said you didn't know. You've just thought critically, and you've allowed yourself to be an independent thinker.โ€

Critical thinking is a global skill required to carry out tasks professionally and domestically. Where else is a better place to teach it if not the classroom?

Send a DM to book a session with me for significant improvement in your spoken and written English.

ยฉ๏ธ Tutor Precious
๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ The Premium English Educator

๐™Š๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™– ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ก๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™œ๐™ช๐™š ๐™ข๐™–๐™™๐™š ๐™ข๐™š ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ค๐™  ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™›๐™›โ€ฆ The English department of the school where I...
20/02/2026

๐™Š๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™– ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ก๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™œ๐™ช๐™š ๐™ข๐™–๐™™๐™š ๐™ข๐™š ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ค๐™  ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™›๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™›๐™›โ€ฆ

The English department of the school where I worked at the time had to organize a seminar for the rest of the academic staff.

We got to work, divided the seminar into sections, and placed individuals in charge of different responsibilities for each section.

This senior colleague of mine was meant to help me facilitate my demonstrations for the section I was to be handling, but the man ruined it, maybe because of stage fright or something else I don't know.

Since he was a senior colleague, I expected that he would have absolutely no problems delivering his part, but I was very wrong. This taught me a lesson: even more experienced colleagues can say or do the wrong things too. Don't let their flops affect you negatively.

What did this colleague do? In my section of the presentation, I had to do a demonstration, and he was to help me with it. For this, I needed three volunteers who were supposed to be taken away from the rest of the audience and stay separately with him. He was supposed to give a simple instruction: โ€œgo up to the stage and do what she tells you.โ€ Instead of telling the volunteers this, he went and told them the exact criteria he wasn't supposed to reveal to them yet.

Back at the stage, I was to reveal to the audience that I wanted the volunteers to do a simple task. It was to clap, but there were criteria for judging the claps.

The demonstration was to show that if learners aren't given specific instructions, they might not meet the criteria for the task you wanted them to succeed at. It was to prove that vague instructions do not produce the best results and that educators are to stick to specific instructions.

So I was to whisper to two of the volunteers the vague instruction (clap), and I was to whisper to one of them specific instructions (clap, but this is how your clap will be judged).

You can already tell what happened. All the volunteers came up on stage and followed the criteria they had already been given by this senior colleague, and so the demonstration proved nothing.

As soon as each of the volunteers started doing the task following the criteria I had laid down, I knew something was wrong. But I continued to explain and faced the embarrassment of having an opposite result different from my explanation.

Everyone looked at me as a junior staff member expected to fail. My boss at the time shook her head and scored me down, nearly justifying her bias against me as someone incapable of getting the job done.

In hindsight. I should have stopped the whole demonstration and explained to the audience that a mistake had been made. I could have probably cancelled it or gone ahead to explain without a demonstration.

So yes, your colleagues, no matter their level, can make you look stupid if you let them. It's your job to point out that a mistake was made, and it wasn't by you.

Send a DM to book a session with me for significant improvement in your spoken and written English.

ยฉ๏ธ Tutor Precious

๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ The Premium English Educator

๐™Ž๐™ค๐™ข๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™š ๐™–๐™œ๐™ค, ๐™„ ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™™ ๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ซ๐™ž๐™š๐™ฌ , and while speaking, at one point, I could hear myself sounding like my father, ...
13/01/2026

๐™Ž๐™ค๐™ข๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™š ๐™–๐™œ๐™ค, ๐™„ ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™™ ๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ซ๐™ž๐™š๐™ฌ , and while speaking, at one point, I could hear myself sounding like my father, who was a very brilliant man when he was alive.

My father had a lot of hands-on experience in managementโ€”human management and resource management. He had a good head on his shoulders, and I could say books were made for him.

He was able to study into the night and for long hours tooโ€”something I don't think is a big forte of mine. He was willing to learn and read anything. He was a brilliant accountant too.

So when I was speaking and heard my father's โ€œvoiceโ€ and mannerisms in my explanations, I felt good. I mean, I sounded just like a captain of industryโ€”my dad. I was speaking just like a thought leader would speak.

If his life had not been cut short, I believe my dad would have risen to be one of the most respected thought leaders and billionaires in this age.

I was speaking with a management team, and I sounded as important as my dad did when he used to have those meetings where he was revered as the top managerial staff.

GOD Bless your soul papa. Rest on.

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