ID# 11077224
Final essay
Dec15th 2012
My topic: The differences and similarities between American students and Vietnamese students.
Living in the U.S for three years
and spending two years in college, I can have an overview about the students’
life in here. I would say it has a lot of differences and similarities with the
Vietnamese students. One side could be because of the differences between two
cultures but the main point is about the way of thinking and lifestyle. The
discourse below will explain my observation about this topic.
Firstly, the ways to study between
two nations are very different. Vietnamese students are extremely hard working.
In fact, they obsess about scores and seems like they can do anything to get a
good transcript. They’re better at work independently than in a collective because they rarely have
a chance to do group work in class. Some lectures in class can be hard are
something unavoidable and Vietnamese students still have to work by their own. They
can ask their friends or their professors but most of the Vietnamese students
are afraid to ask and say wrong thing. I think this is the biggest weakness of us. When you
do not understand, you have to ask or you will never have the exact answer. Another
point about the education in Vietnam is: everyone considers Math as the most important subject. If you are good at Math, then you are smart. Besides studying
Math at school, students also find other evening classes (outside of school) to
learn Math. Some families find a tutor to teach Math at home for students.
Personally I think Math is a logical subject. It requires our brains to work
thoroughly and we understand the materials clearly so we can apply them to
solve problems. However, it can determine neither how smart you are nor will
you be successful in the future. When they graduate and find a job, the
employers will not ask them about their Math tests. Instead, they will ask:
“What do you have? What can you do for us?” Making Math becomes the most
important subject is probably a mistake in Vietnamese education. Students need
to improve in life skills also, which will go along with their life times.
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(Photo: Google)
Unlike Vietnamese students,
American students can work both individually or in a group. Everyone has their
own responsibilities for the group work but they still help each other. They
have the freedom of speech and do not have to be afraid to speak up if the
professors say wrong. They can talk about politics, comment about the
candidates and they can vote for the one they believe in! A study in ability on
math and science pointed out “students in Singapore and several other Asian
countries significantly outperform American students, even those in high-achieving
states like Massachusetts.” It means that American students are not as good at
Math as other students in some countries but after all, Math can’t be compared
with other things American students have learned at school. Since they’re in
secondary school or high school, they achieved something is called “sex
education”.
“American colleges for generations
have provided courses in what purported to be sex education, usually required,
usually for freshmen, usually euphemistically called “Hygiene”.”
Americans aware the danger if the students are not
knowledgeable about sex, it may lead to the serious consequences to the whole
generation. “Most students in the U.S. receive some form of sex education at
least once between grades 7 and 12; many schools begin addressing some topics
as early as grades 4 or 5.” They have an open view about sex and can talk about
it without feeling afraid (like Vietnam and some other Asian countries.)
American students understand that health is important more than anything. Lack of
understanding in sex of any other life skills can bring the dangers to your own
health.
Another aspect I would want to
mention is about the activities and sports. The good thing is both Vietnamese
students and American students love to do volunteer. In Vietnam, most of the
students are so willing to help poor people. They do not mind to go a long way
to the mountain villages, spend a few days or even a month there to help
people. Vietnam has recognized 54 ethnic groups and 53 groups are ethnic
minorities, who are having difficult lives. The ethnic minorities (accounted
for about 9% of the population in Vietnam) mostly live in the remote areas,
where have the lack of electricity, and the clean water is even luxury.
Although this is, the volunteers still give a hand to bring food for the poor,
raise fund, and encourage the children to come to class to learn. They feel
that helping people is happiness, a motivation in their lives. Further, some
big cities in Vietnam like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, etc… are the cities that
have terrible traffic jam. Vietnamese in the big cities usually use motorbikes
as their main vehicles and the roads seem like have no lanes. When the traffic
polices are too limited, people can easily find the “blue shirts” on the road.
They are the students who volunteer to guide the transportations so the traffic
will not be blocked. Somehow, volunteering has become a traditional activity
for Vietnamese students. It is something indispensable in each student’s life.
Photo: The volunteers help the traffic police to guide the transportations (Photo: Google)
Along with volunteer, Vietnamese students love sports too. The most popular
sport in Vietnam is soccer. Every school has at least 1 team to compete with
other schools. In each school also have many teams as class size so they can
have competitions and find out the best people for the school team. Basketball
is the second popular sport. Even though basketball was just introduced to
Vietnamese students in 15 years recently, it has been well received. Chess is
one of the favorite sports of Vietnamese students, too. Many students have participated
in the international arenas and brought the medals for Vietnam. Like Hoang Thi
Bao Tram (R) won an individual bronze medal at the FIDE Women’s World Team
Championship 2011 that ended in Mardin, Turkey; or a ten-year-old Vietnamese
boy won the World Youth Chess Championship in Maribor in Slovenia on November
18, 2012 after securing a victory in the 10th round against another young
Indian contender.
