Part I

Mrs Chan : Good afternoon, everyone. My name’s Jane Chan, and I’m the
Principal of St Edward’s College, where this forum is being held. I’m
very happy to welcome so many of you here today. The title of our
forum, as I’m sure you all know, is Higher Education Abroad’, and it’s
been organised by the Careers Teachers Association, for the benefit of
Form Six students. I’m sure we’re all grateful to the Careers Teachers
Association for organising the forum, as their annual project. The
aim of the forum is to give you a clearer picture of tertiary education
overseas. Now, the way we’re going to do that is to let you compare
three widely-differing institutions abroad, so you’ll see some of the
options open to you. To help us do this we have a speaker from each
institution – I’ll introduce them to you now.

First we have Mr Albert Wong, representing Frost College. That’s in

Vermont in the United States. Mr Wong is now a financial analyst at a
big firm right here in Hong Kong, in Central. He’s very cuccessful in
his field, but he’s here today in his capacity of recruitment officer for
Frost College. Also from the Unitd States is Miss Cynthia Jones. She’s
representing Wheatfield University, in Minnesote, where she works as
a professor, and of course she’ll be speaking in that capacity today. And
finally, from the United Kingdom, we have Dr Raymond foster, now a
writer living in London, and a former Lecturer at the University of
Cornwall – which, of course, is why he’s here today. Dr Foster lectured
there for over ten over ten years. History, wasn’t it, Dr Foster? Not that
his subject is important, anyway. Mr Wong from Frost College will
speak first. Mr Wong?

Mrs Wong : Thank you, Mrs Chan, I think I should begin by clearing up a
misunderstanding many people in Hong Kong seem to have, about
colleges and universities in the U.S. College are smaller institutions,
in which a greater proportion of the students are undergraduates.
College undergraduate degree programmes are subject to accreditation
criteria, which are the same as those of universities, and are equally
respected. The standard is not lower, it’s exactly the same. The reason
why they are not so well known outside the United States, is because
they do much less research – it’s research which has made universities
such as Stanford or Harvard famous all over the world, not their
undergraduate courses.

Frost is a liberal arts college, which is probably something new to you,

so let me explain a bit. First of all, the goal of Frost College is to tum
out well-rounded individuals. The college does not want to produce a
bunch of narrowly-trained specialists, proficient in their own fields and
nothing else. The college meets this goal by having what’s known as a
distribution requirement. What does this distribution requirement do?
Well, it requires students to take one course in each of four areas.
These areas are … the sciences … the social sciences … the arts … the
arts … and finally, foreign languages. You’ll be able to fulfil the
foreign language requirement with Chinese if you want to, or you can
try your hand at Japanese, for example. The only required course is
‘first year English’ – everyone has to take that – otherwise, as the name
‘liberal arts’ suggests, you’ll have plenty of choice.

Since we don’t offer advanced degrees, and the professors are

committed to teaching, they give the students a lot of attention. It’s not
easy to get away with being lazy when there’re only nine students to
each teacher, but hardworking students really appreciate it.

A special feature of our system is that students don’t have to declare a

major until their second year. You can use your first year to ‘shop
around’ for something that really interests you. Students are
encouraged to attend lectures and seminars, even if they themselves
aren’t taking the course. Then they don’t miss out on something that
interests them. Our students find this really helpful.

I’m sure you’re wondering what life would be like, if you were a
student at Frost. Frost is a small college in a small, rather isolated
town – Addison, in Vermont. There’s only one cinema – but Frost
makes up for that by sponsoring concerts, plays and showings of
foreign films on campus. There’re no parking meters, you don’t have to
rush back to your car before the meter expires, as you do in Hong
Kong. And there are no Chinese restaurants – though sometimes
Chinese students do get together and cook for themselves.
 This smallness I mentioned earlier has its advantages. All students live
on campus – that is, in the college itself – which most students think is
a good idea. Another point is you really feel part of the community, in
a way that you don’t in big, impersonal cities like Hong Kong. The
local shopkeepers, for example, will soon know you by name, and so
will the postman if you get a lot of letters from home, and the doctor if
you get sick. Thirdly, frost may be isolated geographically, but our
students come from all over the world, so it’s a cosmopolitan
atmosphere on campus. I wasn’t the first student from Hong Kong to
attend Frost, and I’m sure there’ll be many more to follow.

