With the gradual development of society, the exchanges between various countries in the world are becoming more and more frequent, and every year many people will step abroad to study in foreign countries and broaden their horizons, and Chinese students abroad have never been in the minority.
Many Chinese students will go to the United States, the United Kingdom, to the world's top universities for further study, and there are many to study in Japan, after all, in Asian countries, Japan's education quality ranks in the forefront.
In the eyes of foreigners, Asian students study much harder than European and American students, and their grades are among the best, while in Japan, university professors also think that Chinese students are terriblely good.
So, what about Chinese students in Japan?
01 Chinese students studying in Japan
From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, a large number of students embarked on a ship to Japan to study on this small island, including Lu Xun, Zhou Enlai, Guo Moruo, Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Yu Dafu and other celebrities.
Most of them went to Japan with the purpose of saving the people and trying to strengthen themselves, where they learned new knowledge and new ideas, and spread these new things they learned at home after returning to China.
In the past, most of the Chinese students in Japan had a poor and difficult impression, most of them had to work hard to earn money while studying hard, but what was more difficult was to accept cultural differences.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the difficulties of Chinese students in Japan were particularly prominent, Japan was originally a small country attached to China in history, but in the late Qing Dynasty, it was able to defeat China, and Chinese students in Japan were always subjected to some kind of discrimination and humiliation.
The writer Yu Dafu's experience of studying and living in Japan had a great influence on him, and he talked about his experience in Japan in his autobiography: "The people of Yamato are honest and unceremonious, and they are shouting out everywhere in attitude, speech, and deeds: 'You inferior peoples, the subjugated people, what are you doing in our Great Japanese Empire that governs you?'" ’”
The Japanese discriminated against him and alienated him, often causing him to "fall from the top of joy to the bottom of the abyss of despair", filling his heart with grief and despair.
With the founding of New China, reform and opening up, China rose step by step, by 2010 the total GDP exceeded Japan, becoming the world's second largest economy, China's comprehensive national strength is different from the past, and the number of students studying in Japan has generally only increased.
In 2017, the number of Chinese students in Japan exceeded 100,000, accounting for 40% of the total number of international students, and by 2021, this proportion will be about 48.5%.
Some of them went to Japan to study at a university after graduating from high school, and some of them went to Japan for graduate school after graduating from college.
Today's Chinese students, in Japan, are also more confident in a strong country, will not have a feeling of cowering and shrinking, and are more able to learn with a better mentality.
Because the economy has taken off and the people's living standards have improved significantly, not everyone studying Chinese students should study while working, they have no financial worries, they can have more time to do research, do experiments, soak in the library, and focus on their studies.
Professor Xi Cheng of the Frontier Science and Technology Research Center of the University of Tokyo has said: "In the past four or five years, I feel that chinese students as a whole are very good, some were excellent in the past, and some were not excellent, in a state of mixed fish, but these years are different, the achievements of chinese students I have met have greatly exceeded their predecessors and Japanese students." ”
Japanese university professors also said that if Japanese students do not redouble their efforts, they will always be overwhelmed by Chinese students.
In his opinion, most of the questions asked him after class are Chinese students, and if there is any doubt, they will directly raise them, eager for teachers to help them, and Japanese students will always hold the attitude of "alas, forget it, next time".
In recent years, the hard work and resilience of Chinese students in their studies have often surprised Japanese students and made Japanese teachers appreciate.
When Chinese students do research, they are often consistent, insisting on doing research, and after a period of research, they can summarize in the form of a thesis, in contrast, Japanese students will give up immediately if they lose interest or are hindered in the research process.
The difference in learning attitudes has gradually widened the gap between Chinese students and Japanese students, as well as international students from other countries, the most significant of which is the gap in grades.
The University of Tokyo awards the "President's Medal" to students who have achieved excellent results in academic and social activities, and many Chinese students have now won this award, and professors at the University of Tokyo say that some Chinese students have done impeccable projects.
Some Chinese students who have graduated from university or graduate school will continue their studies in Japan and study specific topics.
In Japan, there is an unwritten rule that papers published should be linked to age, such as thirty papers at the age of thirty and forty papers at the age of forty.
To Professor Xicheng's surprise, many researchers from China have published hundreds of papers at a young age, and some of them can become university professors at the age of thirty, and they have surpassed japanese researchers with a transcendent attitude.
To achieve such results, it is no wonder that Japanese professors have always lamented the excellence of Chinese students.
Chinese students who go abroad represent the image of China, and those outstanding students all show the proud style of a big country.
In fact, since more than a hundred years ago, the first batch of Chinese children who went to the United States to study have let Americans see their excellence.
In the changing times, they carry the hopes of the nation, and when they first arrive in the United States, they will naturally be afraid and uneasy, but after gradually adapting, they will show their brilliance.
For example, they can write well — whether it's Chinese or English — and they can learn English quickly and mingle with the locals;
After entering Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and other prestigious universities, their grades are still among the best, and they are outstanding in all aspects.
In contrast, international students from other countries are far from the achievements of Chinese students.
Today, more than a hundred years later, Chinese students have gone to a foreign country with more self-confidence to study in a foreign country, just as outstanding, and even more glorious than their predecessors.
02 Reasons for excellence
Why are Chinese students so good in the eyes of Japanese professors that they are so good that people are afraid?
The first is China's college entrance examination system. Candidates must work very hard and not slack off at all to get into a university of their choice.
China's diligent high school juniors, who learn at twelve o'clock in the evening and get up at five or six o'clock in the morning, are everywhere to endorse.