Meanwhile in the U.S, American
students are interested in joining clubs in school and volunteer for the
activities in school. They love to go camping, ride bikes, and take the
challenge journeys. Sport is something essential in here. There are a lot of
gyms are distributed in every city, no matter how small is the city.
Specifically, the gym in St Cloud State University is very large with variety
of sports. You can run on treadmills, play basketball, go to swim, play tennis
or badminton, etc… But overall, Americans love football.
(Photo: Google)
“If baseball is America's
pastime, then football is its passion.”
Indeed, no other sport carries as
much symbolic baggage as does American football. We can easily find the symbol
of the state team or collegiate football team in the local/regional shops. Along
with playing sports, most of the students do part time work. They might work on
or off campus and they do many kinds of jobs like: shopkeeper, tutor, or
waitress, etc… Getting a job since
you are in high school is not something special in the U.S. American students
work not only for money but also for their knowledge. The companies in the U.S
prefer the employees who have a lot of experiences. When they are juniors or
seniors in college, they can find internship so they can try to be employed in
the professional working environment. Every year, school has the Career Day/Job
Fair. This event provides students with valuable and efficient access to
employers who seeking to connect with the college students for internship and
jobs. Students bring resume, dress appropriately, and take the opportunities to
talk with Recruiters. And even if they cannot get the job they want, they still
learn many valuable things from the Job Fair for their future.
Last but not least, the time
arrangement of Vietnamese students and American students for family and friends
are not very much similar. In Vietnam, students even when they came to college,
they still prefer to live with their parents. “The Vietnamese household
traditionally followed the extended multi-generational pattern. The parents,
their sons and their wives, their children, and unmarried siblings usually
constituted a Vietnamese household. In this extended family, the most important
expectation is the respect for the elders. Hence, the family decisions were
made by the parents and grandparents.” Nonetheless, almost every good college is
placed in big cities so the suburban students have to rent apartment or live in
dorm. Otherwise, parents will take care of them till they get married or move
out. Most of the students decide to live with their families so they can be
close to their parents. As a typical Asian country, Vietnamese people respect
the traditional family value. The children should live with their parents and
take care of them when they get old. For the suburban students who can’t live
with their parents, they might come to visit them in the long holidays. In
Vietnam, especially in the populous areas, there are many side street stores
and small restaurants, where the students usually come after they get done with
school. Pavement culture is very familiar with Vietnamese students.
“If there’s anywhere that lives
life on the street, it is Hanoi, Vietnam.
People around the city seem to just inch everything closer and closer to
the side of the street. Through
business, food, and social life, Vietnam presents a much more acute definition
of what it means to live on the street.
Throughout the Western world, sitting roadside is shunned, maybe even
illegal in some places. In Vietnam, it is a way of life.”
The foods on the street are cheap
and they can sit there, chat with their friends as long as they like. At night,
they can go to bars and clubs to relax. There is no minimum age to go the club
or drink alcohol in Vietnam.
In the same manner, American
students do not prefer live with their parents. After they get done in High
school, they usually attend a college that far away from their hometown so they
can start their own lives. And even when they get married, they do not live
near their parents. They just come to visit family in the weekends or in the
special holidays like Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, etc… Colleges and
universities in the U.S are very diverse. Some are located in urban areas and
some are in suburban areas. Also, America is an ethnically and racially diverse
country as a result of large-scale immigration from many different countries so
in a school may have a mix of types of students. Thus, each student can have a
chance to have friends from many different ethnic regions. In America, there
are no side street stores but there are a lot of fast food restaurants like Mc Donald’s,
KFC, Burger King, Taco John’s, etc… But rarely I have seen students go there to
hang out with friends. American students usually just hang out with friends in
the weekends. And sometimes, they host a party so people can come. They do not
need to know who the host is. They just come there, make friends, play games,
and have fun. The weekend parties have become something obvious for American
students.
To sum up, even though there are a
lot of differences between American students and Vietnamese students, a lot of
similarities can be recognized. Each nation has a lot of good things we can
learn from. If Vietnamese students are very good in Math and active in
volunteers, American students prepared for themselves a lot of life skills and have
a big passion with sports. If Vietnamese students want to live close to their
parents, American students have the self-conscious since they’re very young.
All of those things have created a colorful world, the interesting differences
between two countries.
.jpg)
(Photo: Google)
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