Finally, let mention one aspect of life at Frost that I didn’t find so
pleasant at first – Vermont winters are long, cold and snowy. But
there’s a bright side to this. For example, one of the benefits is that
the bad weather forces you inside to study. In my first year I stayed
indoors all the time. Seriously, in my second year I began to see some
advantages of winter – for instance, snow makes even ugly buildings
look beautiful, and after the first snowfall everything really does look
like a scene on a Christmas card. Also, the cold weather makes you feel
lively and alert, not heavy and sleepy like you feel in Hong Kong,
when it’s hot and humid. And, finally, of course, there’s chance to learn
winter sports – skiing, skating or ice hockey, for example. Ice hockey,
in fact, is a really popular and exciting sport to play.

That’s all I have to say for now. I’ll be happy to answer questions later
in the session.

Mrs Chan : Thank you, Mr Wong. Now let’s hear from Miss Cynthia Jones, from
Wheatfield University in Minnesota. Miss Jones?

Miss Jones : Thank you, Mrs Chan. Before coming here I’ve been to many other
places, and met lots of students, but the most impressive of all are the
Hong Kong students – their dedication – you know what I mean,
they’re so committed to their studies; and also, of course, I’m
impressed with the intelligence of the students, and indeed of the staff,
in Hong Kong. This is my first visit to Hong Kong, but I’ve had lots of
contact with Hong Kong students at Wheatfield. We like Hong Kong
students, and we want more.
The most important thing we offer at Wheatfield is diversity. You can
study almost anything at Wheatfield – Chinese History, botany, film-
making, hotel management – you name it, we’ve got it. With such
diversity I couldn’t possible introduce our courses to you now. So
instead let me talk a little about the facilities that our students make use
of.

First of all there’s the library. It has a large collection of international

journals, and it’s still growing – we keep on subscribing to more. It
even has a few books, but you’d expect that, of course. The library also
houses a large collection of video tapes – Wheatfielders make good use
of these, often grouping together to watch. Secondly, there’s our
Computer Centre. It’s open 24 hours a day, and eager students often
work throughout the night, when it’s nice and quiet. And if you’re
computer illiterate, as I was until a few years ago, you can take an
introductory course run by the centre.

I must also mention our Sport Centre – in addition to all the usual
sports activities you’d expect at university sports centre, which I won’t
bother to mention, it offers individually-tailored courses to keep
students fit while they study. Your health and fitness will be carefully
assessed first, and you’ll be put on the programme that’s right for you.
I’d also point out, too, that there’s ample equipment for all, so there’s
no need to book or wait – quite unlike the situation in Hong Kong, so
I’ve been told. There is a small charge for using the equipment, but
you’ll be pleased to find the fees are low – that’s a deliberate policy to
encourage student use.

Finally, I’d like to talk about how Hong Kong students adapt to life at
Wheatfield. When you move to a totally new environment, there’s
always a certain ‘culture shock’. But at Wheatfield there are some
things which alleviate this culture shock. There’s a special orientation
programme to help new arrivals settle in. this orientation programme is
organised by the Hong Kong Students Society, so they’ll make you feel
at home. Also, unlike the earlier speaker, Mr Wong, I’m able to
promise you several good Chinese restaurants in town – they’re not
quite up to Hong Kong standards, but nonetheless they’re very popular.
 And our library subscribes to Hong Kong newspapers, both in English
and Chinese, such as the South China Morning Post and the Ming Pao,
so you’ll be able to keep up-to-date with what’s happening back home.
Well, my time’s up. Please feel free to ask me questions later.

Mrs Chan : Thank you, Miss Jones. Our third speaker is Dr Raymond Foster, from
the University of Cornwall in the United Kingdom. Dr Foster?

Dr Foster : Thank you, Mrs Chan.

