"A family located in North London wants to find an extraordinary and skilled instructor to assist their most junior child on his first steps to turning into an British gentleman."
When reading this listing, you might readily miss the term "initial stages" as mere figurative language.
However, it may be the most important part of this unusual position posting, as it attempts to hire a tutor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have since been received since the unnamed family published their search for the highly paid tutor, who must be "someone very special".
Over the last few weeks, the advert has received notice across the news, with numerous asking why?
Forward-Thinking Method
Adam Caller, chief executive of Tutors International, which is helping the family in their hunt, said that in spite of early doubt, he considered the concept "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they understood the unconventional nature of their demand, and how immature their son is.
But, they explained that they "didn't want to wait any longer" to engage a tutor, as they had waited until their firstborn was five, and by that stage "cultural influence had already set in".
What exactly does the family mean by "cultural bias"?
It's "everything", he answered. "The manner you eat, the manner you speak".
He said the older sibling had adopted "really subtle, non-verbal cues" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told Adam they hoped to prevent the same situation to repeat itself with their younger child.
The strategy: To hire a British tutor, who needs to speak with standard English accent, to guide the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"A lot of the learning at the start here is somewhat absorbed naturally," said the CEO.
It's by means of this natural absorption that the family are hoping the child will pick up the UK customs they aim to impart.
The consultant said the tutor had to be somebody who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The instructor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be carrying out things they don't even know they're doing, effortlessly," he added.
Money No Object
The family informed Adam the selected educator should ideally also have knowledge of or enthusiasm in horse riding, alpine skiing, artistic pursuits and instrumental training so as to inspire the child in a wide range of passions.
Furthermore though, he said the family desired the tutor to register the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an musical instrument by the time they are around three years old".
In the family's perspective, guiding their son become a "English gentleman" will result in success and provide access.
"Considering the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's undoubtedly a social class indicator," he notes.
Yet, despite all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child pick up alleged cultural leaning from the multicultural family he lives with regardless?
"Yes", replied Adam. "The family understand this may not work, but they've merely embraced the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as quickly as we can', because the cost of it is not relevant," he said.
Idealistic and Unrealistic
Several in the private teaching field who express these doubts.
Peter Cui, head and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, commented that "the process of adopting dual cultures, or in fact, becoming oneself, is something that must be lived into, not designed."
He explained that he had relocated from China to the UK at the period of 7 years old, and had been brought up experiencing and practicing two backgrounds. He continued to learn at the University of Cambridge.
"The notion that a single person can serve as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can in some way transplant the qualities of a UK sophisticate upon a 12-month-old child, strikes me as naive and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, employing a distinctly English tutor from early childhood will will not automatically produce the result they hope for.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and nevertheless I have been fortunate enough to live many of the situations they hope for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity cannot be dictated from the outside influences; it must be selected, and it must come from within."
Acquiring Englishness
Certainly, Britishness is something Adam believes can be instructed – and commercialized.
"In my view the situation that the international society views us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
