Chinese students’ chant

Re “The Academic Equation in China Is Making College a Long Shot,” June 18

At the school where my wife and I work as English-language teachers, students are in class seven days a week and, with the exception of Sunday, 13 1/2 hours a day. Lessons consist almost entirely of memorization, to the point where often all you hear are classes of 60 students chanting, in unison, whatever their teacher has just said.

Almost every student is wonderful at memorizing facts and data. But when they come to our English classes, where lessons are student-centered and require independent thinking, many struggle to perform.

With all the hype in America these days about the rise of China, it would serve us well to realize that this is a nation that still has a long way to go.

JAMES HARRIS

Benniu, China