Students/Parents testimonials
A warm thank you to all of my students and parents who have taken the time to provide some feedback and testimonials on my teaching.
Mrs Woo, mother of prospective Year 7 Wycombe Abbey student
I am so grateful that I found Teresa before the 11+ pre-tests to school entrance exams. We had no idea where to begin to prepare for non-verbal, verbal and other subjects.
Apart from imparting knowledge and analyzing exam techniques and questions with Claudia, Teresa also instilled encouragement and confidence with her amazing rapport with Claudia. Claudia's acceptance by Wycombe and success in the 11+ exams is a confirmation of the result of the hard work that Teresa and Claudia endured. We are looking forward to starting Latin lessons with Teresa, which definitely be inspirational and 'awesome', as Claudia would say!
Mrs Chan, mother of prospective Year 7 Wycombe Abbey student
Teresa helped my daughter to prepare for the pre-test assessments for 11 plus entry to a number of renowned independent girls boarding school in the UK. She is a highly experienced and effective tutor, who has deep knowledge in the 11 plus subjects. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed her lessons with Teresa and her exams skills have very much improved. I am happy to report that my daughter has been offered firm places for 11 plus by a number of the highly ranked girls' schools. I cannot thank her enough for her guidance throughout the challenging school admission processes.
Vincent, father of Year 6 ISF Academy student
Teresa started tutoring my son about half a year ago to prepare him for boarding school pre-tests in general and in particular, the UKiset exam for Eton College. My son benefited immensely from her enthusiasm, experience and teaching competence, and achieved outstanding results in his UKiset test. I can recommend her as a highly capable tutor.
Carrie, mother of Year 9 and Year 11 Eton College students
It's really a privilege that my sons can learn from Teresa. She knows the subjects and the needs of her student well. Hence, her lessons have been highly effective and my sons enjoy her teaching. It was very fortunate to know Teresa a few months before my younger son sat the Common Entrance Examination for Eton, as I have witnessed dramatic improvement in his English. I was impressed by Teresa's ability in stimulating my son's interest in the subject. I would highly recommend her to all who are looking for a reliable tutor.
Justin, Year 12, Harrow School
Teresa, I'd really like to express my gratitude for all the effort you put into helping me achieve that A in my AS Latin! For me, learning the set text was the most tedious thing imaginable so how you managed to sit through all those lessons, helping me learn it, is beyond me. Your degree of patience is exemplary and I sincerely appreciate all that you've done! Thanks once again!
Christopher, Year 9, Eton College
Teresa is an excellent tutor. I was at school in Hong Kong but I was going to move to boarding school in England where I would need to learn French and Latin. After a few sessions I was up to speed with the people in my school in both subjects. I am now at Eton College and in high sets for both of the languages. Thanks to Teresa I did in two years what took some people five. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is interested in any of her subjects.
Peter, father of Year 8 GSIS student
Teresa, I would like to take this chance to express my wholehearted thank you for helping Jeremy prepare for the interview with Winchester College in 2014 and continue helping him to prepare for the Winchester entrance exam in 2016. With your guidance, Jeremy has been demonstrating steady improvement in his math skills and developing interest in Latin. Your help is much appreciated. Am also glad to see the much deserved progress in your business. With your dedication, I can see the bright future of your practice. Keep it up and all the best.
Mrs Cheuk, mother of former students from Winchester College, Malvern College and GSIS
Teresa tutored my three kids in different subjects - English, Maths and Latin when they were in UK boarding schools a few years ago. She was responsible, dedicated and enthusiastic about the subjects she tutored. Teresa was able to maintain a good relationship with my kids which made learning more interesting and enjoyable.
Latin is a subject which most students find boring and difficult, especially for HK students who don't have a foundation in their early education like the local UK students. My younger son was in a traditional UK boarding school where Latin was a compulsory subject and Teresa helped him achieve a high A* for his IGCSE. It is also worth mentioning that she helped my daughter, who sat IGCSE Latin for extracurricular interest, to get an A* within 2 years' time. I greatly appreciate Teresa's tremendous encouragement in helping them achieve the good results.
Lisa, mother of Year 11 Eton College student
Teresa is wonderful and has excellent rapport with my son. She started giving him Latin lessons the summer prior to his start at Eton College. Her unique teaching method and techniques not only helped him excel in a class with boys who have had Latin in prep school, she also gave him a solid foundation of the language which is a key to his success in the subject today. My son is now in the top set for Latin at Eton and will be sitting for the GCSE exam this May. I have full confidence that Teresa will provide him with all the support he needs to get an A*.
