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"Parents residing in North London seeks an remarkable and skilled tutor to guide their smallest child on his initial journey to growing into an British gentleman."

Looking at this advertisement, you might naturally overlook the term "initial stages" as simple a turn of phrase.

Yet, it might be the most important part of this distinctive position posting, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a 12-month-old.

Hundreds of responses have already been submitted since the anonymous family published their call for the £180k-a-year tutor, who must be "someone very special".

Over the last few weeks, the post has attracted interest throughout the news, with numerous wondering why?

Progressive Approach

A tutoring expert, chief executive of Tutors International, which is assisting the family in their hunt, said that notwithstanding initial scepticism, he found the idea "forward-looking", and "innovative".

When he met the family, he noted they appreciated the unconventional nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.

Nevertheless, they clarified that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had held off until their elder sibling was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had already become established".

What precisely does the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?

It's "everything", the expert answered. "The way you eat, the manner you speak".

He explained the older sibling had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had taken on their cultural ways. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent history to recur with their younger child.

The intention: To bring in a UK tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from the very start.

Osmotic Learning

"A great deal of the development at the outset here is kind of osmotic," explained the CEO.

It's through this subtle influence that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to impart.

The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who attended "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family aspire to send their son to".

"The instructor must be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.

Expense Not a Factor

The family told the expert the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, alpine skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to shape the child in a wide range of hobbies.

Additionally though, he stated the family hoped the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "pony-riding and starting an instrument by the time they are around three years old".

In the family's view, assisting their son develop into a "UK sophisticate" will bring about success and provide access.

"Taking into account the rights and wrongs of that, because it's definitely a status symbol," he adds.

However, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural leaning from the globally influenced family he lives with anyway?

"Absolutely", said the CEO. "The parents understand this may not work, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as early as we can', because the price of it is not relevant," he explained.

Idealistic and Unrealistic

There are some in the private teaching field who express similar reservations.

Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who provides private tutors, wrote that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or actually, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not manufactured."

Peter noted that he had moved from China to the UK at the period of childhood, and had been brought up understanding and practicing dual heritages. He continued to study at Cambridge University.

"The idea that a single person can serve as a representation of English culture, an individual who can possibly impart the characteristics of a British gentleman onto a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he commented.

"Based on my background, employing a distinctly UK tutor from infancy will does not automatically achieve the goal they hope for.

"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to experience many of the opportunities they aspire for their son."

He added: "The reality is, self-identity cannot be imposed from the outside; it must be selected, and it must originate internally."

Acquiring Englishness

Naturally, English culture is something Adam hopes can be educated – and commercialized.

"In my view the fact that the global community regards us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating