have a look at this interesting question!!

[try again]

im sorry my french is so poor,so i hope u guys don't mind my explaining it in english here and i expect that i wud get replies in english as well. thx very much!

the question,i wanna raise here,which i think, is an interesting one involving culture shock.here it goes:

if u see a student carrying all his textbooks back home,what do you think of him?hard working? stupid?or crazy?(i mean when he can completely lock all the books in his locker in school and tomorrow he just need the books again and the books are not in bad need)

well,im a chienese student,and most of my class think that he is hardworkin,but our teacher told us to think taht he is crazy carrying all the books back home while he can have a leisure time at home.

but when i ask a frenchman and a canadian, frenchman said he didn;t have any idea upon this guy,and canadian said he was hardworking.
oh,yes,i also got a fresh answer from an englishman,he thought him to be crazy too!he said"study hard,and play hard",so just don't bring ur work back home,when u r back home,u should relax and enjoy urself. well,on the very contrary,most of we chinese think he is hardworking,coz that's always quite similiar to our case here,we carry a lot of books back home,really.and if we don;t,then very probably we are considered as a lazy guy in study and crazy for playing.

and what do u think?harworking?crazy?or stupid?or any other answers? i;d like to hear ur say as well!and plz tell us which country u r standing for in ur reply,thx very much!

(oh,plz reply to this one coz the same last one taht i just wrote was in a guest name and i dunno how to del that,help!operator,plz!)

[Beaumont]

In most French schools there are no lockers so you have to carry your books every day. But we usually carry them in a bag or a satchel of some kind, whereas the Americans always seem to carry them in their hands (that's what you see in movies), and I've always found that a bit strange. Like when they go shopping, they have to carry those paper bags without any handle...

[svernoux]

I feel I can't say anything about this guy... Maybe seeing him at least could give us an idea, but just after your description, I can't find out who he is...
I mean, he can have lost of good but unexpected reasons to carry books. Maybe he needs to seat on them because he has no chairs at home
Maybe he wants to show them to someone else.

Well in the end, if you're so worried about it, why don't you just ask him?
I can't really understand how you can expect a serious answer from us

[Sisyphe]

I transfer unto the english forum...

[Perles76]

In most French schools there are no lockers so you have to carry your books every day.

Sorry, this is not true anymore. Since Ségolène Royal was minister, every highschool must have lockers at least for children in 6°.


I'm an English teacher. In France, pupils have homework. So they need their books at home. But they tend not to do it....
I think I would say the student you are speaking of is simply serious. But am I objective?....

[Xavier[vp]]

Hello Try Again. How are you?

Well, as for your question, I think the answer is difficult: first, in Belgium, we usually don't have lockers. Well... Let's admit we had.
Then, I would say, if I saw someone bringing all his books back home every day, I'd think: either he just doesn't know there're lockers, either he's hard working, either there're some other specific reasons (he prefers saving the money he'd use for the locker, there're no more lockers available, he thinks it's quicker to just put his books in his bag). But I wouldn't think he's crazy. Would I consider someone as crazy just because he's doing something a different way than others? Of course not!

[muhannad]

Hello,
I am a Syrian student.
In most of our schools (In Syria), there is no lockers to put our books in it.
So, we have to get our books back home.
In addition, we take a lot of homeworks so that we need the books to consult them in order to make our homeworks.
But, to answer your question, (if you don't have the same conditions as us)
I think that guy is a hardworking one.

[try again]

thx u all for ur answers...
i think i wud tell my teachers about it later! thx!

[Dada]

Hello Try again!

I think this question doesn't make a lot of sense to french people because as Beaumont said we have no lockers in our schools, so we have to carry all our books in a bag. Thus seeing someone holding books in his hands doesn't mean anything to us!
In North America you can leave your books in lockers overnight, so you just bring back home what you need. So if a guy bring home everyday all his books, either you think is harworking, either is crazy! In american high schools students are used to do their homework when at school, once they leave they do something else (sports, music, associations, ...).

You say it in your question: it's a matter of cultural background. I just want to add that it's more about our habits than our minds. All the students in the world would like to have good time when out of school, but all have to do some homework! I mean an american, european or chinese student will give a different answer because we have different habits, but in the end we are all humans, aren't we?