Susanna, mother of Year 3 and Year 5 Yew Chung International School students
Dear Ms. Ng,
Thank you for teaching my son and daughter throughout these years. You have been teaching both of them Latin and French since Anders and Shanna were 6 and 4 years old, I notice that their language skills have been improving a lot during this period.
Your lively teaching method encourages them to be more confident. They have been provided a variety of ways to absorb knowledge, which effectively increase their interests in learning languages. Your professional attitude and experience have paid off on helping Anders and Shanna to achieve good results in the future. I really appreciate the effort you have put into it.
Best regards,
Susanna
Mrs Mok, mother of former GCSE student from Winchester College
Getting to know Teresa is a blessing to me and my son. My son is currently a freshman in a renowned university, which my husband and I are proud of his achievement.
Back in a few years ago, my son was accepted by a prestige traditional high school in the United Kingdom. While we were joyful of his acceptance, we found there is a major obstacle in his study. Just like other old traditional high schools in UK, Latin and French are compulsory studies for his IGCSE. French is a familiar language in Hong Kong, but Latin is the subject most parents in the School label it as "student killer". With the numbered Latin tutors in Hong Kong, I thought I was lucky enough of hiring the most prominent and pricey Latin tutor for my son. But the nightmare was out in a few lessons, which my son was depressed and discouraged by the tutor telling him to give up and abandon Latin.
While my son and I were in desperation, my blessing was answered by this young lady, Teresa. She was introduced to me by a closed friend, who I wasn't expecting much from her at the beginning. However, my son's Latin was just lightened up by her in days. I found my son was showing interest of Latin first time in his life, and he ended up receiving a A* in Latin at his IGCSE.
I understand success is not by luck. Teresa is always well prepared for her lessons, and her skills are unique and motivational. Unlike other ordinary tutors, Teresa manages to close the gap and bond with her students effectively. Her angelic patience and positive attitude drive her students to accomplish great success. I am utmost satisfied and impressed by her teaching, and wish there are more Latin teachers like her in Hong Kong.
Jeremy, Year 7, German Swiss International School (GSIS)
Throughout the 2 years with Teresa, I have learnt a lot on maths, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English and Latin. The subjects that really helped me a lot were Latin and English, because with Latin, I first thought it was hard, but after she told me there were ways of remembering words, I felt a lot more relaxed. Also, she frequently gave me Latin vocab tests, which could test me on my ability. With English, she helped me on my comprehension skills, and (to) understand more complicated English. Also, in German at school, the cases that she taught me with Latin actually also applies with German, making me know all the cases. Thus, I am very happy I have learnt Latin with her.
For maths, there were quite a few questions (in the textbooks and school homework) that were really hard, and she really helped me with those questions. For verbal and non-verbal reasoning, she taught me how to think of sequences and how to recognise patterns, all for the Winchester assessment. I'm doing my Winchester entrance exams in 2016, and hopefully with the help of Teresa and my school, I hope that I will pass.
Mrs Stannard, mother of Year 9 Wycombe Abbey student and Year 12 Eton College student
Teresa was a great help to both our children. Their Latin standard improved markedly under her tuition. She knows her subjects and various syllabus very well and therefore makes a perfect tutor in preparing individual students for their exams.
Jasmine, Year 11, South Island School
After 3 and a half years of maths and 2 years of English with Teresa, I found that both my maths and English have improved a lot. In English, I found that my vocabulary, grammar and comprehension have improved. In maths, I would always forget formulas and methods but I am now better at remembering and understanding (them). I will be taking my GCSEs in June 2015, and with Teresa's help I feel I have grown more confident.
Adrian, Primary 6, Diocesan Boys' School (DBS)
Though I have only started learning Latin (recently) with Ms. Ng, she has given me a deep insight into this very hard language. She has taken me from a complete beginner to a level where I can read some passages of Latin in a very short time. The lessons are interesting and the way Ms. Ng introduces me to different sections of Latin is fascinating. I have learnt a lot in this short period and am looking forward to unlocking new levels in Latin.
Daniel, University College London (previously Canadian International School)
Studied Latin IGCSE for personal interest
Studied Latin IGCSE for personal interest
I started learning Latin two months before starting lessons with Teresa. Because I was a new student, my knowledge of the Latin language and my capabilities as a student were unknown to Teresa. Nevertheless, Teresa was able to instantly identify that I grasp languages best through persistent practice and fully understanding theories. This was an important aspect to her tutoring as she crafted and formed her lessons based on how the student learnt best.
As an infant, I learnt English without learning an awareness for the grammar. Latin, for me, was a way to revisit the grammatical terms such as the imperfect tense and the perfect tense. Although I had been subconsciously using these tenses, I did not know what they meant. Teresa took her time to explain the terms and applied them in both English and Latin so that I could comprehend and correctly employ them, showing her aptitude in both languages.
