Teks Bahasa Inggris

At School for 17 Hours a Day

It is 6.30 p.m. and the sun has only just come up when 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 hardly says a word while she eats breakfast. Next to the table is her school bag which she packed the night before. It weighs just over six and a half kilos. At 7 a.m., she says goodbye to her parents and sets off to her school, just outside the capita city, Seoul. She returns home at 6 p.m. for dinner but half an hour later she sets off again for a private academy where she studies for another four hours. On a typical night, she gets home at midnight and falls a sleep completely exhausted.

Studying for up to 17 hours a day is a fact of life for South Korean secondary school pupils. They live in a society where education is very important. There is a great competition for a place at university. Getting good degree from a top university is the only way to be sure of getting a professional well-paid job. The normal secondary school day, as in most other countries lasts 8 hours. But after that, most parents make their children stay at school extra classes. In theory, these classer 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 with private academies.

Classes of 50 are not uncommon and the teachers are strict. Pupils have to respect after the teacher and memorize everything.”Teachers at my school don’t give you any individual attention because they have not got time.” says Jie Sun. They don’t let us ask questions because they say it wastes time. Young people like Jie Sun have almost no social life. They rarely have time to see their friends. Having a boyfriend or girlfriend is unthinkable. “I’ve never had a boy friend and neither have any of my friends.” says Jie Sun. Our studies come first.

This lifestyle may seem very hard to many European school Children who are accuatomed to going most weekends and watching TV every evening. But on the other hand, in many British schools, up to 40% of teenagers leave school with no qualifications and the prospect of unemployment. So which system is really better?

 Sumber: Fitra P (English for Elementary Teacher Novice)

Dificult Word

1.      Simultaneously = bersama

2.      Capita city = ibu kota

3.      Returns = kembali

4.      Typical = khas

5.      Falls = jatuh

6.      Exhausted = keletihan

7.      Compulsory = diwajibkan

8.      Uncommon = luar biasa

9.      Strict = keras

10.  Rarely = hal yang jarang sekali

11.  Accustomed to = membiasakan diri untuk

12.  Unemployment = tidak berjabatan

13.  Themselves = mereka sendiri

14.  Wastes = arloji

15.  Accuatomed = menyesuaikan diri

16.  Teenagers = umur belasan tahun