曾經以為世界上每一個國家的教育方式都相同。13歲那年，到英國與當地的中學生交流兩個禮拜，才第一次真正的意識到原來台灣上課的方式與其他國家截然不同，我們在台灣是每個學生在教室裡都有自己的座位並且等待老師來上課，然而在英國的教育系統卻是相反的。
Céng jīng yǐ wéi shì jiè shàng měi yī gè guó jiā de jiào yù fāng shì dōu xiāng tóng. 13 suì nà nián, dào yīng guó yǔ dāng dì de zhōng xué shēng jiāo liú liǎng gè lǐ bài, cái dì yī cì zhēn zhèng de yì shì dào yuán lái tái wān shàng kè de fāng shì yǔ qí tā guó jiā jié rán bù tóng, wǒ men zài tái wān shì měi gè xué shēng zài jiào shì lǐ dōu yǒu zì jǐ de zuò wèi bìng qiě děng dài lǎo shī lái shàng kè, rán ér zài yīng guó de jiào yù xì tǒng què shì xiāng fǎn de.

台灣高中的程度相當於英國的A level課程。高中時，一開始我是在台灣讀書，後來轉學到英國，現在依然清楚地記得自己當時知道英國高中可以選擇自己有興趣的科目時有多興奮。其實台灣的高中也有選修課程，但種類其實是有限制的，所以學生很少能真正學習到自己想要的科目。
Tái wān gāo zhōng de chéng dù xiāng dāng yú yīng guó de A level kè chéng. Gāo zhōng shí, yī kāi shǐ wǒ shì zài tái wān dú shū, hòu lái zhuǎn xué dào yīng guó, xiàn zài yī rán qīng chǔ de jì dé zì jǐ dāng shí zhī dào yīng guó gāo zhōng kě yǐ xuǎn zé zì jǐ yǒu xìng qù de kē mù shí yǒu duō xīng fèn. Qí shí tái wān de gāo zhōng yě yǒu xuǎn xiū kè chéng, dàn zhǒng lèi qí shí shì yǒu xiàn zhì de, suǒ yǐ xué shēng hěn shǎo néng zhēn zhèng xué xí dào zì jǐ xiǎng yào de kē mù.

大部分的學生在A level兩年的課程中學習3-4門科目，但你知道嗎?我們在台灣讀書時每位學生至少需要修讀9門科目以上，我的許多英國朋友知道後，都認為是一件瘋狂的事。為了考上更好的大學，許多父母甚至在孩子們放學後或假日送他們到全科補習班上課直到晚上9點才回家，現在回想起來，很難想像自己當時是如何熬過這艱難的時期。
Dà bù fèn de xué shēng zài A level liǎng nián de kè chéng zhōng xué xí 3-4 mén kē mù, dàn nǐ zhī dào ma? Wǒ men zài tái wān dú shū shí měi wèi xué shēng zhì shǎo xū yào xiū dú 9 mén kē mù yǐ shàng, wǒ de xǔ duō yīng guó péng yǒu zhī dào hòu, dōu rèn wéi shì yī jiàn fēng kuáng de shì. Wèi le kǎo shàng gèng hǎo de dà xué, xǔ duō fù mǔ shèn zhì zài hái zi men fàng xué hòu huò jià rì sòng tā men dào quán kē bǔ xí bān shàng kè zhí dào wǎn shàng 9 diǎn cái huí jiā, xiàn zài huí xiǎng qǐ lái, hěn nán xiǎng xiàng zì jǐ dāng shí shì rú hé áo guò zhè jiān nán de shí qí.

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Before I studied abroad, I had thought that the ways of education in every country were the same. When I was 13 years old, I went to a local school in the UK to study with British students for two weeks, and that was the first time I realised that there was huge difference in education between Taiwan and the UK. In Taiwan, students have their own seat in the classroom, where they wait for the teachers of different subjects to come and give a lecture, whereas it is the other way around in the British education system.

The senior high school in Taiwan is equivalent to the A level in the UK. During my high school years, I first studied in Taiwan and then transferred to the UK. Now, I still clearly remember how excited I was when I realised that I could choose the subjects I was interested in. While we do have optional courses in Taiwanese senior high schools, choices are limited, which is why students cannot really learn what they want to.

Most students in the UK study 3-4 subjects during the two-year course in A level, but do you know? We study at least 9 subjects in Taiwan. A lot of my British friends think it is CRAZY after they heard it. Many Taiwanese parents even drop off their children to cram school after school or on weekends and holidays in hopes of getting them into top universities. Now, it is hard for me to imagine how I went through those tough times.

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