Email Interview With Martha - My English Teacher

March 4,2011 in Staten Island

Q1: What is your profession?

I'm a musician and a teacher.

Q2: How long have you lived In Paris/New York?

I lived in Paris for 8 years. I've lived in NY for 25.

Q3: How do you describe the differences between France and Western education systems?

It's difficult for me to compare in a valid way, since my experiences were different. In Paris I saw the schools from the outside or from the inside as someone coming in occasionally to talk to the students about music (animations scolaires) whereas in New York I actually had a child in the system.

Q4: What are the positive and negative aspects of public/private education in Paris/France?

I don't know much about private education in France. I think that almost all of it is religious, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you want! I didn't know any French people whose kids were in private school, but most of them seemed to think that it was a waste of money; that the best schools were public. I thought the public schools seemed to be excellent for the lower grades -- up until the CES, the kids I saw mostly seemed to be interested and engaged in their learning, and discipline problems were minimal. High school is another story -- everyone hears about the soul-killing rote memorization in the lycées. The day is very long for the students, and I think there is very little art or music. French lycéens, at least the ones I knew, do not seem to be particularly happy with their education

Q5: What are the positive and negative aspects of public/private education in New York/USA?

This question is way too complicated to answer in a small space! The good thing about public education is that it's free. The bad thing about private education is that it is VERY expensive. The bad thing about both systems is that they are wildly unfair: some students have access to excellent public or private schools, while some do not. The good schools are very good, but the bad schools are TERRIBLE.

Q6: Generally speaking, the French education is free while the American universities are exorbitant. What is the best answer in terms of " rapport qualité prix"?

You know, I have often wondered that myself! Why do so many foreigners come here when they have less expensive options in their own countries???  I can't imagine!

Martha, je te remercie beaucoup de tout ce que tu a fait pour moi. 

Merci encore de ton travail, je ne serai pas la sans toi...  

J'ai décidé d'être heureux parce que c'est bon pour la santé.

I decided to be happy because it's good for my health (Voltaire, France, 1767)

Django Reinhardt -I'll See You In My Dreams

      This is the quotation that I like the most. Quoted by Voltaire, French philosopher and writer. There are many great quotations in America, but as there are a bit too many, it's hard to choose one among them. 

     Last January, I went to Paris after I've been away for four months. While I was living in Paris, I always knew I’d miss Paris whenever I'll be away from it, and I was totally right. I began to regret deeply without saying anything to anyone, 'zut, j'aurais pas dû partir...' I have everything here, EVERYTHING.

     During two weeks, I was busy with meeting my lawyer, accountant, tax, retirement, social security, and appointments with bank. I felt vividly alive doing the stuff that I used to do everyday. One afternoon, luckily, I had a few hours free from work. So, I decided to go walk by the Seine. It was one of my favorite spot during my fifteen years in Paris. One of the reasons I love to go there was I can go there alone whenever I want, and usually it was even better to go there alone. Watching people by the Seine was a real pleasure: lovers, painters, tourists, and jazz players make the place unique and special. Listening music and reading new book near the river used to be a luxury habit for me in the middle of the busy day. 

    I wanted to memorize the place in detail, so I looked around and see everything around it carefully. It was unusual for me to hang around streets in Paris without hurrying or having any plan; I had to rush all the time. It was a little strange in a way that I felt like I was strolling in Paris like a tourist! 

      Then window displays of a papiterie in Île Saint-Louis stopped me. There was a white cotton bag that has a quotation on it, “J'ai décidé d'être heureux parce que c'est bon pour la santé. Voltaire”

    Quoi? C’est vrai mais… Huh, that’s...right. I liked it. It struck me right away. I stayed there for a while watching the bag, and reading the quotation again and again. How curious it was that I haven’t seen the quotation before, even though I lived in France for a quite long time! I stepped into the shop by curiosity. 
    The tiny shop actually had many gadgets, which were all about writing: pen, diary, hand made note book, letter shit, post card and some authentic gift items for tourist. A late middle-aged owner welcomed me with warm smile behind his computer. The delicate scent of papers and warmhearted atmosphere activated my impulsive buying. OK, this is the place. I gave myself a reason that I needed to buy some gifts to my new acquaintances in New York anyway. It made sense. There, as a perfect tourist, I began to pick out Eiffel Tower key holders, Little Prince pens, diaries, stickers, and trinkets, which I’ve never paid attention while I was living in Paris. I went through my roommate, classmates, teachers, neighbors.  I took a couple more pad of papers and bookmarks for those who know me went to Paris. I tried to recall everyone, and guessed what should I buy to make them happy. 

    Thinking about the new friends and choosing trinkets made me smile. They've listened to me whenever I needed to talk, helped me to clear my vision, and supported me. Suddenly, the idea of going back to New York excited me, moreover buying trickets did make me happy! I was unhappy about the fact I was far from everything good and I got nothing over there, but wait a minute, I got new friends! I was going to meet them again and share what had happened in Paris with a small gifts!

    Oh, the bag? I didn't buy it. I got the message from the bag, and the owner of the shop seemed already happy enough for my buying. It's good for your health, let's be happy!    

Some more of Paris...

Thanks to V.Muratyan, I can show you the real difference between Paris and New York.

About The Blog

That Both cities are different

I wasn’t awarE, before I came to NY

I meT lots of people who have an illusion about Paris

That’s the reason Why I want to blog about the difference between Paris and NY

As my opinion of NY is humble, and I know very wEll about Paris,

I’ll describe more of Paris than NY

I’ll compare their general differences in Education

Nutrition

Pacs

Art

Religion

Immigration

Sports

Animal

Nightlife

Dessert

National holiday

If you guys have questions, just google them and don’t ask anYthing. 

 C’est une blague!(Just kidding!)

Hey, this is cool!

One Strange Thing About New York

New York boasts ten million of inhabitants, yet I feel lonelier in New York than in Paris. Winter is longer in Paris, but colder in New York. Being alone is definitely the wrong idea in this city. So, I joined a knitting club, a bible reading group -cover to cover - and an association  for doing volunteer work in addition to my full time job. Keeping busy near people will keep me warm. After I finished my red bulky scarf, I'll be ready for winter.