Speakout Advanced p 28. Vanessa Mae on The Mail. Extra Reading

My mother hit me and made me kowtow to her... on my knees: Vanessa Mae reveals how her strict tiger mother slapped her face to improve her violin playing

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2608598/My-mother-hit-kowtow-knees-Vanessa-Mae-reveals-strict-tiger-mother-slapped-face-improve-violin-playing.html#ixzz30LuOgWjP

kowtow (to somebody/something) /ˌkaʊˈtaʊ/ (informal, disapproving) to show somebody in authority too much respect and be too willing to obey them. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to kowtow to anyone.


tiger mother: a very strict mother who makes her children work hard in order to be very successful at school, etc., thought to be typical of mothers in China and East Asia. E.g. Being raised by a tiger mother to me means as a child, I wasn't given the freedom to make my own decisions.