[pc2]

salutations,

here in Brazil there are no lockets (at least, from 6th grade up, because from 5th grade and down, there is a place to keep all the books).
we are always studying, and everyone in our school think we are crazy for making calculations in recreation time. because we like studying, studying is a hobby and a pleasure for us, and everyone thinks we are crazy for that, but we and our family think it's very good. we wouldn't say we're crazy for that: it's just uncommon, then people associate this with "craziness" or "stupidity", but for us, it's just a way of living, by doing what we like the most: studying. we're not crazy for doing what we like.
our father and our older brother are also very smart and hardworking like us, and they were also "victims" of this kind of discrimination (well, that's not really a discrimination...).
we think it's a contraire of what it should be: the students in our school think that we are crazy for liking math and geography, while they hate it and think we should forget it and go out instead. we think this reaction for our interest in studying is "wrong" (we coudn't find a better word), because people generally don't understand that people who like to study do that because they like to. we don't have to "go shopping" or "practice sports" just because everyone else does it.
we and our family think that education is a priority.

that's our opinion. what do you think about that?

[Tyori]

When I went to school we had lockers, but often on the side of the school that classes weren't in, or if they were, there simply wasn't time to stop by. So All of highschool I was carrying around a load of books. But! Don't think I'm hardworking. Just because someone is carrying books doesn't mean that they'll actually do something with them. I only carried them for appearences... to make my teachers happy. ^^; eheh, I was such a bad student... ;_;

If I saw him, I'd just think. 'whoa. lotta books.' and move on, lol! XD

EDIT:

In most French schools there are no lockers so you have to carry your books every day. But we usually carry them in a bag or a satchel of some kind, whereas the Americans always seem to carry them in their hands (that's what you see in movies), and I've always found that a bit strange. Like when they go shopping, they have to carry those paper bags without any handle...

We don't actually use paper bags... plastic or cloth unless you're getting drugs; those still come in hand sized paper bags with no handles. I have to admit that we do, in fact, carry our books and binders in our hands. Mostly because there's no more room in our backpacks since they're already stuffed with more books. I would consider it strange to add a satchel to a backpack though. If you see a kid with no pack, he's damn lucky the books in his hands are all he's got! XP

[solbjerg]

Hi Paulo and Claudio
Follow your dream (interest)
I think it a misconception to call that both crazy or hardworking, it only reveals that the onlooker doesn't have that interest or is plain lazy.
I used to tell my children that if you really studied, all you needed was one square meter of ground, - this could get you into subjects about everything, - you could just record it and experiment, this could lead into atomic theory, chemistry, zoology and practically any subject, but it would be nice to have access to information too. So by all means bring your books :-)
I applaud you both!
Cheers
solbjerg

salutations,

here in Brazil there are no lockets (at least, from 6th grade up, because from 5th grade and down, there is a place to keep all the books).
we are always studying, and everyone in our school think we are crazy for making calculations in recreation time. because we like studying, studying is a hobby and a pleasure for us, and everyone thinks we are crazy for that, but we and our family think it's very good. we wouldn't say we're crazy for that: it's just uncommon, then people associate this with "craziness" or "stupidity", but for us, it's just a way of living, by doing what we like the most: studying. we're not crazy for doing what we like.
our father and our older brother are also very smart and hardworking like us, and they were also "victims" of this kind of discrimination (well, that's not really a discrimination...).
we think it's a contraire of what it should be: the students in our school think that we are crazy for liking math and geography, while they hate it and think we should forget it and go out instead. we think this reaction for our interest in studying is "wrong" (we coudn't find a better word), because people generally don't understand that people who like to study do that because they like to. we don't have to "go shopping" or "practice sports" just because everyone else does it.
we and our family think that education is a priority.

that's our opinion. what do you think about that?

[zizohat]

in egypt there're no lockers and if there are they would be broken if not some one soon will break them so you got to bring back all your books or you may see them in the sky (kites)
so its not hard working nor stupidity nor kind of crazy manner ; it is just usual

[pc2]

in egypt there're no lockers and if there are they would be broken if not some one soon will break them so you got to bring back all your books or you may see them in the sky (kites)
so its not hard working nor stupidity nor kind of crazy manner ; it is just usual

these opinions certainly vary depending on the context (cultural background, as Dada said).
in school, people around us don't seem to see people who like to study as "crazy" anymore (most of them still seem to see it as a little strange, but find it a good attitude). it's probably because of the age of the students (experience shows that studying is actually important, although most people don't see the importance of knowledge itself, but see it merely as a tool for getting a good job...).
and another thing that doesn't have much to do with the topic, but is also important: in our opinion, the habit of studying at home doesn't have to do with being "intelligent" or "smart", since there is no "lack of intelligence". it has to do with interest (in the case of people that simply like some subject) and/or responsibility (when the person doesn't necessarily like the subject, but studies it because it's necessary for school).