(来源：芝士英语)
It's not piano lessons or dance classes. Nowadays, the biggest extra-curricular activity in the West is going to a tutor. "I spend about 800 [Canadian] dollars a month on tutors. It's costly," says Pat, a mother in Canada. However, she adds, "after finding out half my daughter's class had tutors, I felt like my child was going to fall behind because everyone else seemed to be ahead"
不是钢琴课也不是舞蹈班，如今西方最大的课外活动将是上家教。“我每个月在家教上要花800加元。这很贵，”加拿大籍母亲派特说。然而她补充道：“当发觉我女儿班上一半人都有家教后，我感觉我的孩子将落于人后，因为其他孩子看起来超前了。”
Shelley, a mother of three, also has tutors constantly coming in and out of her home. "When I used to sit down with my children, it was hard to get them focused. I was always yelling. When I got a tutor once a week, they became focused for one entire hour and could get most of their homework done."
三个孩子的母亲谢莉也一直有家教老师在其家中进出。“我过去常与孩子们一起坐下来，却很难使他们集中注意力。我常要大喊大叫。但当我每周聘请一次家教后，孩子们都可以专注一整个小时，而且能完成大部分家庭作业。”
Tutoring isn't simply a private school phenomenon. Nor is it geared only toward (只满足于) lower-achieving students. In Canada alone, seven percent of high school students reported using a tutor in 2010. That increased to 15 percent last year.
家教不单只发生在私立学校。它也不只是满足低水平学生的需求。在加拿大，2010年的数据显示仅有7%的高中学生聘请家教。而此数据在去年已增至15%。
Overall, parents hire tutors because they are worried schools are not meeting their expectations, but there is also a cultural shift. A special value is placed on education in Asia, where tutoring is viewed as an extension of the school day. As a large number of Asians emigrated to the West over the recent years, their attitudes towards education have had an impact.
总的来说，家长雇来家教是因为担心学校无法满足他们的期望，但是其中同样渗透着一种文化观念的转变。在亚洲，教育存在着一种特殊价值观：家教被视为学校课时的延伸。近几年里，大量亚洲人移民西方，对他们（欧美人）的教育观产生了重大影响。
Another reason for the growth in business is parental frustration and their packed schedules. "A lot of parents just don’t have time to help their children with homework," says Julie Diamond, president of an American tutoring company. "Others couldn't help their children after Grade 3."
家长们的挫败感和其满当当的日程安排是家教业务增长的另一个原因。“许多家长没时间辅导孩子们做家庭作业，”一位美国家教公司的董事长朱莉·黛梦德说，“而另一些家长辅导不来三年级后的孩子们。”
There has been a shift in the attitudes, too. "Children used to get bullied (欺侮) for having a tutor," Diamond says. "Now it's becoming the norm to have one."
同时，观念本身也在变化。“在过去，孩子们常因请了家教而受到欺侮，” 黛梦德说，“现在请家教正演变成一种日常。”
Children don't seem to mind that they have a tutor. One parent feels surprised that so many of her child’s classmates have tutors. "For the amount we pay in tuition, they should have as much extra help as they need," she says. Still, she’s now thinking of getting a tutor. Why? Her daughter has actually asked for one.
孩子们似乎不介意有个家教。某家长在看到孩子班上许多同学都有家教后，感到十分惊讶。她说：“就我们所付出的学费，孩子们理应获得尽可能多的额外帮助。”不过，她也在考虑请个家教。为什么？因为事实上她女儿希望有一个。
