I agree the whole CD/tape thing is ridiculous but i disagree that it’s not worth making trouble over. Sure it’s only 20 yuan but it’s the principle that matters. If they keep on getting away with cutting corners then things’ll never change and the poor sods who follow in your shoes will only get it worse. Think of it as a good deed on behalf of future students.

When I gave them my money I thought we were buying a legitimate CD to use in class. I didn’t like the idea of buying equipment for the school that the school should buy with it’s own money &mash; especially considering how much they collect in tuition fees; however, I misunderstood what was happening. I wouldn’t need the CD at home anyway if the teacher would use a CD in class (instead of the useless cassette) or just read the book and let us follow her pronunciation.

I’m not the only one who misunderstood. I’ve heard classmates make similar complaints. Some have considered asking for their money to be returned. They made us share the cost of a new legitimate CD, but paid someone to record the existing cassette into MP3’s. Not only is it a waste of money, but it barely improves the sound quality. Sound quality was the original problem.

This whole episode is so ridiculous, but it certainly isn’t worth making trouble over. It’s just another story to laugh about.