Studying and living in American universities can be called an unforgettable experience, and buying textbooks is one of them.

After studying in China for many years, I have never worried about this matter. When I arrived in the United States, things suddenly became complicated, which not only brought a strong impact on my original concept of teaching materials, but also suffered a great blow in the process of buying and looking for books.

There are three reasons why American university textbooks are unforgettable:

First, the number of teaching materials is large. For most liberal arts majors, 3-4 books will be arranged in each course, as well as copies of periodical papers, selected chapters, newspapers and online articles. In the first class, the professor handed out the course plan (syllabus) of this semester, including what to discuss in each class, what materials to read, what the homework is, as well as the assessment form and grading standards. The professor takes the form of organizing special discussion in class, focusing on one topic at a time, and students read books and materials after class. Some science courses will have fewer textbooks, but usually each one is very thick and heavy. You definitely don't want to put a second one in your backpack.

The first task for students after they get the curriculum plan is to buy textbooks. The theme of the first week of college, even the second and third weeks, is basically around teaching materials, and the campus or computer room is full of people who are in a hurry to find books.

Not only the teachers don't care about buying textbooks, but the department doesn't organize group buying, instead, they stay away. You will never see bundles of books piled up on the wall of the corridor.

In the United States, the sale of teaching materials is completely market-oriented, and students can have many choices and solve them themselves. Teachers in departments and classrooms don't interfere and ask questions. Teaching and management are clearly defined, so there is no monopoly, agency and interest disputes. Even if the professor's own book is selected into the teaching material, he must buy it from an outside bookstore.

Three or four books may not be too many, but you won't just choose one course, will you? Generally, full-time students are required to take more than 3 courses each semester. I can't stand attending 4-5 classes at the diligent meeting. Part-time students will have fewer courses, but the graduation time will be longer. There are 3 ~ 4 classes in a semester, which add up to a dozen to 20 books. Students prepare themselves.

The second is that books are expensive! Generally, textbooks cost 30 ~ 40 yuan, and those less than 20 yuan are rare, and 40 ~ 50 yuan is also common. The most expensive book I have ever bought is Education Statistics, priced at 150 USD, equivalent to RMB 1300 yuan. The cost of textbooks for domestic graduate students for three years is not that much!

American textbooks are expensive, not because of the exchange rate, but because they are really expensive. Americans also think it is expensive, not to mention China students who live on scholarships. It costs 600 ~ 700 yuan to prepare more than a dozen books and buy teaching materials in one semester.

But expensive, some textbooks are really good. It is very simple to judge whether a textbook is good or bad. Just read it several times and reprint it. Popular in the market, a second edition, is definitely a good textbook.

From another perspective, the high-priced textbooks in the United States fully reflect the respect for intellectual property rights and creators, and the huge benefits encourage teachers to actively create and compile better textbooks, which is conducive to academic prosperity.

The third is that books are hard to buy. If we don't care about money, it's probably not difficult to buy books, but in order to save money, we will try our best to reduce the ultra-high textbook budget and save living expenses, and then we will look around for cheaper textbooks.

There are six ways to buy textbooks in America. This old international student knows everything. One of the channels is to go to the campus central bookstore to buy. Because they are all new books, it is convenient to buy books here, but it is a bit expensive.

The second channel is to buy second-hand books in private bookstores. Old books are commonly known as second-hand books, that is, second-hand books. Old books are priced according to the degree of newness, and the lowest is only 1/3. Therefore, every school season, there is a lot of traffic in front of private bookstores.

The third channel is to go to the online bookstore to buy it. There are cheaper prices online than in physical bookstores, and you can find cheaper books. Except Amazon and Barnes &; Noble, there are many bookstores, large and small, on the Internet, dealing in new and old textbooks. The disadvantage of buying books online is that you have to pay the postage yourself and wait 1 ~ 2 weeks. The worst thing is that when I got it, I found that the book was not as good as the photos on the Internet. Although it can be returned, it will take a long time.

The fourth channel is borrowing from the school library. American university libraries are rich in books and perfect in service functions. As long as you can name them, there are no books you can't find. Students can borrow free of charge with their cards for up to 3 months. Looking for teaching materials through the library, if you are fast and lucky, you can probably "grab" 1 ~ 2 books. The disadvantage is that you can't sketch and record in the notebook. After all, it's not your own. If it is damaged, you will be fined.

The fifth channel is to borrow someone else's copy. There is a special copy shop in the university town. I booked the money for books at that time, or printed them on the copier in the department with teaching AIDS. But I heard that there are copyright laws in the United States: if you copy more than a quarter of the books at a time, you may be sued for piracy. The solution is to copy a few chapters at a time and do more.

The sixth channel is to buy from former classmates. American students have the habit of selling books after class, unless their favorite books will stay. At the end of the semester, there is often a flea market selling used books on campus, and more information will be sent to the student community website. The problem is that before the start of the new semester, because different professors choose different teaching materials in class, everyone generally doesn't know which teaching materials will be used in class. In most cases, they can only be sold back to second-hand bookstores that collect books and continue to be exploited by them.

The most common way to buy textbooks is the combination of the above six channels. Every student has his own unique experience and cheats. The best way to match is to go to the library first, then look online, or go to the school private bookstore to buy second-hand books. Buying new books, or making do with copies, is really not good.

In short, purchasing textbooks is definitely a chore that requires intelligence, physical endurance and a little luck. An interesting phenomenon is that you will find that everyone in the classroom has different versions of textbooks.