Text and picture by Eki Qushay Akhwan
What's success?
According to this billboard, the equation of succes is this: Math + English; and that means the school whose name is advertised there. Does it make sense?
Perhaps.
English, although not a language with the largerst number of speakers, is the most widely spoken language worldwide. Logically, one who can speak English has access to all the information there is to succeed and compete anywhere.
As for math, it's the ultimate language of science.
Speaking of science, Indonesians, I think, can be proud of the achievements of their students and scholars. This year, Indonesian high school students ranked 36 out of 97countries participating at the recent International Mathematics Olympics held in Spain, with one silver and two bronze medals plus an honorable mention title.
At the International Biology Olympics, Indonesian team received two silver and two bronze medals.
In Chemistry, our team performed even better, winning one gold, one silver, and one bronze medals at the recent International Chemistry Olympics held in Hungaria.
The best science olympics achievements of our high school students yet, however, is in physics. Indonesian International Physics Olympics team has consistently won a respectable place for many years now. This year, for example, it won two gold, two silver, and one bronze medals at the 2008 International Physics Olympics held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in July.
8 comments:
Qu'est-ce que le succès ? Les mathématiques et l'anglais conduisent-ils vraiment au succès ? Conduisent-ils au bonheur ? je ne suis pas sûre !
La littérature, les arts donnent plus de bonheur que les mathématiques et la réussite humaine n'a pas besoin des mathématiques et de l'anglais. Elle a besoin d'amitié, de sympathie, d'échanges ...
that is indeed something to be proud of! Kumon- is that a japanese company? I would love to send my kids to kumon if I will have any.
Again your words are such food for thought. I often think the English language is wated on we English. We treat it so badly, yet it is spoken by others so wonderfully. High acheivements indeed, and again an event I had not heard of. I am humbled and educated today all in one post.
Oh goodness, Kumon seems to be all over. We have them here too, but only as a supplement to studies, especially for math.
Your educational system sounds good — much better than in the Philippines.
You should be very proud of that. So many people speak English but I don't feel that our schools have emphasized foreign languages enough.
If success is defined as high academic achievement, yes I agree with Kumon :-)
Your article on success is well expressed.
I, also, value education and it was a priority in our home when our 2 children were growing up.
In a world that has become smaller because of technology, learning another language or more, helps to bridge gaps of ignorance that I see prevalent in today's world.
Often I wonder about my native country, the United States. We introduce a second language in high school, much to late in my opinion.
Other countries know about US, BUT, we don't know NOTHING about other countries. Shame on US!
I would be so proud of the school and its achievements in academia.
Kudos to them.
It is an interesting sign. I understand what you're saying - English is so widespread these days.
However, in my country it has made us rather lazy in a way - knowing a second language isn't considered a priority (as English is so widely known), and languages are usually only taught optionally for a couple of years in secondary school. This fact was really brought home to me when I visited Germany & France last year. I felt deeply embarrassed by my lack of communication skills, and even more ashamed when so many people were quite fluent in English.
Post a Comment