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Student Debt
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Student Debt
学生债务

Learn About Verbs with "ing"

Date: Dec 14 2011

Themes: School

Grammar: Verbs with "-ing"

Intro

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Congratulations! You’re a college graduate. Now it’s time to start looking for a job. Oh, and if you live in the US, it’s also time to start paying off the thousands and thousands of dollars in student debt you’ve taken on over the past four years.

Colleges in the US are becoming more and more expensive. And unlike in some countries, American students don’t get much help from the government when it comes to paying for school. Unless their parents can afford to pay for their university, many students graduate with lots and lots of debt.

Jeff is one of the lucky few: he’s debt-free. But Devan is worried about how she’s going to pay off all of her student loans. Hear their conversation about student debt.

祝贺你!你是一名大学毕业生了。现在要开始找工作了。如果你住在美国,也是时候开始偿还你在过去四年中欠下的成千上万的学生债务了。
美国大学的费用变得越来越昂贵。与一些国家不同,美国学生在支付自己的学费方面得不到政府的太大帮助。除非学生的父母能支付起学费,否则很多学生毕业时都欠下大量的债务。
杰夫属于少数幸运者中的一名:他没有债务。而德凡则担心自己要如何付清所有的学生贷款。请听他们关于学生债务的谈话。

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Devan

Devan

Jeff

Jeff

Devan:  So, I’m about to graduate, and I thought I would be really excited for this day, and really I’m just dreading it, because I know that means I’m going to have to start paying off all my debt.

Jeff:  Yeah. I have some friends like that, but my parents paid for school.

Devan:  Well that must be nice. I really wish that my parents had paid for me, but they couldn’t afford it. So now I’m tens of thousands of dollars in debt. And I got a degree that I don’t even think I’m gonna be able to use in this economy.

Jeff:  Yeah, I keep hearing that. I don’t know, I got a great job after school.

Devan:  I think you’re one of the few there, you know? I just think that it’s getting harder and harder to get a job or to have a degree mean anything, because so many students are going to school, and so many more are not finding jobs. It costs more money than ever to go to school now. I don’t know, I think that maybe we should adopt a system like a lot of countries in Europe have, and have it be free.

Jeff:  Well, how would we pay for that?

Devan:  The government.

Jeff:  Where does the government get the money?

Devan:  They print more.

 

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Discussion

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Devan is graduating from college soon. She is worried because once she graduates, she’ll have to start paying off her student loans. She has had to take on thousands of dollars of debt in order to pay for school. Plus, she isn’t sure if her degree will help her find a good job.

Jeff is lucky. His parents paid for him to go to college, so he didn’t have to take on any debt. He also found a good job as soon as he graduated. But as Devan points out, his situation isn’t normal.

Devan thinks that college should be free in the US. She thinks the government should pay for it, not the students. But she isn’t sure where the government will get the money to do that.

Is student debt a problem in your country? Do you think that universities should be free?

 

Comments

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Miss Fabulous

Germany

u do also have to pay for your uni in europe its not for free

09:34 PM Dec 14 2011 |

1 person likes this

FUN777

FUN777

Egypt

Well, in my country there are two kinds of universities, the government support one of them and the other one is not, but the first one isn’t as quality and the students couldn’t have any job after graduation. I think in the two cases the government should guarantee jobs for the students after their graduation i think this thing is more important than how to pay the studing costs.

06:41 PM Dec 14 2011 |

Levanchi

Levanchi

Germany

I am from Georgia. I study Medicine in Germany and Germany pays for my study! Thank You Germany! Thank You for this great opportunity! 

06:02 PM Dec 14 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

GreenLea, they will mess up your whole life, and yeah if you have any assets they will seize them to make up for the debt. I don’t rule out that they might take you to prison, but I reckon they might take legal actions against you . These guys  are Sharks like Julito Mentioned, they will tear you apart in every sense of the word. I only own a fishing pole and 60 Ice blocks I call home. I get wi-fi connection from the cruise ships touring my neighborhood.


Julito my personal situations are everyone else’s business I don’t mind opening to people.not at all hehehe!

04:25 PM Dec 14 2011 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

Snoopyboy, I appreciate that you got back  and let us have  a clearer understanding of your personal situation . I now can see why  you are living in Antartica  or whatever place you are living in.  this loan officers  are  really sharks ..  take care. 

04:08 PM Dec 14 2011 |

green_lea

Viet Nam

hi, snoopyboy, I’m curious. What will happen if you can not pay your debt. Will your lender go to your house and take away everything? (Judging from your condition I don’t think will be anything valuable enough to make up for your debt). Or do they charge you and you have to go to prison? Anyway, you don’t have job now, so it will be better if you’re in prison for a while. Maybe when you’re out, some one may hire you.

04:07 PM Dec 14 2011 |

green_lea

Viet Nam

I’ve read friend lover comments, but I don’t quite agree. If the person is so clever, I think he or she will clever enough to know how to earn money or turn to sb for help. There are a lot of scholarship on offer, and a clever person will always be given special privilieges.


Free or fee-paying college, they both have pros and cons, but the cons of fee-paying outnumber the cons of free college, so college should be fee-paying.


