Living in The Philippines > Relationships

educating your \'simple\' provincial girlfriend

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xpatjack:

I\'m currently \'courting\' a beautiful [and yes,young] simple provincial girl with only a provincial high school education and needless to say, she is quite shy, and is lacking in self confidence.  I know that she feel inferior when in the presence of my friends and was wondering if there are some college courses that would help boost her self confidence and help her to adjust to \'life with a foreigner\'??
No 4 yr degree would cover the areas that I feel would benefit her, as we all know that most of the colleges here are just \'mills\' that produce idiots with a degree.
I spent a few years in the university just taking the subjects that interested me, never seeking a degree and feel much more educated than my fellow students that were pigeon holed into taking all the useless, boring required courses. 
I was wondering if the same could be done with my provincial girlfriend.....enrolling her into some local college and have her take courses that were actually useful in learning how to function in the big world outside the province with her foreigner boy friend........courses like improving her English, cooking international food, basic internet, money management etc.  [and can others add to this list?].  It would be basically a course in how to live with a foreigner....but no degree sought.

Can someone go to college here withoout seeking a degree and \'cherry pick\' their courses of study??

c_a_p_t_a_i_n_r_o_n:
Did she graduate high school? Almost impossible to enroll in any college without it.

One thought would be to enroll in a TESDA course (teaches vocational skills) most are only a semester or two long and even pay a small stipend for expenses.
TESDA certification is a stepping stone for a lot of Filipinos.
TESDA language skills courses http://www.tesda.gov.ph/program.aspx?page_id=40

There\'s also private schools teaching vocational courses too (some much better than others - even endorsed by TESDA)

*** http://www.tesda.gov.ph/

RUFUS:
Why would you want to send her to college?
My wife has the equivalent of a 6th grade pinoy education and I personally feel she is smarter than most degree holding Americans!
Street smarts way makes up for book smarts.
Teach her yourself and go travel...
...The best education in the world, is *The World*

GregW:
My asawa is similar to the asawa of Rufus in education.  Only elementary school education, she had to go to work to help support the family.  It\'s a tough life in the provinces of the Philippines.  She came to the US a simple provincial Pilipina.  She\'s had three different jobs and has been promoted in all three.  The current job she has had for about 7 years and she has been promoted to supervisor.  Yes, this simple, undereducated Pilipina, is a supervisor.  She supervises college graduates, a couple of them even with master\'s degrees.  She was so excited and proud of this achievement.  So was I.  I am very proud of her.  She didn\'t enjoy a lot of breaks in life when she was young but she certainly is making the most of her opportunities now.  Frankly I don\'t know if more formal education would have been that much of a help for her.  Xpatjack, if I were you I would re-read rufus\' post.   

Gray Wolf:
You know what she needs to learn so why not teach her yourself?  Maybe she doesn\'t need an \"education\" as much as she just needs time to adjust to life with you. 

My asawa is very educated (BE, ME) but still had issues in adjusting to life with a husband after being an independant woman for about 15 years after graduating from college.  It took us about 4-5 years before she began to feel totally comfortable here with me.

There may be some courses she could take, but maybe it would be better for her (and you) if she just had some good friends to spend time with.  It\'s surprising what a group of Pinays can accomplish together if given a chance.   JMHO.     

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