"Parents located in the northern part of London is looking for an exceptional and qualified educator to guide their youngest child on his initial journey to becoming an British gentleman."
Looking at this post, you might naturally overlook the term "beginning" as simple an expression.
Yet, it may be the crucial aspect of this unusual job advert, as it seeks to hire a mentor for a 12-month-old.
Many of responses have already been submitted since the unidentified family advertised their request for the £180k-a-year tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
During the past few weeks, the listing has received interest throughout the press, with numerous questioning why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, head and founder of Tutors International, which is supporting the family in their hunt, explained that in spite of first doubt, he found the plan "far sighted", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they understood the unusual nature of their requirement, and how early in age their son is.
However, they stated that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that age "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
But what did the family mean by "cultural leaning"?
It's "everything", Adam answered. "How you eat, the manner you speak".
He explained the elder child had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had assumed their cultural norms. The family explained to the consultant they hoped to prevent the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To bring in a UK tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the start here is rather osmotic," said the expert.
It's via this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to cultivate.
The consultant explained the tutor must be someone who attended "prestigious academies – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor just has to be the suitable individual, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, just naturally," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or interest in horse riding, winter sports, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to influence the child in a wide range of hobbies.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to sign up the child on a range of courses so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are approximately three years old".
In the family's view, helping their son become a "UK sophisticate" will lead to success and provide access.
"Taking into account the pros and cons of that, because it's undoubtedly a status symbol," he comments.
Yet, notwithstanding all this instruction in "English culture", would the child absorb alleged cultural bias from the international family he lives with anyway?
"Certainly", said he. "They realize this may not work, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the price of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the tutoring industry who express those concerns.
Peter Cui, chief executive of an educational organization, who provides personal educators, wrote that "the journey of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."
The expert noted that he had emigrated from China to the UK at the age of seven, and had been brought up experiencing and embodying dual heritages. He went on to be educated at Cambridge University.
"The notion that an individual can serve as a representation of UK identity, an individual who can possibly transplant the characteristics of a English gentleman to a one-year-old child, strikes me as optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"In my experience, having a quintessentially British tutor from infancy will not necessarily produce the result they hope for.
"I never had such a tutor, and yet I have been privileged enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The fact is, self-identity can not be forced from the external environment; it must be selected, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam hopes can be educated – and marketed.
"I believe the reality that the global community views us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
