Studying abroad has become more and more common for Form 3 students. Well, I’ve always considered whether studying abroad has more disadvantages than advantages? Therefore, this essay will introduce the pros and cons of studying abroad.
First of all, studying abroad will let F3 students develop homesickness. Studying abroad is all about leaving your family to go to another country to explore. As a F3 student, I would still consider myself young since I’m still a minor. For those F3 students out there, it is customary to develop homesickness since the place is not their natural home. According to the information researched by Amber Bathke and Ryoka Kim, they have gathered that 30% of college students report frequent feelings of homesickness. F3 students are less mature and rather emotional since they are still experiencing puberty, so there’s a higher percentage of them feeling homesick. After all, separating from your own family is immensely emotional for F3 students because they have never been separated from their family at such a far distance. Plus, being attached to their families since they were little are some of the main factors why a majority of F3 students feel homesick after going to study abroad.
Secondly, studying abroad may be challenging because of language barriers. In Hong Kong, our mother language is Cantonese, so the chances of us speaking English are few. Research from the community and education written by Karen Cheung has proposed that only 6 percent of Hongkongers speak and listen to English well. When studying abroad, language is a significant factor since it can let the natives clearly understand you, especially in a school that isn’t used with your mother tongue. Things might be hard to keep up in class at risk. Every country has a unique local accent. Therefore, no matter how fluent they think they are in that specific language, it is still a struggle for them to understand and analyze the natives’ strong local accents due to different cultural and language backgrounds. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, it is accumulated that one in four students get bullied in U.S schools just because they come from a different country. Furthermore, research from the U.S Department of Education Office for Civil Rights looked at the data from over 96,000 schools has found that the reason kids get bullied is because of differentiation in races. For F3 students studying abroad, there is a particular risk of getting bullied because of their nationality and accent. Such harassment and bullying will probably lead to a negative impact on them which leads them to a decrease in mental health and self-esteem, bringing them unpleasant school life.
As I was saying, everything is a double-edged sword. That being said, that’s why studying abroad also has its advantages.
To start with, studying abroad can expand F3 students’ horizons. In Hong Kong, compared to other countries, one thing that is very obvious for others to notice is the education system. I would say the education system in Hong Kong is quite traditional, while it’s more creative in other countries. For example, an essay written by a former journalist who has visited Japanese schools before mentioned that they can freely walk around the classrooms if they would like to discuss with others during classes. Oppositely, in Hong Kong, we are told to be seated for the whole school day, except for recesses and short breaks during the day. Moreover, she wrote that their learning curriculums are more innovative than other schools in other countries. I’ve always believed that studying is more than just in books. In my opinion, F3 students are at their golden eras of learning since they are exposed to various subjects and will soon have subject selection for their future. Therefore, expanding their creativity and horizons can let students widen their horizons and gain new experiences from studying abroad.
As I mentioned earlier, everything is a double-edged sword. I think that studying abroad brings advantages. However, I don’t encourage students to study overseas before their graduation as I am convinced that studying abroad brings more disadvantages rather than benefits.