Melanie Chambraud (’17) compares FVHS to her prior school, a Canadian International School in Vietnam. Photo by Trevor Sonoda.by Anju Ito, Staff Writer
Different countries structure and style their schools in varying ways. Here are some comparisons between schools in the United States and schools in Vietnam, China and Egypt based on the experiences of the students at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS).
In terms of classes, many schools in Vietnam, China and Egypt differ in terms of length, number and method. In Vietnam and China, students often take more subjects than students at FV, covering a wider range of subjects at an earlier age. Their schedules can often range from eight to 14 subjects per day with shorter class times, and all the students must take mandatory, grade-specific classes such as chemistry, government and foreign language.
In these foreign countries, schools often have students stay in one classroom for the whole day while teachers come and go in order to teach their corresponding subjects. Each class can consist of over 50 students. Schools in Egypt may even consist of over 100 students.
“We usually stay at a class for the whole year; it’s not like each period, there’s a different class. We just stay in one class and the teacher will come,” said Phong Chau (‘18), a student who attended a Vietnamese private school for two years.
Overall, the whole school day starts at seven or eight in the morning, ending in the evening at four or five. The students study for around ten hours a day, longer than a usual FVHS day which are eight hours long from first to sixth period. However, the zero period system and after-school extracurriculars at Fountain Valley may make up for the two-hour difference.
Compared to Vietnam and China, U.S. typically has a more lenient school life with students being able to control their schedules and activities.
“Here, you can know different teachers well because back in China, they come here and they just leave. You don’t have much time to talk to them and connect with them, but right here you can go wherever you want and you can see them all the time,” said Zhichao Jin (‘20) who attended a public elementary school in China for six years.
There are also more activities and events going on at FVHS compared to schools in Vietnam and China, which place a heavier emphasis on academics.
“About the activities, we do have some in the beginning of the year like competition, but that’s all. It lasts for two to three weeks … It’s just a competition, and we don’t have sports like track and fields, just P.E.,” said Thien Nguyen (‘18), who attended a public middle school in Vietnam.
Furthermore, while those schools don’t have Advanced Placement (AP) courses like FVHS has, they have special programs for students who excel in a subject.
In addition to the normal public and private schools there are also international schools in Vietnam. At these schools, there are a much smaller number of students with only 70 to 170 people in the whole school, and a higher student-to-teacher ratio of about 12 : 1. Schools usually serve international cuisine, ranging from hot pho, sushi to european food. In addition, there can be a lot of activities going on compared to public schools such as music, athletics and clubs with tightened relationships of students due to the much-smaller population.
“I personally think people over there are little bit friendlier because there’s only like 70 kids in a school, so you know everybody and everybody knows you and all teachers know you. It’s like a little family compared to over here; there’s like 900 kids in our class and it’s crazy,” said Melanie Chambraud (‘17), who attended the Canadian International School in Vietnam for two years. “It’s kind of impersonal over here, and I think people over there are more welcoming and personal.”
