Senior Weber Su moved to the United States as a fifth grader, and immediately began an educational experience vastly different from what he experienced Taiwan. “Here it’s really laid back … In Taiwan, where I grew up, education always comes first.” According to Su, as well as other Aragon students who have studied internationally, there is a noticeable difference in the academic atmospheres between countries.
One very apparent difference between schooling systems lies in the curriculum. Junior Julia Cot moved to the United States from France at the end of sixth grade. “[In France] you start [class] at 8 a.m. in the morning and you end around 5 p.m., and when you get older, seniors and juniors finish at 6 p.m., so you don’t have a lot of time for extracurriculars” she says.
Compared to France, the U.S. public school system also gives students a greater amount of freedom with choosing courses. Cot explains, “In France the whole junior class has one schedule that they do every day.”
In regards to class content, specifically mathematics, Su sees a great disparity between Taiwan and the United States. He says, “Second grade math [in Taiwan] is like fifth grade math over here, so it was just really easy for me to pick it up [when I moved].”
Like in the United States, elementary school in Taiwan is a time for developing foundations in mathematics and other subjects. Yet, in Su’s experience, the rate at which the curriculum is taught is accelerated in Taiwan. Cot noticed a similar phenomenon in France. She says, “In France if you have like a 70 percent it’s good, but here it’s more on the bad side, but in France, [the curriculum is] harder.”
The social and cultural differences of other countries also lead to a different academic atmosphere. “Even as an elementary school student, I had a lot of work to do,” says Su. He continues, “elementary school students start the Taiwan SAT kind of stuff at a really young age.”
This focus on studying may seem extreme to America students, for it is customary in America to start preparing for college readiness tests in high school. Senior Meghana Gadiraju attended school in India for kindergarten and currently has cousins going through the Indian education system.
Just as Su observed of school in Taiwan, Gadiraju believes Indian schools maintain a stricter environment compared to those in the United States. “[My cousins] go to a school that’s based on Oxford’s curriculum. They have so many tests. Literally every two weeks they have a standardized test.”
Another obvious distinction for education in certain countries comes from disciplinary methods. Gadiraju recalls being prevented from playing at recess because of her eating pace. “After a while they just let the other kids go, but they wouldn’t let me leave. I didn’t eat, so I just sat there,” she says.
The lack of leniency Su experienced in Taiwan is even more pronounced. He explains, “Back then I got slapped by my teacher once, and they pinch your ear and everything when you don’t do your homework.”
For many international students, these differences as well as the language barrier makes the transition into the American educational system challenging. Su came to the United States not speaking any English, but he says, “I was in San Francisco and there’s a lot of Asians in San Francisco, so just speaking with them in Chinese and English helped me a lot.”
His community served as a great source of support, and Su received further help from within his school. “I had a really nice homeroom teacher that was willing to help me through everything even though I didn’t really know much English,” he says.
Cot also came to the United States without knowing English, but felt very welcomed by her peers. “People were trying to be friends with me and it was really funny because we were just trying to translate things in Google Translate, so we could speak together.”
Even though Gadiraju went to an international school in India and knew English, she still experienced difficulties in the United States. She explains, “When I came back in second grade I had an accent, like an Indian accent. [Other kids] definitely judged me for it.”
Though the academic environment in the United States is different from that of other countries, and assimilation can be difficult, it is an adjustment that many Aragon students have successfully made. Cot says, “People are really welcoming here and they really try to help you with everything … [the adjustment] wasn’t that bad.”
