My name's Yangbo and I was in a Chinese national school for ten years and then I came to an international school. After one year I found there are many differences between a Chinese school and an International school.
First of all, people here all speak English, and teachers teach classes in English as well. It is a big problem for me because I never spoke English in Chinese school. Besides this, there is a lot more work to do in international schools such as the TOK essay which is about philosophy which I never learned in Chinese school. Another is the Extended Essay which needs 4,000 words. I've never written such a long essay.
Actually, while I think IB school is harder it is better than Chinese national school. Because the classes are small, the number of students in each class i less than 20 so the teachers can pay attention to everybody.
English: Tokyo Chinese School 日本語: 東京中...
Anglo-Chinese School (International) at twilight.
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), IB blockBut in Chinese school, there are more than 60 students in th class and teachers cannot take care of each student.
Nevertheless, if you study in Chinese school, it is better to make friends rather than in the IB school. As people there are all Chinese, they won't have the problems about language and culture. And there are also more people in Chinese school than in IB school so they don't leave and come as often as people in IB school. People can have many friends and stay with them for a long time.
On the other hand, I think studying in IB school is better for learning foreign languages and communication skills. Because all stuff in English and people speak English also here, it would be more effective than in Chinese school to learn English. And people come from many countries such as people in my English class. They come from Korea, Japan... Although I don't know Korean or Japanese but I can communicate with them in English, and I can also know some culture and custom of them.
Therefore, I tend to prefer IB school more than Chinese National schools. Even though it is hard and have some things I never learned, but I'm very interested in it and enjoy to take this challenge.
The older block of classrooms in the school, forme...
English: Anglo Chinese School Independent Panorama...
Chinese School Children - Central Park (LOC)