Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[syoshioka99]

The willingness of most Americans to be taxed for education allowed American teachers to educate a lot of immigrants without giving up the search for excellence.

(question)

I do not understand the meaning of "without giving up the search for excellence". Could you please restate it?

Satoru

Tochigi, Japan

[Nef]

[syoshioka99]

thank u for your comment. But I still do not understand what you say.

What is "excellence" anyway???

satoru

Tochigi, Japan

[CP]

My dictionary defines "excellence" as the quality of being excellent, and it defines "excellent" as very good.

Using Nef's excellent explanation, the phrase means "while still trying to achieve that which is very good" or "while still striving for the best."
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[syoshioka99]

>>Using Nef's excellent explanation, the phrase means "while still trying to achieve that which is very good" or "while still striving for the best."


(question) then what does "educate...while still trying to achieve what is very good"? It sounds very vague to me. Could you be more specific if possible? (I do understand literally what "without giving up the search for excellence" but I do NOT understand what it implies.)

Satoru

[CP]

I think it means this, roughly:

Because the American taxpayer is willing to pay for every child's education, whether the child was born there or not, the teacher can give high-quality training to the children.

Maybe you will get a different meaning out of it from the rest of the article.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb