The Meaning of STUDENT in English and Chinese...

The Collins Cobuild English Dictionary defines the word "Student" as (1) a person who is studying at a university or college; (2) a person who is studying at a secondary school (used mainly in American English).

In the English context, a student studies. Study is "du" (the character on the left) in the Chinese Language. But, in the Chinese context, a student is called "Xue Sheng'. "Xue" (the character on the right) means to learn.

In short, in English, a student studies; whereas in Chinese, a student learns.

To have a balanced perspective, no doubt a student should study, but more importantly he/she should learn, unlearn and relearn. Learning is a lifelong process. I have not heard anyone say, "Studying is a lifelong process".

The same is true in the Chinese context as can be seen from the phrases presented below. The first line reading from left to right means, "Learning is a lifelong process" and the second, "Studying is a lifelong process."