I would like to begin by stressing the advantages of doing a degree

course in England. Our degree courses normally last for three years,
not four. This gives you two advantages, in fact – the shorter duration
saves you time – so you won’t be away from home for so long, and
secondly it saves you money, because you pay less fees. Another
popular advantage is that it’s legal for you to take a job outside the
University, and pick up work experience, and a bit of cash too, though
we hope you won’t do that during term time. That’s an opportunity you
won’t get in the States, where you’re only allowed to work on campus.
If you prefer, however, you can do extra study, or work on your
projects, in the holidays.

A fourth advantage to Hong Kong students is that our education

system is fully compatible with yours, that is, the syllabuses are much
the same. For example, this compatibility makes life easier both when
you’re applying for courses – you’re A-levels will be readily accepted
there – and when you’re graduating – as our degrees are graded just
like those of local universities.

Now, let me give you a brief description of the attractions of

Cornwall. Cornwall is located in the extreme south-west corner of
England. The climate is mild – the temperature is generally a few
degrees higher than in the rest of the country. It’s easily accessible by
road and by rail – you can get to London by high-speed train in just
under four hours. But what Cornwall is best known for is its
magnificent scenery, especially along the coast. It’s wonderful for those
of you interested in photography, but I think everyone appreciates it.
 Now a bit about the university itself. We have a student population of
about 8,000, of whom nearly 2,000 are postgraduates. Cornwall
University is a much younger institution than either Frost or
Wheatfield. We were founded in 1973, so we are currently celebrating
our twentieth anniversary. Though we lack the traditions of more
established universities, our ‘youth’ does give us a advantage. Namely,
we’re not afraid to innovate, to try out new ideas and approaches.
Take Naval Architecture, for example, which is concerned with
designing and building ships. Our degree in Naval Architecture,
however, focuses on small pleasure boats, rather than traditional
shipping. I’ve noticed our pleasure boats are popular in Hong Kong, so
maybe some of you will consider our new degree in Naval
Architecture. Secondly, our degree course in Physiotherapy also has a
very up-to-date approach, with a lot of emphasis on sports injuries.
Sport is big business these days, and we can’t afford to neglect it. But
our most innovative programme is East Europe Studies. Cornwall
was quick to take advantage of the changing political scene in Europe,
and this course is the result. It combines business studies with an East
European language. For example, if a student is interested in
specialising in business in Poland, he would study Business and Polish.

Oh, and that reminds me of a fifth advantage of studying in England,

that I forgot to mention earlier. It gives you a very good opportunity to
tour Europe. Many of our students take advantage of their student
travel passes to see Paris for themselves. Doesn’t that appeal to you?

Oh, I see Mrs Chan is looking at her watch. I’d better sit down.

Mrs Chan : Thank you, Dr Foster.

Part II

Mrs Chan : Welcome back, everyone. Now it’s time for the question and answer
session. Before you ask your question, please identify yourself. Yes?

Tim Lee : My name is Tim Lee and I’m a Form Six Arts student here at St
Edwards. As Mr Albert Wong went from Hong Kong to the United
 States to study, I’d like to ask him if he had any problems with
English when he was studying there.

Mr Wong : Good question, Tim. Of course there were difficulties at the beginning,
both inside and outside the classroom. In class I sometimes
encountered unfamiliar words, but that’s always a problem when you
study something new. Literature was really tough, especially
Shakespeare’s plays – we had to read three of them in one year. And
when I took a Chinese History course, I had great difficulty learning
the English versions of Chinese names, you know, the romanization of
Chinese names.

Outside the classroom, I had a problem with accents – you know, the
way people say things rather than what they say. For example, they say
car rather than car and Gohd rather than God. The accent is quite
different from Hong Kong accent or the BBC English we’re used to in
Hong Kong. Another point is that at first I was puzzled by some
idiomatic expressions that Hong Kong people generally don’t use:
idioms such as I’ll drop you off’ or That’s a real rip-off’ meant nothing
to me when I first heard them. Finally, as you probably know, certain
words are used differently in British and American English. I once said
to a well-dressed classmate ‘You look very smart today’, and he said:
‘How can you tell?’. You see, in American English ‘smart’ only means
‘intelligent’.

How did I overcome my difficulties? Well, I read as much as I could in

English. Also I took every opportunity to speak English. I believe in
the saying, practice makes perfect. I hope that answers your question.