Most high schools are boarders, so Chinese students have basically no other activities than studying.
With this tenacity to learn, how can we not get a little grade?
If Chinese students want to enter the university, there is only one chance for the college entrance examination, there will be no other interviews or extracurricular activities to add points, and how much achievement can be achieved in learning determines which university to go to in the future.
But in Japan, there are two exams that can determine whether you can enter the university, one is the university admission center exam, the national unified paper, the difficulty will not be too large, the other is an individual academic qualification examination, is a separate exam of each university, in addition to examining the student's knowledge level, but also to test their comprehensive quality.
The time of individual academic examination is different, and students can choose to apply for multiple universities at the same time. Therefore, even if one of the two exams does not play well, there is still a chance to remedy, and it will not be decided in one game, and Japanese students will not have to die on that exam.
In addition, Japan's fertility rate still seems to be in a downward trend year by year, "aging" and "low birthrate" problems are prominent, and the competition for university entrance examinations will not be particularly fierce compared to China, which has a large population base, so that the pressure on Japanese students will be less than that of Chinese students, and they will not redouble their efforts to study like Chinese students.
The college entrance examination system has brought Chinese students a strong sense of competition.
Even after leaving high school, students will bring this sense of competition to the university and to the company, and they have always had the idea of competing for the first place.
Therefore, when college students in other countries enjoy life, most Chinese students will only be busy improving their abilities in all aspects, busy achieving results in various projects, and making themselves better people.
It takes 100% effort to enter the university in China, so students who want to study abroad may have to pay 120% of their efforts.
People who understand the process of going abroad know that in addition to choosing their favorite colleges and majors, they also have to pass language tests such as IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE, etc. If you want to study in Japan, you generally have to pass the TOEIC test.
In addition, there are also academic materials, that is, transcripts and graduation certificates, and now, some foreign schools recognize China's college entrance examination results.
Individual schools also need students' portfolios, personal statements, etc., which are also carefully prepared.
If you want to get a place to study abroad, you have to excel among your peers.
Therefore, students who want to study abroad must not only strive to have bright results, but also pass language tests and some interviews, etc., and it is difficult to be competitive if they do not desperately try to learn.
The reason why Chinese students are so good at foreign universities is also the number of factors. Chinese students account for 40% of all international students in Japan, and there are naturally many excellent talents.
Instead of saying that the people studying abroad are getting better and better, it is better to say that more and more excellent people are choosing to study abroad.
03 Why study in Japan?
The United States has always been the first choice for Chinese students, but nowadays, more and more Chinese students choose to study in Japan.
So why do so many good people choose to go to Japan?
First of all, it is because the quality of education in Japan is trusted.
Japan's more famous universities include the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Kyushu University, Hokkaido University, Nagoya University, etc., and some private universities such as Waseda University, Keio University, Sophia University, Rikkyo University, etc., also have a very good teaching level.
Generally speaking, the University of Tokyo and Waseda University are the first choices for Chinese students. These Japanese universities have outstanding majors, and further studying at these universities is no worse than crossing the ocean to Europe and the United States.
In addition, Japan's education method is different from China's, Japanese teachers will pay more attention to students' sense of autonomy, and the club activities in schools are more colorful, in some large provinces in China.
The pressure of students will not stop after the end of the college entrance examination, but will continue to the university, from the pressure of the university to the pressure of the examination, the examination, the pressure of the examination, to study in Japan, you can feel a different learning atmosphere.
Secondly, due to the epidemic and the Sino-US trade war, Chinese students have more restrictions on studying in Europe and the United States.
For example, some majors do not admit Chinese students, and some students' student visas are denied, so Chinese students have shifted their goals to Japan, which has a relatively mild study abroad policy and a higher visa approval rate.
In addition, Japan is also in Asia, relatively close to China, and its living habits are relatively similar, and compared with European and American countries where shootings occur from time to time, Japan's public security is much better.
Everyone is an Asian face, and there will be no Westerners who discriminate against Asians, so it is much more reassuring for parents to send their children to Japan.
Finally, there is the question of the cost performance of studying abroad.
Chinese's economic level is getting higher and higher, and the number of middle-class families is increasing, these families hope to send their children abroad to broaden their horizons and receive better education.
However, the tuition fees of universities in Europe and the United States are extremely expensive, the cost of living is also very high, and it will cost millions of yuan in a few years, if it is not a rich and expensive family, the cost of studying abroad is relatively large for parents.
In contrast, studying in Japan costs about 100,000 a year, and it is easier to apply to a higher-ranking university in the world.
The pressure of university study in the United States is very high, there are endless papers and projects that cannot be completed every day, and it is not an easy task to graduate on time, almost half of the graduate students have to postpone graduation, and there are not a few college students who have not been able to graduate successfully after seven years of study.
At Japanese universities, the pressure is not so great.
If you live in Japan, the environment is also more exquisite, and the price level is similar to that in China, so the high cost performance makes many people choose to study in Japan.
Nowadays, we have entered an era of "explosive study abroad", compared with the predecessors, the younger generation of Chinese children choose to study abroad not because they can immigrate overseas, but hope to receive a better education, continuously improve themselves, and then return to China to make a contribution.
The strength of the country also allows overseas students to have more self-confidence and more confidence to show our excellent culture to foreigners.
Whether or not they go out to study, no matter what the purpose of studying abroad, whether it is to Japan or to Europe and the United States, the new generation of Chinese teenagers have been sharpened to be more confident and can make some more generous attempts.
"If the youth is strong, then the country is strong", China's new generation of outstanding teenagers will surely make the motherland shine more on the world stage.