Sunday, November 28, 2010
What are schools in South Africa like?
What are schools in South Africa like?
I think it would be fun to be a foreign exchange student in South Africa so im looking for some info on the schools there. Im wondering how long the avarage school day is? how many days of the week do they have school? Do you think that most South African schools are harder than American schools? If you go to school in south Africa, do you like it? Is it fun? What grade are you in and what school do you go to? Thanks alot for all your answers :)
South Africa - 5 Answers
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1 :
It's been a while since I've been to school. The school depends on the city/ town and the suburb of the particular city. You can websearch a few; Centurion High John Vorster Technical Waterkloof High Zwartkops High Lyttleton Manor Eldoraigne High These are all in Pretoria, I don't know the schools in Cape Town or Durban. O yeah, there is one in Bloemfontein you can also try...Grey College. Try to learn about rugby before you go though.
2 :
If you want a good education, rather stay where you are .. the standard of education is pathetic, unless you go to a more expensive private school. The hours is usually from 07h30 until 13h30, Monday's to Friday's but when they write exams, only on the day's they write, this is in Pretoria area ... it might differ elsewhere
3 :
I have a couple of people in my school from America who say that the standard of education at my school is much higher than that in America but I go to an all girls private school and I'm in grade 10, enjoy going to school in South Africa but that is just because I enjoy my country but I have thought about going to Le Rosey a school in Switzerland.We go to school from Monday to Friday and are normally at school from 7:25 until 1:45 but might go home later due to extra curricular activities
4 :
It has been a while but when I was at school the exchange students found that our standard of education was higher than what they were used to. You do get good schools and bad schools though, like everywhere else. I'm sure the people who organise the exchange know which schools are better than others. However, I think that when you are going on exchange the cultural and social experience you have over there is more important than what you learn in school. An exchange student from Sweden lived with my family for a year (in Johannesburg) and we are still as close as sisters. It was a wonderful experience for both of us. That year our school hosted two Swedish girls, an American, a German and an Argentinian. They all loved it :-) I think the other answers have covered the school day info. Wishing you all the best. ADD: Our exchange students got a free period during our second language class.
5 :
For me right now, school is awfully boring. Although, judging by the questions in the Mathematics section, our curriculum is not much different from the American one. (Slightly easier sometimes. For example Complex Numbers are not in our Math curriculum at all. You're just told "you can't square-root a negative number, but if you do, you get an imaginary number" and other than that, imaginary and complex numbers are never mentioned. Also, Calculus is in the Grade 12 (final year) curriculum, but only differential calculus, never integral calculus) I go to school from 7:30 to 13:45 (that's 1:45 in the afternoon. When I went over to the US, the way we write the time was the source of quite a bit of confusion :P ) We go to school from Monday to Friday, and get the weekend off (most schools work like this, but there are probably exceptions) If you're coming from America, you might want to know that you are expected (it's the law) to take a second language. Most schools teach Afrikaans, but I do have friends in Cape Town who are learning Xhosa and friends in Johannesburg who are learning Zulu (and I tried to teach myself, but have pretty much given up. My Zulu vocabulary is pretty much limited to: Sawubona (Hello) Igami lami ngu... (My name is) Ngiyabonga (Thank you) Kunjani (How are you) Hamba kahle (Good bye, to an individual) Hambani kahle (Good bye, to a group) [edit: I almost forgot. Nkosi sikelel iAfrica: The first line of our National Anthem. Everyone (here at least) knows that it means "God bless Africa"] If anyone speaks Zulu, feel free to correct me if I am wrong) Apart from having to take a second language, none of which are widely spoken in America, you should do fine. I enjoy school, but not for the learning. I am far ahead of the rest of the grade, and what makes it even worse is that the teachers see that I am finished and bored, so give me the next weeks work to keep me busy, which just puts me further ahead. The people here are kind and interesting (especially in Cape Town, somewhere where I still want to move to) Might I recommend that if you do come here, you go to Cape Town. It is a wonderful city with a lot of interesting people to meet and things to do, even if it's airport is far smaller than the Jozi one :) Also, there are some South-Africanisms you'll have to get used to: e.g. Braai = Barbecue Tekkies = Sneakers Bakkie = Pick-up Truck Biltong = Awesome (Not really, but it does taste good. Its almost like Jerky) Another thing you'll have to get used to is the sport. The sports we play here are very different to in America. We don't really play baseball or basketball for example. We do play cricket and rugby (which is similar to football, but different enough to be a completely different game) and always beat Australia and New Zealand in both (okay, not *always*) and other sports, and you'll proabably be able to find a club that does play basketball and baseball if you look. Overall, I love this country and I'm sure you will too. ===== edit: @Sprinkly: That sounds very interesting. My school never accommodates any exchange-students though, so I can't tell [the asker] how they are treated or what is expected from them unfortunately.
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