Have you ever thought of studying abroad after completing Secondary Three? I guess some of you may want to but the others may not. In this essay, I would like to share with you my views on the benefits and defeats of studying abroad.
First of all, it is obvious that studying abroad after completing Secondary Three may help you improve your English. In Hong Kong, people are over exposed to an atmosphere of speaking in Cantonese. Although there are EMI schools, students still communicate in Cantonese all the time, and this is a pity that their English cannot be greatly improved. However, studying abroad provides you an authentic environment to use English. Unless you do not want to make new friends, you are forced to mingle with the locals. Under these circumstances, you must communicate with them in English. Over time, you will find that your English will be sensationally improved because you have more chances than the other Hong Kong students to talk to native speakers. Hence, if you want to ameliorate your English, studying abroad will be the most appropriate choice for you.
Besides, studying abroad helps you to learn to be independent. Nowadays, Hong Kong children are drowned in the love of their parents. Their parents help them to do everything such as tying their shoelaces, bathing them or even feeding them, and these things are unbelievable. It is ridiculous that a 10-year-old child cannot take care of himself. But if you no longer stick with your parents, your ability of taking care of yourselves will definitely improve. And studying abroad is the only measure to get away from your parents since you are still young. No one can help you when you encounter difficulties but depending yourselves is the only way that you can eliminate the problems. Learning to be independent is a crucial element in order to survive in this world, therefore you should take studying abroad in consideration if you think you are not independent enough.
From the above, we could see that there are clearly advantages in studying abroad. Yet there are also some disadvantages.
A serious disadvantage of studying abroad is that it is too expensive. No matter the living expenses, the school fees, the transportation fees or the basic necessities, the price of these aspects is much more expensive in other countries than in Hong Kong because the living standard of other countries is higher than that in Hong Kong. This makes most of the low-class family or even middle-class unaffordable to the expenditure in those countries. As this is a decisive factor, it may directly affect a student if he or she can get the opportunity to study abroad. Thus, whenever you have decided to study abroad, you should also make sure that your family can shoulder this heavy fiscal burden.
Another problem with studying abroad is the safety concern. In other countries, facing the risk of terrorist attacks is the order of the day. For example, the suicide bombings, the shooting cases, the hostage crisis and so on. Unlike in Hong Kong, citizens in other countries are living in panic all the time. How could the parents rest assure if their kids were living in such places but they could not do anything to protect them from being in danger? Intentionally, no matter how you desire to study abroad, you should also put your own safety in the first priority.
In conclusion, there are both pros and cons of studying abroad after completing Secondary Three. However, I believe that, on balance, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and I believe that it is the best for you to study abroad after completing Secondary Three. But anyway, you are the one who make the choice!