Mrs Chan : Thank you. Let’s have another question. Yes, that young lady in the
second row.

Vanessa Lau : I’m Vanessa Lau, and I’m now working as a computer programmer, but
I want to further my studies abroad. I’d like to ask each representative
about costs. How much will it cost me to attend one of these
institutions?

Mrs Chan : Miss Jones, would you like to speak first?

Miss Jones : Thank you, Mrs Chan. The total cost of a year at Wheatfield is about
12,000 dollars.

Mrs Chan : Excuse me interrupting, you mean U.S. dollars, I suppose?

Miss Jones : Yes, of course. I should have said. That’s a lot of money, for sure, but
much less than private colleges and universities in the U.S. That
$12,000 includes all tuition fees, and a number of other things:
accommodation in the student hostel, canteen meals – but it’s all
American food, I’m afraid – books and stationery, and, I’m pleased to
say, it even leaves a small amount for entertainment.

Now, if your family can’t raise the full $12,000, there are ways that we
can help. We don’t have scholarships for overseas students, but
there’s a student loan programme, and you’ll be pleased to hear the
interest rate is very low. And you can work part-time-though only on
campus – in the library or Computer Centre, for example. Quite a lot of
our students do that.

Mrs Chan : Dr Foster?

Dr Foster : Well, I can’t give you an exact figure for the fees. They range
between £4,000 and £7,000, though. It all depends on what you study,
but it’s all printed out for you in the brochure. The fees at Cornwall are
the same as at other British universities – but I’m afraid we don’t
provide any financial assistance for students. May I remind you,
though, that the cost of living in Cornwall is relatively low – much
lower than London, for example – and this is definitely an advantage
to students studying at Cornwall.

Mrs Chan : Thank you, Dr Foster. Now let’s hear from Mr Wong.

Mr Wong : An education at Frost is expensive, over $20,000 dollars – that’s

American dollars again, of course – for one year of study, but you
should bear in mind these points.

First of all financial assistance is available, much as Miss Jones

 described at Wheatfield. Another thing, everyone leads a very simple
life at Frost, so you won’t spend much on extras – even students from
rich families spend very little. Finally, I’m confident Frost is worth
every penny, and you’ll get a better education.

Mrs Chan : Thank you, Mr Wong. Any more questions? Oh yes, the gentleman in
the grey suit.

Jame Major : Thank you, I’m James Major. I report for the South China Morning
Post, Hong Kong’s main English newspaper. Recently in Hong Kong,
we’ve read about the problem of racial discrimination on university
campuses abroad. Now, I’d like to ask our three speakers how
serious that problem is.

Miss Jones? : Yes. I thought that might come up. Racial conflict is a sad fact of life in
the U.S., but we at Wheatfield fight against it. How do we do that?

Well, university policy requires the Dean of Students Office to

investigate, immediately, any complaint of racial discrimination which
it receives. Let me emphasize it only receives complaints very
occasionally, but everyone is investigated, and action is taken, if
necessary. If the complaints are found to be justified, the offenders can
be suspended or even expelled. So far it’s only been necessary to
suspend two students. Such cases are rare, I assure you.

Mrs Chan : Mr Wong, would you like to comment?

Mr Wong : Let me speak from my personal experience. On campus I was treated

the same as everyone else – no one seemed to notice I was Chinese.
However, there is something you must expect. A Chinese student at
Frost is one of a tiny minority, in a state where very few Chinese
people live. You will be conspicuous in the town of Addison itself, and
you’ll be stared at sometimes – something like westerners in a village
in China would find everyone staring at them. It’s not a great problem,
though, and you quickly get used to it.

Mrs Chan : Dr Foster. Do you have anything to add?

Dr Foster : Well, we’ve never had any problems with racial discrimination at
Cornwall. Not one single complaint. In fact the local students and the
overseas students get on very well together. The four students in our
debating team came from four different continents. And very
successful they were, too. Problems? No, of course not!

Mrs Chan : Well, now it’s time for refreshments. If there are any more questions,
feel free to approach our guests as you enjoy a cup of coffee. Thank
you, everyone.