Comparing High School in Two Different Countries

Compare – Contrast essay

Comparing High School in Two Different Countries

        According to Project Atlas about the international students in the United States, there were 18,772 Vietnamese students who came to the United States to study in 2015, and this statistic increases annually. Nowadays, many students from Vietnam want to study in a foreign country. Most of them go to Korea, Singapore, Japan, England, France, or the United States. Before I came to the U.S, I didn't know the differences in education between my country and other countries. However, after I had an opportunity to live here, my cousin who studies in a U.S told me many things about her school. I realized that high schools in Vietnam are different from in the United States in terms of the environment and structure of two high schools.

        Anybody who has an opportunity to attend high school in both countries will certainly recognize that there are many differences of environment between two countries. In the first place, the conditions of the high schools in the United States are really helpful and comfortable for all most students. They provide many facilities, like a library, laboratory, computer labs, and lockers to help the students feel supported when they come to school to study. However, in Vietnam, they do not offer something like that for students, they only support the basic things which are necessary for students like: small tables for four students seat in, small campus and shortage of equipments to study and practice. In addition, the schools in the United States provide school buses to take students to school. Moreover, school in the United States has free all meals in schools for students who have a low household income. However, the students in Vietnam have to go to schools by themselves or pay much money to use the public buses. Altogether, many U.S students like to come to school to study than Vietnamese students because the environment is comfortable and helpful for all of them.

        Another important difference is the structure of high school. First of all, the education in the United States is free for every child from gradesone to twelve, but in my country, students have to pay for themselves when they study. That is a big problem for the students because the tuition in Vietnam is really expensive, so many Vietnamese children don't have the opportunity to attend school. Secondly, some students don't like or are scared when they go to school because the teachers sometimes scold, punish, or use a stick to hit the students who make a mistake or have bad grades. The teachers in the United States aren’t allowed to do that. Thirdly, the important thing in the United States is the students can choose a major when they are studying in high school. That is really useful for students because they can choose some classes they like. They can transfer some credits of the classes they have taken in high school, so it can help students decrease the school time and have clear knowledge about the field they will follow in college and in the future. However, in Vietnam, the structure of education doesn't permit that degree of flexibility. They have to learn many really hard subjects, but some of the subjects aren't needed in the field they choose to study after high school. In short, the structure of education in the United States helps the students learning better and easier than Vietnam.