It's bad enough trying to get to grips with school years being called "grades" and how the numbers equate, when you arrive in the US. Then there's the whole issue of college years. For a long while, that was just a mystery to me, until I took the bull by the horns, googled the answer, and then spent a few minutes chanting "freshman, sophomore, junior, senior" to myself, until it became ingrained in my mind. Not ingrained in the same way that it's ingrained if you've lived through it yourself and it becomes second nature, but ingrained enough for day-to-day purposes.
What I hadn't realised was the extent to which High School grades use this terminology too. So it's no good that I know that High School is grades 9 to 12. Nobody talks about 9th grade. I now have to shelve that knowledge, and start talking about 14-yo as a freshman. "He's in his freshman year at High School" I say.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "wow, those expat mums are so impressive... We really have no idea the burdens they carry... Someone, give them an award".
At least you'll be comforted to know that I'm not alone in my struggles. I have a helpmeet in the form of 7-yo. She has recently been reading Dick King-Smith's "Sophie" books. When Sophie starts school, there is talk of her brothers being in the juniors. This confused 7-yo, so I explained. It's nothing to do with being college juniors or high school juniors. In England, Kindergarten, first and second grades are called "Infants" and third, fourth and fifth grades are called "Juniors". So far, so straightforward. (I was a bit hazy on the exact demarcation, but given that these things vary from LEA to LEA, and given that I'm not sure that terminology is still used in any case, I didn't worry too much.)
A few minutes later, 7-yo came back with further questions about "Insults and Juniors".
.
And don't forget how confusing it was that here, infants are babes in arms, whereas in England they're big enough to wear school uniform!
ReplyDeleteAnd I hate to pile it on, but there are a few more college/high school terms for you. Upper and Lower Classmen! (Juniors and Seniors versus Sophomores and Freshman.)
Just wait until she gets started on Mallory Towers and St Clares - then you'll have upper and lower fours (and goodness knows what else!) to contend with.
ReplyDelete(And don't get me started on the Chalet School...)
I have no idea what school years are called in England let alone here - having gone to 'Junior School' myself in Hong Kong, and then to a boarding school where we mysteriously started in the Lower Fourth, before progressing to the Upper Fourth, lower, middle and upper Fifth, and eventually the sixth form. So, if someone from the UK mentions to me 'Year 11' or similar, I have no idea where that fits in.
ReplyDeleteHere in New York I have just about got to grips with the fact that elementary school goes up to fifth grade, but if someone says to me they have a child in say, ninth grade, I have no idea how old that child is and have to work it out, slowly, in my head. As for whether these years are in middle school or high school...give me strength.
Ha, this is so timely! Yesterday I met two moms/mums from the UK whose children go to my son's school. I asked their ages and was told 'Year 5 and Year 6.' I had to humbly request translation into US 'grades' (which turned out to be the same, or off by just one year, I think.) This doesn't solve issue of Junior Kindergarten vs Senior Kindergarten, though. And of course, since my mum's Canadian, I grew up hearing her say, "Grade 1, Grade 2" and so forth, whereas in the US, it's '1st grade, 2nd grade' etc. Subtle, but sounds odd when you're used to hearing it the other way round. Very headachy...
ReplyDeleteMy 6yo is definitely in the Insults...
ReplyDeleteHaving worked with Americans I've realised that they speak an entirely different English language than we do - it's utterly confusing
ReplyDeleteRe Expat Mum's comment, when I kept hearing people talking about my 4 yo daughter starting Infant school I kept screwing up my face and staring at them, wanting to say 'you DO know she's four, right? And not a baby?' but something told me I might have been missing some cultural vocab difference... And of course, I was.
ReplyDeleteOh good lord above. I find it confusing enough here and I HAVE lived through it! *Pretends the American way of things doesn't exist*
ReplyDeleteI am just getting the hang of the British system. Just. But we looked at a private school the other day and they had different names for everything. I've given up and will just wave my 'I'm foreign' flag if I appear thick.
ReplyDeleteI've lived through the English system and still haven't got a clue what they are talking about now. I mean where's the Lower Fourth gone? Let alone the whole public school thing. Best to keep smiling I find.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely think insults and juniors is the way forward. Just perfectly describes it!
It's so bloody confusing. Where I come from, you just count the years from the bottom to the top. So no matter which school form someone chooses (there are still not many comprehensive schools in Germany/Switzerland or Austria), everybody is going through a number of years and that's it.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, you have three different kinds of secondary school that differ in what they teach and which kind of graduation they lead to, so I guess there's more to it...