第1160期:Student Life in China(Part 3)

Todd: Well I have to admit, because even English teachers will tell you, and they're lying if they don't admit this, even on tests like the TOEFL, it's very hard for a teacher to get 100%. Not because of knowledge, but because of concentration.

Rufei: Yes.

Todd: Right?

Rufei: Exactly. We have a lot of questions and some of them, they are kind of tricky.

Todd: Right.

Rufei: Yeah.

Todd: So they mislead you a little bit.

Rufei: Yeah.

Todd: Oh no, that's great. So you took all these courses, what was the course you were best at and the course you were worst at?

Rufei: English was my worst at.

Todd: Oh no, your English is wonderful! Really?

Rufei: Yeah.

Todd: Oh I disagree.

Rufei: It was.

Todd: Oh, OK. How do you learn English in China?

Rufei: Actually, my speaking skills I gathered from my traveling, I did solo traveling last year.

Todd: Wow, you've learned a lot, quickly.

Rufei: Thank you.

Todd: That's great! That's really inspirational I think for a lot of the students that listen to this site. One year?

Rufei: Yeah.

Todd: Fantastic.

Rufei: But the thing I have to mention about is, you have to know a lot of words. Before you start to speak English, you have to know what you know. Like you have to remember a lot of words, and then you can use it when you have to use it.

Todd: Okay, right. So English was tough, not easy.

Rufei: Not easy, for everything you have to learn. Learning isn't easy and funny stuff for everyone. Starting is hard and it's kind of betray the human ...

Todd: Spirit?

Rufei: Yes.

Todd: Wow, that's crazy. So how many students would be in an English class? I hear that China has huge English classes. Like there might be 100 students in one class.

Rufei: It can be, but it depends. In my high school we have the same class at the same classroom always, and in my university we have 30 students in my English.

Todd: Oh okay, that's kind of normal. That's still a lot, for an English teacher that's a lot. Were your teachers usually Chinese, or an international teacher?

Rufei: Chinese teacher.

Todd: Chinese teacher, okay. And so there was a big stress on grammar and vocabulary, things like that?

Rufei: Yes.

Todd: How about listening?

Rufei: We only do the audio listening test. So it's always the same pronunciation.

Todd: Yeah, so you don't have a lot of variety of accents?

Rufei: Yes.

Todd: Yeah. Okay, well you have to introduce to China.

Rufei: Yeah, cool.

Todd: What was your best subject?

Rufei: My best subject was mathematics.

Todd: Oh great. Yeah, that's impressive. I have a degree in economics and there's a lot of math. I went to a good school but I was not strong at math and I was terrible at physics. And physics and economics are kind of related, but not really, I did not do very well in physics. So how are you at physics?

Rufei: Actually I love all the math stuff, but also included physics, because you also have to use a lot of mathematics on your physics. For the physics you have to know the formula very well, then you can use it. If you don't know the formula very well, when the question is there you cannot ...

Todd: Apply?

Rufei: ... apply that.

Todd: Yeah. Oh yeah, I agree, it's tough. I am very impressed with you because whenever I meet somebody who is good at math or physics, I have great admiration. My degree was math heavy, but math was not my strong point.

Rufei: So what was your strong point?

Todd: That's a good question. I was never a good student at anything. How I got to a good university is actually surprising, but I was always middle of the road. Middle of the pack, as we said. Always B- student, in everything.

Rufei: I see.

Todd: Yeah, I was not exceptional like you.

Rufei: You don't have to be very good at starting, but you can handle your life very easily. That's also an important thing for a human.

Todd: That is true, I do agree with that. But I think if I was a student in China, I would be that Mister 2000.