SAT/ACT ENGLISH CLASS

Quick start for the class

Parents or students who are interested in this class, please email Dr. Huang at SATEnglish@gmail.com to

1. tell the parent’s full name,
2. tell the student’s full name, and
3. request the information about the class.

How:

• SEEC is offered all year round. A student can try and join the class any week, but the student or parent must email Dr. Huang first.
• There is one class each week. If a student wishes to take more than one class, s/he can purchase the video recordings of the earlier lessons since all lessons have been video-taped.
• The amount of time on the homework every week is 30 minutes on average.
• Dr. Huang does NOT provide one-on-one training on a routine basis.
• Students often discontinue the class after they have earned a satisfying SAT/PSAT score. It is also common that younger students who have taken the class for some time wish to take a break for some months and rejoin the class later. In either case, it is appreciated that a student notifies Dr. Huang. For any student who will be permanently gone or be away from the class for longer than four weeks, the student’s name will be taken off or temporarily taken off the class Google Group.

Where:

• Online classroom (Contact Dr. Huang for the online classroom link.).

When:

• Please see schedule.
• The Saturday session and the Sunday session are repeated. Students do not need to come to both sessions. Students are busy. Therefore, the two sessions are set up for the students’ convenience. SEEC Students should feel free to attend either session and hop between the two without asking for permission.

How early should a student join SEEC to prepare for SAT/PSAT?

Many similar classes have a defined period, such as 10 weeks, or a defined number of classes. Dr. Huang’s class is different. It is like a never-ending train. Students can hop on anywhere with any kind of preparedness for SAT/PSAT and get off at his/her self-defined destination (goal of score and English competency) without experiencing the repeated content in two years unless Dr. Huang intentionally repeats some materials to solidify retention. The missed content will reappear later in a different flavor.

With all that said, students are suggested to start to prepare for SAT/PSAT from the second half of 8th grade and work till 10th grade. Here are the four reasons:

1. Any meaningful progress takes time. Most students usually take half a year to two years to achieve their desired level of performance.
2. 11th grade is often the busiest year in high school. Students are very busy with their AP courses or IB courses, club activities, community service, competition preparation, etc., and hardly have time for SAT/PSAT/ACT preparation. If a student starts the SAT preparation in 8th grade, students can take the real test in October of  10th grade once and for all. If they wish to take it one more time if the score is not desirable, they can make it up sometime later in 10th grade.
3. Many students apply to summer camps at the end of 10th grade. Many competitive summer camps require an SAT score. Such applications usually must be submitted between December and March.
4. SEEC content is not systematically taught at school but is tested in standardized tests and is useful for a lifetime. Therefore, early exposure to professional English training builds confidence both inside and outside of school. Early SAT training greatly helps high school students with their performances in school, especially those advanced courses, such as AP or IB courses, because all of these courses require that students demonstrate outstanding reading and writing abilities. Some 6th to 8th graders in this class have participated in their states’ talent search by taking a real SAT and won awards.

How long should a student attend SEEC?

Dr. Huang’s answer depends on a student’s answers to the following questions:

1. How academically mature am I? Am I ready for such a training? Some 7th graders in SEEC can be more motivated than 11th graders. If a student plays with cell phone in class often, talks casually with another student frequently, or hardly works on homework, then the progress is surely slow or minimal.
2. Am I a quick learner? If a student can remember, understand and apply what s/he has learned in SEEC, quick progress is inevitable.
3. What is my goal for SAT/PSAT/ACT performance? A student who wishes earn 1600 in SAT tends to stay in SEEC longer.

In short, since students have different kinds of academic maturity, learning pace, current preparedness for SAT/ACT, and goal in a real test, Dr. Huang allows students to stay in his class to learn until they feel comfortable to take the real test. During their stay in SEEC, they learn not only test-taking skills but also foundations of English language art. Therefore, their learning not only helps them with their SAT/PSAT/ACT performances but also boost their school performances.

What if a student misses classes?

• Since all sessions are video-recorded, students can take video recording as a time-shift tool.
• Since the class is online, a student can take the class anywhere in the world so long as there is a fast Internet connection and as the student is available.

What do you physically need to join Dr. Huang’s class?

1. You need to install free Adobe Connect.
2. You need a relatively fast Internet connection. Ideally, it is faster than 200mbps. You can test your home Internet connect speed at least three times by clicking fast.com.
3. You need a printer to print in-class exercise materials.

What is the best way to take Dr. Huang’s class from Mainland China?

Please pay attention if you are taking Dr. Huang’s class from Mainland China. All students in China can get into the online classroom without a VPN. To access Google Form during the class, however, you do need a VPN. The problem is that connecting to VPN drastically reduces your connection speed. Therefore, here is a recommended solution: use one computer without VPN to connect to the online classroom while using another computer with VPN to access Google Forms.

How does this class help ESL students?

While ESL students certainly can greatly benefit from this class, Dr. Huang does not teach ESL content in this class. ESL students should rely on their own schools to improve their basic English speaking, reading, and writing skill.

What if your child will take a real test very soon?

For those students who have to take a real test very soon, you can contact Dr. Huang to purchase any number of the recorded sessions so as to have a concentrated training within a very short period of time.

Class requirements

Here are the requirements for attending SAT/ACT English Enhancement Class (SEEC).

1. Be on time every time. The class always begins on time.
2. You are expected to take notes. So please bring a notepad.
3. Complete the assigned homework by the designated deadline because all the late submissions will be ignored.
4. Feel free to ask questions in class or via email. There are no dumb questions in SEEC.
5. Check class email weekly for homework and check class schedule at the end of a month.
6. Always review the class content.
7. Pay the full tuition by the 1st of a month.