"A family located in north London seeks an exceptional and skilled educator to assist their smallest child on his early path to growing into an English gentleman."
Upon seeing this post, you might naturally overlook the wording "beginning" as simple a turn of phrase.
However, it may be the crucial part of this unique job advert, as it seeks to find a mentor for a one-year-old.
Hundreds of applications have already been received since the anonymous family posted their search for the highly paid tutor, who has to be "someone very special".
During the past few weeks, the listing has gained attention in the news, with numerous asking why?
Innovative Idea
Adam Caller, head and founder of an education consultancy, which is helping the family in their search, said that despite initial doubt, he found the plan "visionary", and "progressive".
When he met the family, he said they recognized the unusual nature of their requirement, and how young their son is.
But, they stated that they "preferred not to postpone any longer" to get a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that point "cultural influence had already become established".
What precisely did the family refer to by "cultural leaning"?
It's "all-encompassing", he replied. "The manner you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the firstborn had absorbed "very nuanced, unspoken signals" from the family, and had adopted their cultural habits. The family told Adam they did not want the same situation to recur with their new baby.
The strategy: To hire a English tutor, who should speak with Received Pronunciation, to shape the baby from the very start.
Natural Absorption
"A great deal of the learning at the outset here is kind of osmotic," stated Adam.
It's through this natural absorption that the family are aiming the child will pick up the English characteristics they wish to instil.
He noted the tutor needed to be an individual who went to "the right kinds of schools – similar types of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The tutor simply needs to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they don't even know they're doing, simply by nature," he commented.
Cost Not Relevant
The family told him the successful candidate should ideally also have understanding of or enthusiasm in equestrian activities, skiing, the arts and music so as to shape the child in a diverse set of interests.
Additionally though, he stated the family desired the tutor to enrol the child on a range of classes so the child would be "horseback riding and starting an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, helping their son develop into a "British gentleman" will result in success and open doors.
"Considering the rights and wrongs of that, because it's undoubtedly a class statement," he adds.
But, notwithstanding all this tutelage in "English culture", might the child absorb so-called cultural bias from the globally influenced family he lives with regardless?
"Certainly", replied he. "The family realize this could fail, but they've simply adopted the view of, 'why not attempt it and we should start as early as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he stated.
Impractical
There are some in the education sector who have those reservations.
Peter Cui, CEO and founder of a tutoring service, who supplies personal educators, wrote that "the development of embracing two identities, or indeed, discovering oneself, is something that must be grown into, not engineered."
He explained that he had moved from China to the United Kingdom at the age of 7 years old, and had been raised knowing and living two backgrounds. He continued to study at Cambridge University.
"The concept that an individual can act as a embodiment of UK identity, an individual who can somehow transplant the qualities of a English gentleman upon a infant child, appears idealistic and unrealistic," he stated.
"From my perspective, engaging a quintessentially UK tutor from early childhood will not automatically produce the result they desire.
"I wasn't provided with such a figure, and yet I have been lucky enough to enjoy numerous of the experiences they desire for their son."
He added: "The truth is, personal identity cannot be forced from the outside influences; it must be chosen, and it must come from within."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, UK identity is something the CEO believes can be instructed – and sold.
"I think the fact that the global community holds us in this respect is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
