Good student / Bon étudiant
un bon étudiant
Posted by vincent on February 24, 2004
Un bon étudiant est un étudiant qui étudie ŕ l'IUP d'Assas en Managment et nouvelles technologies. ;-))))
Poor
Posted by Kezia on February 24, 2004
It is interesting that you would connect being poor with being a good student. Why is that?
question
Posted by Jonathan on February 25, 2004
what is more important in France: learning for the sake of learning or for the sake of the grade?
Getting Good Grades
Posted by Alicia on February 25, 2004
I found it really interesting that a lot of people on the American side wrote "gets good grades" in this sentence completion but that it did not appear at all on the French side. Previously, in a discussion in the word association:school/ecole forum, it was mentioned that school in France is very competitive and there is a great emphasis on doing well and getting good grades. I was wondering, since there seems to be a similar emphasis on getting good grades in both France and America, why is it that only one side seems to associate it with being a good student? In America, I think that there are two different definitions of a "good" student. "Good" could be taken literally as in: a student that does/performs well, which then is measured by good grades. The other definition is more general,"good" student also means being a "good" person and encompasses more things such as working hard, loving their studies, and really learning something meaningful from classes. Is there also this dual sense of a "good student" in France? Or is there a heavy emphasis placed on definition and not as much the other? If so, is there another term you would use to define a student who gets good grades other than "un bon etudiant"?
Hmm!
Posted by Jan on February 25, 2004
I noticed that this is a more general phenomenon - the French responses are often more elevated, mentioning values that go beyond personal profit or success - whether it is about a "good student", "good job", "good lawyer"... Is it that the French are more socially aware, or more idealistic? The American view is certainly less glamorous. Grades, money, success... Is the difference real, or is it just how we tend to see ourselves?
Agree
Posted by Felipe on February 26, 2004
I completely agree with Jan. The American responses are more concrete, tangible, materialistic, and usually refer to themselves. The French students use more implicit, abstract concepts which in many cases also involve third persons. I'm trying to think of a reason for this difference (beyond just saying that "Americans are self centered”). Any clues?
Grades
Posted by Yong-yi on February 26, 2004
Do you find yourselves being relaxed about grades in school? I think that although here, grades are not the crux of what we do in school, it's been drilled into us for so long that it is difficult to get student and grades apart. For the French, that appears to not be the case. Is it because you grew up in an environment were grades were more relaxed?
Reality
Posted by Peter on February 26, 2004
It seems that the French responses seem much more grounded in reality than the Americans; for us at MIT, nothing is more essential than the "all-important-A," but you in France, you seem to have a much better understanding for the true purpose and function of school: it's to educate you for some kind of eventual practical application to life in the context of family and society. Do you find it to be true that the French in general become educated not only for education's sake, but to achieve some kind of greater purpose in your lives and in the lives of the surrounding society?
A different question
Posted by Phil on February 26, 2004
So it seems like the subject of "USA is obsessed with grades" has been beaten to death. Most of my thoughts have been shared by others, so I have a different question. What is the grading system like in France? Does it change between high school and university? In my high school, we were graded with A=90-200%, B=80-90, C=70-80, D=60-70, F<60. At MIT, there is no set scale like there was in high school, and the professors in my department assign grades based on the class performance and difficulty of tests. I know some departments have B centered courses, meaning that the average score is given a middle-range B and the other scores are statistically determined. I was just wondering if there was a difference in the grading system that might help to explain things.
grades, some more
Posted by Molly on February 28, 2004
Perhaps it is that a good student at MIT, not just in the US, is one who gets good grades? I think it is safe to say that at MIT people take classes out of their love of the material and desire to understand it, but this does not necessarily translate into having good grades or a good work ethic (which would be things that would set a student apart from the pack here at MIT).