Studying China; Nichols Students Visit High-Powered Hangzhou School

By JULIA IVINS

This spring, 25 seniors and faculty from the Nichols School traveled to China for 11 days to experience firsthand everyday life in three Chinese cities and to taste the reality of the Chinese academic system.

The group, led by Nichols history teacher Mary Rockwell, visited the Hangzhou Foreign Language School, the most competitive government-run boarding school in the province of Hangzhou. The school was greatly enlarged in 2003 to encompass 2,000 acres and to house 3,500 students from the 7th to 12th grades. Every year, three exceptional students are chosen from every elementary school in the province to take the Hangzhou Foreign Language School entrance exam, from which one of every three is chosen to enroll.

The school prides itself on its ability to graduate students with full capabilities in a second language of English, French or German. "Every student at this school is expected to attend a college or university and 85 percent of all graduating students enroll in the top universities of the country," said Xiao Yun, an English teacher at the school. When asked about the pressure on students to succeed, Yun said, "Every year there are one or two students who either seek counseling or leave the school due to overwork and high stress levels."

A 17-year-old boy in Yun’s English class, Liu, given the English name of "Barry," described his daily schedule. He is in class from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., then given one hour for lunch. After classes there is an hour break for recreation followed by an hour for dinner. After dinner all students must report for three hours of solid proctored study time. They are given a half an hour to get ready for the night and must be in bed by 9:30 p.m. On weekends, Barry studies an average of four hours a day. He has studied English for eight years and plans to add German to his curriculum next year.

In his treasured free time, Liu plays table tennis and talks on instant messenger. His best subjects are math and science, and he plans to study engineering at a university in Singapore.

Liu is one of hundreds of students his age with the academic ambition and drive for success that will prepare him for an increasingly competitive world. By the time these students graduate from their top universities, they are guaranteed to be fluent in two, maybe three languages. American teenagers will be competing with them in today’s global economy for the same top positions.

"I think the thing that was most impressive was the government sponsorship of an elite school for the most gifted students in the country and the resources they give to cultivating academic talent," said Rockwell. "The command of English that those 10th graders had was extremely impressive and the U.S. education system needs to do more to promote effective language education from the earliest ages. I do think the U.S. is falling behind in educating its citizens and spends more money on bringing all students to a mediocre level rather than concentrating on cultivating the most talented. At least there could be commensurate resources for outstanding students."

Emily Acceta, another member of the 2007 Nichols China Trip, said: "I could not imagine myself catering to such a demanding schedule as we saw the students at the Chinese high school do. I believe it’s extremely anti-social and kind of sad because we met some really interesting kids who weren’t as comfortable around us as we [China trip] were around them. However, if the program wasn’t as demanding and focused as it is, perhaps the students would not be speaking such perfect English as they are now."

Evan Baskin-Evans said: "I think that their schedule is too rigorous and their days are way too long. No human being should have to go through the rigors that they go through every day. There are plenty of people here in the U.S. that have schedules like ours at Nichols, end up going to great schools, and are equally prepared as they are. Plus, they don’t have any after-school sports programs. Sports teach important things such as competitiveness and camaraderie."

Brigid O’Gorman noticed: "The students at the Chinese high school were just as curious about us as we were about them. They spoke perfect English and knew a lot about American movies, music and sports. The students were eager to learn about our Western culture."

Amelia Kermis observed: "The issue with the United States is what language would be chosen to be the other language other than English? We are a melting pot of many different languages, and preference given to one over the other may not be the best. I don’t know, I guess having us be bilingual could be very good but it would be very difficult to implement."

Julia Ivins will attend Boston University this fall.

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