Shame on.. Whom?

This is a re-post from my old blog.

Ryan* is 21 years old. He is already a graduate of Bachelor of Science course and he is presently taking up English Enhancement Program from me.

Because he got a very low grade in the assessment test, I asked him what the problem was. To this he answered that he doesn’t understand much of the English words. So, I gave him reading materials intended for sixth grader but still he got 10 incorrect answers out of 20. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that he couldn't figure out what a ‘canoe’ is even when the sentence says ‘They used a canoe to cross the river’ (which surely gives an idea that a canoe is something like a boat).

I also found out that he is not familiar with the basic rules in grammar like plural forms and possessive nouns. It saddens me to realize that our schools let a student graduate without knowing the difference between girls and girl’s.

Is there really something wrong? Or I just have an UNREALISTICALLY high standard?

*not real name