As she has taught many students Latin, she was able to discern the common grammatical mistakes made by the other students. With this knowledge, she had an advantage over other tutors as she was able to direct her students to not fall into the same traps. For example, the word ‘vis’ (power) appears different in its nominative plural form (‘vires’) and is often mixed-up with the word ‘vir’ (man). Having been suggested that the word is irregular, I was taught to be more attentive towards its irregularity and to not mix it up with the ‘vir’.
For my iGCSE, I received an A* but the grade should really be attributed to Teresa’s commitment and persistence. As a student, outside of the classes with Teresa, I was not diligent. I rarely studied outside of class to learn vocabulary lists, declensions and conjugation endings. As such, Teresa shaped her classes to work on the grammar and vocabulary I often mixed up or did not remember, this was essential to my results as I was able to rapidly identify the tricks that the iGCSE board expected students to stumble on. The iGCSE had another section where students are required to classic literature. While the texts were tedious to me, Teresa made learning the texts more fun by illustrating the scenes by adding her own opinions and comments. The way to excel in this section is to learn the texts word for word, and it was a struggle for me. Although the teaching style was mundane and frivolous at first, I was given insight to learning set texts. I now study Old Norse at a university, where I have to learn set texts as well. By employing Teresa’s methods, I was able to get a first in this class. Without having had this experience with set texts, I doubt that I would have achieved this grade.
What I find most alluring about Teresa’s teaching style is that she is able to empathise with her students. She understands that many of her students have other commitments outside of her classes. Our lessons were usually 3-hours long and relatively late in the day. As a result, my attention span was parallel to the deadness of Latin. Although I constantly fell victim to Hypnos, the God of Sleep, Teresa was still able to properly prepare me for my examinations and teach me the necessary grammar. It takes a lot for a teacher to teach an indolent student who often fell asleep in class, and if Teresa was able to get me an A*, she most likely can get your child one as well.
Anders, Year 5, Yew Chung International School (YCIS)
Ann, adult learner, studying Latin for personal interest
I started learning Latin with Teresa 3.5 years ago. I have taken many foreign language classes before and Teresa is one of the more engaging and fun teachers I have had. She uses interesting materials and is well prepared for each lesson. I tried learning Latin by myself but found the self-study books very boring and confusing, and was ready to give up. However, after a few lessons with Teresa, she was able to explain everything clearly to me and with a few mnemonics to help, it didn’t seem as daunting anymore. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get this far without her.
Andrew, Year 9, Eton College
Although I have only started Latin with Teresa for a month, I found that my Latin improved significantly. Originally, I could only read Latin by guessing the meanings but now, I could also understand the grammar and write a bit in Latin. Her solid explanation allowed me to have a thorough understanding in the language, and the amount of practice she gave me allowed me to be familiar with such a complex language.
Primary 6 student, St. Paul's Co-educational College (SPCC)
I have learnt Latin with Teresa for some time now to prepare for school in England. The hardest thing about Latin is learning the conjugations and declensions. We make flash cards to help me remember the tables and I am now more familiar with the language and can translate passages from Latin to English and the other way round. I like learning most about background information, like gladiators, history and myths.
Year 9 student, Cheltenham Ladies College (CLC)
Teresa taught me Maths, English, Verbal and Non-verbal Reasoning and French. She got me textbooks, exercise books and also past papers of the Common Entrance Exams in order to prepare me for the Year 9 entry to boarding schools in England.
For English, she taught me how to analyse passages, put them into sentences and eventually write an essay about it. She also taught me how to make a creative writing piece lively and interesting. She taught me exam techniques that could help me ace my exam.
In Maths, she taught me all the topics needed for the Year 9 syllabus. We worked through the challenging questions together which also taught me a few other techniques in Maths.
For French, she worked through the language in detail, and gave me tests to evaluate my progress. Even though I don't take French anymore, I still remember bits and pieces of it which help me in my everyday life.
For verbal and non-verbal reasoning, we did a lot of practice and even though I was new to it, she still worked with me and I slowly got the hang of it.
When it got a bit closer to the entrance exams, we did a lot of past papers, which also helped me with exam techniques to prepare for the real one. Overall, she helped me a lot with my entrance exam and I really do feel very thankful for it.
Hong Kiu, Year 11, Eton College
In my four years with Teresa, I have gone from a beginner to taking the Latin GCSE soon. It has been a long journey but I have learnt a lot about exam techniques and revision skills that have helped me to be promoted to the top set in my school.
Nicholas, Year 12, Winchester College
Teresa's unique methods helped me a lot in preparation for my IGCSE Latin exam. Her insightful explanations and tips made the actual exam so much easier. Thanks again!