Describe the photo. Where do you think it was taken?
2. Read the text carefully
At school for 17 hours a day
It is 6.30 and the two alarm clocks next to Jie Sun's bed ring simultaneously. She gets out of bed and goes to the kitchen. Her eyes half closed, she can hardly say a word while she eats breakfast. Next to the table is her blue school bag which she packed the night before. It weighs over six and a half kilos. At 7 a.m. she says good bye to her parents and sets off to her school. The school is outside the capital city Seoul. She returns home at 6 p.m. for dinner, but half an hour later she has to set off again for a private academy, where she studies for another four hours. On a typical night she gets home at midnight and falls asleep, completely exhausted.
Studying for 17 hours a day is a fact of life for South Korea secondary pupils. They live in a society where education is very important. There is a great competition for a place at university. Getting a good degree from a top university can be the only way to get a well-paid job. The normal secondary school day lasts eight hours. But after that most children should stay at school for extra classes. In theory these classes are optional, but in practice they are compulsory. When the school day ends, the children are not allowed to relax and enjoy themselves. Most of them have to study all evening in libraries or with private tutors.
Classes of 50 are common and teachers are strict. Pupils must memorize everything and teachers don't pay individual attention to them because they haven't got time. Children are not allowed to ask questions.
Young people, like Jie have almost no social life. They seldom can see their friends. Having a boyfriend or girlfriend is unthinkable. Their studies must come first.
The lifestyle may seem very hard to many European schoolchildren. But on the other hand in many British schools about 40% of children leave school without any qualifications and the prospects of unemployment. So which system is really better?
3. Test your memory
I. Student A, ask student B these questions, and see if she/he can remember the answers
a. What time does Jie Sun get up?
(at 6.30)
b. How much does her schoolbag weigh?
(six and a half kilo)
c. Where is her school?
(outside Seoul)
d. What time does she go to bed?
(at midnight)
e. Why do Korean children study so much?
(Because there is a lot of competition to get to university, and going to university is the only way to get a well-paid job)
f. What's the teaching like in South Korean schools?
(traditional)
g. What are the teachers like?
(strict)
h. What kind of social life does Jie have?
(Very little- she hasn't got a boyfriend. her studies come first)
II. Now answer B's questions
a. What is the first thing she does when she gets out of bed?
(She goes to the kitchen)
b. What time does she leave home?
(7 o'clock)
c. Where does she study after dinner?
(at a private academy
d. How many hours a day do South Korean pupils study a day?
(up to 17)
e. Do students have to go extra classes after school?
(No, but they have to)
f. How many pupils are there sometimes in a class?
(50)
g. Why don't the teachers give pupils individual attention?
(Because they haven't t got time)
h. What happens to many British teenagers when they leave school?
(They can't find jobs because they haven't got any qualifications)