03:46 PM Dec 14 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Julito, haha! this letter will melt anyone’s heart but  my loan officers’, I didn’t get  the loans from the university I attented. I get them from a third party.And all they care about is “where is the money”, they don’t want to hear your life story or anything. All they asked was “How would you  like to pay off your loans Mr Snoopy?, we accept cash, Money order and credit cards”. hehe!

03:45 PM Dec 14 2011 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

Kukuka,  Years ago  during a visit to  a university in the US  UCLA  At Los angeles , I was surprised by the  amount of students from Japan . One of the reasons is that in Japan in order to be admitted  they must prove them that you are close to brilliant .  As this is not the case  with many ,parents send them abroad to  pursue a master degree. I agree that universities  should no be crowded.  When  a university is free  some students  tend to relax  and stay  studying for years.

03:34 PM Dec 14 2011 |

kukuka

kukuka

Ukraine

Yes I think universities should be free but the amount of students should be limited also. You can’t let everyone study at a university because not all people have the same skils and knowledge. Let it be only the best school leavers!


By the way in a country like America i don’t think it’s a problem to earn enough even if you don’t have a higher education. People here earn much less despite their diplomas and degrees.

03:12 PM Dec 14 2011 |

 julito

julito

Argentina


  1. Snoopyboy, May I suggest  you write them a letter as follows: Dear anxious creditors, i wish I could be  able to pay off  the debt, unfortunately, after    sending out  countless job applications  I came to understand that they are not desperate to hire me. I am a healthy and motivated  young boy  and you might not want  to miss the opportunity  to offer me a position at the university , I would be very happy to  start working in the lower ranks , at the cafeteria, sweeping the courtyard or whatever offer  you  might come up with.  yours sincerily  and worried graduate..       

03:11 PM Dec 14 2011 |

1 person likes this

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Yeah Friendlover , but don’t give me away hee!

02:17 PM Dec 14 2011 |

friendlover

Turkey

Dear snoopyboy, run away as far as you can..


02:02 PM Dec 14 2011 |

1 person likes this

friendlover

Turkey

We have both, public and private school in Turkey. I read all comments, most of members think universities musn’t be free because it makes education lose quality. I understand their point of view and I agree. But money is not the most important thing. What if someone is so clever but has no money and what if someone is stupid but have so much money??


I have graduated from a public university because my family couldn’t afford. Now I have a nice job, earning money and helping my family, otherwise I would be a jobles person.


It’s really not easy to decide which one is better.

02:00 PM Dec 14 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

I have student debts up to my throat. They’ve given me a six-month grace period from the day of my graduation to pay off my loans. But I couldn’t find a job soon enough, my debts were due; and the phone calls began. It was so nerve wrecking I had to change my phone number. Now they are flooding my mailbox with letters with bold red writings like: “Pay your loans NOW!” “URGENT” “WE WILL FIND YOU” ;). I left home and dug me a hole here in Antarctica leaving everything behind.


Devan Story is that of most of students, graduation can be a bitter-sweet event. At one end it means you’ve achieved your educational goal, at the other end it means it’s time to pay off your loans.

01:58 PM Dec 14 2011 |

agunia_88

agunia_88

Poland

and cos the univerities are free in Poland many don’t appreciate the opportunity to study and they just enroll for the sake of studying- graduating with the minimum knowledge required


therefore the best system is to pay for the education:)

12:23 PM Dec 14 2011 |

agunia_88

agunia_88

Poland

well, free of fees univeristies is a bad idea. In Poland most of the unis are for free (financed by the government) so literally everyone can affort to study. And that is a problem cos with so many thousands of graduates the diploma devalued so much that it’s practically worthless paper (unless you’re in IT or an engineer- the rest is wortless). So we have a lot of unemployed graduates who find it difficult to find a job. that’s why we have so much job-emigration where people work in western europe way much below their qualifications


And the idea of printing money is increadibly stupid cos the US is the most endebted economy in the world with high hidden inflation (counted in CPI) and the printing money will cause even more inflation, budget deficit and endebtment

12:19 PM Dec 14 2011 |

bonniewang99

China

Student debt maybe help someone grow up . In China the gorernment and students parents to share the cost for college . And student doesn’t in debt. Unless the parents are financial difficulties. One of the few can apply for debt in student’s name. I think it isn’t bad thing maybe.

08:59 AM Dec 14 2011 |

Kropeczka

Kropeczka

Poland

I like Devan’s idea of printing more money by government of the US. It’s so ‘clever’ :)


In Poland we have both: private and public universities so every student need to chose where to enroll.


I’ve graduated public college, but even so, I had to get a student’s loan and now I have to pay it off. It isn’t easy…

08:27 AM Dec 14 2011 |

1 person likes this

eme soul

eme soul

United Arab Emirates

In my country the universities are free for local students ,some of  the universities availability jobs to students after they graduated,so no debt for students.
If the student want to study in Private college  he can get  grant from the goverment or educational organizations. I think colleges should be free to encourage students to seek knowledge.

08:06 AM Dec 14 2011 |

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