Education

1. Talk about your high school experiences, comparing them with those of an Australian student?

I think the most obvious difference between Australian students and Korean students is that Korean students seem to suffer from more stress. I think too much pressure is put onto Korean students. They have to pass a number of tests that will determine what they do for the rest of their lives. Whereas Australian students have many chances to fail and succeed. And if they do succeed they can get good positions and if they fail, they can then continue, and try again.

2. In terms of schoolwork, what was the most difficult thing when you were a high school student?

The most difficult thing for me was English grammar. I always failed English grammar. I don't know why and I probably still don't use proper grammar now. But I always found that English grammar was so unnecessary. I never knew why we had to learn all that stuff, we just did.

3, What are the qualities of a good teacher?

I think a good teacher is able to understand the students' needs. I think a good teacher should be able to explain things to the students in a way so that they will understand. I think a good teacher will never assume that the students will understand something and they will try help students to be actively involved in their learning.

4. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad?

Um, I think there are lots of advantages to studying abroad. You get to emerge yourself totally in a different culture. Most of the time you learn a different language. Obviously some people do study abroad and take classes in their native language. You get to meet people from around the world, you get to experience things that you would never be able to get to do, um, while you're at home. But there are some disadvantages, obviously, like culture shock and homesickness.

5. Do you think exams are necessary? Why or why not?

I understand that exams stress out a lot of students. However, I still they're very important. I think exams rate a student, and make them preform better. Why they make them perform better is because those students will actually try to learn things simply to achieve a good mark on an exam. And although students get a lot of stress from this I sill think it's very necessary.