As a primary school student, why do I admire American education?

Thirty years ago, when I was still in the sixth grade of elementary school, my mother took me to study in New York.

I was still young, so I didn’t think about the meaning of studying abroad, but I was very happy to be able to go abroad. My classmates and teachers at school were very envious of me. One month before I took the plane, I felt windy when I walked at school, and I was very proud of it😎 ~

But after arriving in New York, I discovered one thing, I don't know English, so how can I go to class😱?

Because at that time, Taiwan only had English classes in junior high school, and it was not as good as everyone's environment now, so they taught their children English abroad early.

As a result, I even hurriedly learned 26 letters before going abroad, and I landed without memorizing the whole person.

I had to go to ESL (English as second language) first, which is simply an English class for foreigners.

Also because of this, I reread the sixth grade 😞.

Since I have already passed the age where I can naturally learn foreign languages just by listening, even if I listen to English wherever I go, watch TV, go out and play after class, after a long period of time, the class is like a duck listening to thunder. a life of misery.

Math classes are easy to deal with. Taiwan's math education is far ahead of the United States. The math classes in the sixth grade of their primary school are probably equal to the fourth grade in Taiwan. Even if I am poor in math, I can enjoy the taste of math masters there 😃 .

Reading class articles is not difficult, but of course it took a long time to study and keep the dictionary in hand before slowly keeping up with the progress. Occasionally, there are group memorization competitions. Basically, which group I am in, which group is the champion, the strengths of Chinese memorization finally come in handy.

I also feel that my classmates are lazy, and even memorizing dozens of hundreds of words will have to complain a lot.

As for the physical education class, although not hard, but the heart is very hard.

Because there are not many Chinese in the school, I could meet some in New York. After I moved to New Jersey, I was the only Chinese in the whole school. Every time I played volleyball in groups, my classmates did not want me, a yellow-skinned Chinese, to join. And I usually chase after you and laugh at you, bully you on the school bus, etc. This is the first time I know what racism is, but I can do nothing but wash my face with tears every day.

Other classes, such as geography, natural science, etc., 80% of the time that I can understand it is already in junior high school two years later. Before that, I often didn’t do my homework, and I didn’t do well in exams, but the teacher can understand it. The pressure of study is very high. Light, I am happy with everything. Later, I found out that even though the homework was too little, many students didn't hand in their homework. When facing the teacher's inquiry, they forgot the sentence with a smile on their face. ! If you are in Taiwan, don't even think about leaving school without kneeling until the end of class.

There is also a very special class, including painting, violin, handicrafts and other talent classes for students to choose freely. I originally chose painting, but after the second class, I invited the teacher out, because I even had one I can't even draw an apple.

Later, the teacher discussed it, and for some reason, I was thrown into the orchestra.

In fact, this arrangement is even more strange, because none of the students in the orchestra are completely zero-based like me.

So even though I was given a violin, at the beginning the class was led by senior classmates to practice in a small room, and it took me several months to study alone before I could finally sit outside and have class with everyone.

Joining the orchestra will be more difficult. I often have to go to school an hour earlier to rehearse with everyone. On holidays, I will practice alone at home, especially because my level is very poor. Thank you for the time I had. If I were in Taiwan, I would never have the opportunity to learn an instrument in my life, let alone join an orchestra.

After studying in the United States for less than a year, I have gradually discovered the benefits of an American-style education.

When I was studying in Taiwan, I had to get a bunch of textbooks and workbooks at the beginning of the school year, and I had to buy external exercises to do at my own expense. In other words, if I knew the textbooks by heart, I would get good grades.

However, in the United States, we rarely use textbooks in class. Most of us use the lecture notes given by teachers in class, and we often make reports. To do a good report, we need to go to the library to check the materials. In other words, the learning method of dead reading textbooks is completely acceptable. No way.

Besides, there is not only no homework at ordinary times, but also very few exams, which is something that I could never imagine when I was studying in Taiwan.

I have never heard of a student who went to the teacher's house to continue tutoring after class. In the United States, it is the same even in middle and high school. There is no heavy learning atmosphere, only adaptive development. For example, there are two kinds of mathematics courses, ordinary and advanced, and mathematics is good. The classmates with the points will be assigned to the advanced class, but even so, no student has a sense of superiority because of this.

The classmates also have slightly different classes, so there is no real classmate. There will always be some differences between the classmates who take the class together. Whoever has a good homework almost no one cares at all. Of course, there are especially gifted students, but the teacher does not. It will be emphasized, and there is no discriminatory treatment. Students with good homework are not particularly popular in school. Instead, they are popular with students who are good in sports, handsome, beautiful, and can dress up.

Also, school ends at 3 pm every day, in Taiwan it is 4 or 5 o'clock - then go to cram school, get home at least 6 or 7 o'clock, do homework again, and even the only relaxing physical education class is sometimes brought to math class , because the whole education is telling students that life is not just about exams and homework, so students can develop other interests without mental stress.

After more than four years, my mother and I returned to Taiwan. Only then did I truly feel how important the study abroad life was in the past few years.

I deeply understand how different the educational systems and educational methods of the two sides are.

And I have to say that Taiwan’s education puts too much pressure on students. There are many students who commit suicide in junior high and high school, but the results of studying so hard are not ideal. The overall quality of students is not as high as that in the United States, and their heads tend to become rigid. , Without our own thinking ability, what the teacher says is what we say, and slowly we lose the ability and creativity that should be cultivated the most. To make matters worse, everything is determined by grades, rather than teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, and it has nothing to do with character. It is inevitable that the next generation taught in this way will lose to Western countries. What about competitiveness?

We believe that there is still a long way to go in the reform of our education system and learning atmosphere. Before that, as long as there are conditions, or students who can apply for study abroad loans, they must strive to study abroad. I believe you can get It is not only the widening of vision written in many answers, but also truly benefiting from the high-quality education system, which has a profound impact on my life.

Replenish:

As a reminder, the younger you are going abroad for education, the greater the advantage of language learning and the better integration into the local environment. However, it is best to be accompanied by parents or have relatives to take care of them locally, otherwise international students will fail in their studies. Also many.

If you are going to high school or university, parents can’t follow. They must pay close attention to their children’s life. When I went to graduate school, I chose the UK. The atmosphere of the graduate school was good. Some of the international students are also bad in their studies. Most of them are promiscuous, smoked marijuana, and even get into the bad habit of gambling. Many of them lose school fees. In the end, they only get a diploma, and many of them will not graduate. Therefore, parents who plan to send their children to study abroad must plan carefully. , not just sending people away.

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