Title:
High School Exchange Students in US Share Their
Thoughts
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Education Report.
See text below
Text:
Twenty-six thousand foreign exchange students are in
American high schools this year. We asked four
teenagers who arrived in August to discuss their
experience so far. All but one are attending public
schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside
Washington.
Johanna is from Germany. She says the biggest
difference is the relationship to the teachers. She
says here the teachers are more like friends, and in
Germany they are more like parents.
Another difference? In American high schools, the
students are usually the ones who move to different
classrooms for different subjects.
Johanna and Daniel come from schools where the
teachers change classrooms. Daniel says: "In
Austria, you have all classes together with the same
group of people. And so you are really good friends
with all the people you're in class with."
Hande from Turkey is living with a host family in
Denver, Colorado. She says students in Turkish
schools have less choice. She says: "You cannot
choose your own classes. And you dont have the right
to drop out of one of them." Hande says Turkish
schools are also more formal. She says: When a
teacher comes into the class you have to stand up
and greet the teacher. He or she says good morning
or good afternoon and, as a class, you answer. We
don't do this in class here."
How does the education compare?
Hande is in three Advanced Placement classes, which
are meant to prepare students for college. She says:
"A.P. courses are really hard and they really force
you to learn and are really good. But the regular
classes, their level is lower than in Turkey."
Rosa is from a country where high school is five
years, not four like in America. She says: "In Italy
we go to school only during the morning for lessons.
And Italian schools don't have other activities." On
the other hand, she says, having to go elsewhere for
activities is not necessarily a bad thing. She says
she thinks students in Italy and Europe have a freer
environment. They are in touch with a lot of
different things that are outside the school.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report.
To learn more about high school exchange programs,
go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also comment on
this and other programs. And you can find us on
YouTube and Twitter at VOA Learning English.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
