Ok. So does anyone want to know my theory and why I was debating with Melissa the night before my Physics exam? If you do, read on.
I find that the BC Education System is screwed up. In grade 12, English is a mandatory class where as Math can be optional. This is just unfair to the people who are better at Math than they are at English. The people who are good in English can avoid Math and go into courses like Literature and History and stuff, therefore, no courses would bring down their GPA (Grade Point Average). For the people who are better in Math and are not doing so well in English - like me - have GPAs that are pulled down because of English.
I'm not saying that one is more important than the other. I understand that we need to learn proper English in order to survive in this world, but Math is also very important. Without Math, who's going to keep track of your pay cheques to see if your employer has paid you the right amount? Who's going to count your change for you when you go buy stuff? Sure, you might rely on credit cards now, but trust me, everything around you revolves around Math. For example, the car your drive. The number of miles it travels before you have to fill up the gas again, the number of km/hr you're driving and how far away you are from the speed limit.
Sure, the stuff we learned this year in Math was pretty useless (Trigonometry Graphs, Trig Proofs, Conics, etc.), like when are we going to use these stuff in real life? But that's the exact same thing I can say about English this year (Post-Modernism, Existentialist, Nihilist, etc.). Even grammar and sentence structures would be more useful than this. When are we going to use this? Sure, we'll understand it, but how does this apply to life? How does this work in the business world?
So therefore, to conclude, I just want to say that Math is just as important as English. If English is going to be a mandatory class for Grade 12's, so should Math. It is unfair to Math people when they have English pulling them down; where as English people are zooming their ways through high school getting averages like 90%. It's not because I'm jealous or anything, but it's only fair. Math people are complaining. English people don't need to complain. People who are good at both won't be bothered. People who are bad at both, well, there's nothing to do about that, so too bad. But I believe that the BC Education system can be fixed.
6 comments:
i dont even know what to say about how some think that math is just as mandatory as english. it so clearly isnt. fair enough basic math is needed in everyday life and we all speak english every day but i dont think that is the point on why enslish is mandatory. personally, i hated english before this year (and frankly, i still hate writing) and probably wouldnt have chosen it as an elective. but after this year i have learned so much about how to be a better "person". you may not like english but after this year didnt you feel more self-aware? havent you noticed that people were more aware of how they are to other people (personally i think our grade is very tollarent to other cliques)? perhaps it was because our english class was more like a philosophy class and perhaps no other school on BC has teachers like Mr. Moorehead who are philosophically inclined. i dunno what you got out of english 12 but i definately know others in which it broadened the vision and without a doubt it will forever be more influencial than any math coarse i will take. so whether you are good at english or not, it didnt matter; all you had to do was listen. math only helps the few wheras english can influence us all.
i agree.. i'm better at english though so i don't complain... but i agree with you that math is just as important, even though i suck at math... but come on, we've learned the basics... and if u want, u can CHOOOSE to go into math in grade 12. so what's the problem??it's not "mandatory", but it's still there ^-^ i'm glad it's not mandatory
I can agree that English being a mandatory course is kind of a downer. But I think its more to prepare you for further learning where you'll have to communicate effectively using language, regardless of what faculty you continue your education in. Engineers and Scientists may not write a work of art worthy of a place on a Chapters bookshelf, but they have to write reports and the like which can be fully understood and which convey their ideas in an effective matter. I also agree that the majority of the things we learned in both Math and English 12 are useless in real-life situations. "I see, the hyperbola has a center at (-3, 2/3), so.. I should put the salami on my bread just so for maximum enjoyment.." Ok that was kind of lame, but my point is still the same: useless in real life, I dont think thats an arguement. Anything we needed to know about math for daily life we learned back in elementary school. That said, it makes sense to me that English is mandatory and Math Optional, since Communication with words is universal to all secondary learning, where math is limited to Engineering and the like. While English and Math 12 were equally worthless for real-life application, each prepare you for further learning. Maybe it seems unfair those bound for humanities and literary courses can dodge math while those of us heading for more math based courses get shoved into themes and post-modernism whatnots, but I think its beneficiary that everyone be able to communicate themselves in written language for post-secondary learning and in the business world. In all fairness to both the BC Education system and the students who had to suffer through English 12: I don't know how much English 12 benefited or will actually benefit me or anyone else until school next year, so I could be completely wrong. Whatever. On a side note: I didnt get anything mr moorehead said this year, while i was in his class. Themes and essays are not my thing. I prefer math. In a fight, Math would kick english's butt, however that would work. Stupid English.
To bad that it is thought in English in university not Phiolosophy but what ever hate english 12 go for it ;)
Aiya... It was posted a week after the real debate. You just checked later. Anyway, I have already mentioned that I will stop arguing about this because Stacey had made a good point about it earlier. And Melissa, I disagree with YOUR point of view even though I agree with Stacey's. It still does not have relevancy to the REAL world that I am talking about. Existentialist and nihilist does not apply to jobs unless you're going to be analyzing people. I know YOU'RE going to need it since you're going into criminlogy. But I am guessing that you didn't do that well in English this year either seeing that you had a couple of spelling mistakes and problems with integrating quotes in your comment. Grammar is something that we should be worrying about more. If you asked any of the people who took English 12 for summer school, none of them learned existentialist or nihilist. They don't know what it is. It is better to know more things than to know less, yes, but that part wasn't mandatory and our teachers just taught it to us because - I don't know - maybe they thought it was fun? In the way I see it, we should be learning stuff that is more useful to us for our final exam so we can get that over with. If anyone who wants to learn what existentialist and nihilist is to make them understand these concepts and become a better person or they actually believe that it would help them in the real world, they can take philosophy when they get to college.
For what you have said to defend Math 12 will not stand. The math in which you had described in your argument was math that I had learned in elementary school, thus bringing the relevancy of math 12 in relation to your defense. Also saying that "...English this year (Post-Modernism, Existentialist, Nihilist, etc.). Even grammar and sentence structures would be more useful than this. When are we going to use this? Sure, we'll understand it, but how does this apply to life? How does this work in the business world?" Lest see, "[H]ow does this apply to life?" if you are asking that you truly did not understand the concepts but I will let that one slide. Let’s see they are our lives? Everything you see hear and watch has these roots even does your argument against said things like this. So there is just one answer to that question Addressing "How does this work in the business world?" it may not be easy to see how it affects business, it may not be in a direct form of influence but as I stated above that these are a part of our person and that will have some influence on the decisions that we make and what not think if the world was all Alpolian than there would be no business right? Yet we do not realize that every decision in which we make is detriment by these factors which you claim to find useless. So unless you can not see what I am trying to say I will say don’t bother finding out since you are seemingly pushing it aside into nothingness. All I can say is that we should be required to learn the language of our country, too bad if you are not good at it you better learn fast since that is the language you are expected to speak in and to learn in and to communicate in. so that is why I believe that it must be made a mandatory course and not an elective for optional learning and I do believe that no one should be forced to learn how to use the quadratic formula if they do not need it. But sadly to say that we all need English hence why it is a mandatory course. So if you have a problem with it leave the BC education system, but you will find it is the same all thru North America. And that is all I have to say about this and I wish not to further discuss this topic with anyone since I do not know why it has been posted on here about 2-3 weeks after the original "debate" has ensued.
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