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Caroline C - 03:39am Oct 12, 1998 (1.)
I do not understand the word "tiesink". May you help
me please ? thank you
actually, that was a typo. i think that was supposed to be
"timesink" which means that school takes up a lot of
our time.
Your description of school seems to be more idealistic than
that of the United States. You used words and expressions such
as opening up and community, while several MIT students used words
such as stress, hell, and pain. However, the words teachers, work,
classes, and friends showed up frequently for both countries.
What is the stress level in your school? Are most people happy?
Salut Amy, non ici ce n'est pas l'enfer. Stress? Connais plus...
Ca c'etait avant lorsque j'etais en classes preparatoires (je
ne sais pas si vous avez l'equivalent aux Etats-Unis mais ce sont
deux annees tres dures en mathematiques ou en commerce) Et vous,
a quel niveau ressentez vous tout ce stress?
I am curious why the American outlook on education is so negative
compared to that of the French. As a student in France, what is
your opinion on why that is true? Do you think it's because you
enjoy learning perhaps more than American students do? In America
these days, it is just expected of each person to get a certain
amount of education, so we have many people in schools who just
don't want to be there. Is that true in France? Also, especially
at an intense school like MIT, students are extremely stressed
out, and as a result are unhappy. What kind of state of mind are
French students in as college students?
A few MIT students associated books with school, whereas, you
didn't. What is your learning style in France? It seemed like
your responses were more positive than ours.
I find it interesting that we chose such negative words for
school in comparison to you. I do not think that these words are
representative of America, but I believe that they are merely
a reflection of the intense workload of the semester being in
full swing. My word association with 'school' would have been
much different had I been asked during the summer, when everything
is relaxed and when my motivation to acheive my goals is high.
Would you have expected Americans to 'hate' education?
I can see very interesting differences between our words and
yours. I admire the fact that you consider formal education as
preparation for serving the comunity. It is admirable how your
responses reflect the social responsability that you feel towards
your community. i.e preparing yourself for being useful to your
society. That is sometimes the mentality here, but unfortunately
in some cases ,people tend to narrow themselves as individuals
and only concentrate in fulfilling their own personal interests
.
I think in the US, people might take for granted the fact that
pretty much anyone who wants to go to college can. In France,
it is very competitive to get into a "grande ecole".
Is this why the French answers are more positive? Because the
French students feel lucky and proud to be at INT, while we take
for granted being at MIT?
Il me semble que l'image de l'ecole est plus positive en France qu'aux Etats-Unis parce qu'elle est directement liee a l'idee de reussite. Reussir de brillantes etudes, entrer dans une "grande ecole", signifie pratiquement etre assure de son avenir: en France, on appelle ca la meritocratie. Selon moi, cela presente autant d'avantages que d'inconvenients. Un des principaux avantages, c'est que la selection ne se fait pas sur l'argent, mais sur l'intelligence (enfin sur une certaine forme d'intelligence). Un des principaux inconvenients est qu'une fois entre dans une de ces grandes ecoles, on est presque obligatoirement considere comme une personne capable de remplir toutes les fonctions, un peu comme si, en reussissant le concours d'entree on avait gagne un ticket, un passe-partout ouvrant toutes les portes, et par la meme un certificat de reussite future et de prestige. Or ceci se revele assez souvent errone. Il me semble que le systeme americain, s'il aurait tendance a selectionner a l'entree par l'argent, a cet avantage qu'il impose aux eleves de faire leurs preuves par la suite sur des experiences concretes : quelqu'un aura reussi non seulement parce qu'il aura suivi les cours d'une universite reputee, mais aussi (et surtout) parce qu'il aura montre ses capacites sur le terrain (diriger une entreprise par exemple).
PS: toutes mes excuses pour les accents, il n'y en a pas sur
mon clavier.
I agree that in the US there are educational advantages for having the money, but I think that there is still an emphasis on education being the key to enjoying life and being successful. There are schools here in all the cities and if a student wanted to go to college, there are ways for the student to get there and recieve the higher education. I think many of us here at MIT put such negative words down, because as we are trying to attain our goals, we work too many hours on homework adn reading, sports, activities, and on top of that we go out and have fun.
If americans have the money, then yes, they have the opportunity
for a better education, but even the people without money can
get the education that they want.
Allison, je pense que tu n'as pas tort: tous les élèves
de l'INT y sont rentrés après avoir passé
un concours pas facile et s'y être longuement préparé,
donc pour la plupart nous sommes très heureux d'être
dans l'école où nous sommes et cela modifie sûrement
notre vision du mot "école".