Where and How Americans Learn: Useful Terms in English

Author of the channel "Easy Speak - English School" on Yandex.Zen suggests talking about educational institutions. What to call a kindergarten, school, university in English? Education systems vary from country to country. These are the educational institutions in the United States.

Photo: Shutterstock

So let's start with the smallest "learners".

The least formal “education” children begin to receive in playgroups.

• playgroup /ˈpleɪɡruːp - playgroup/ - play group;
• play (play) + group (group)

In America playgroup is a group created by parents where children can communicate and play together. This is especially common in areas where homeschooling is popular. Age restrictions are set individually in each group.

Then more formal training begins - early childhood education — early (preschool) education for children.

• early /ˈɜːli/ - early;
• childhood /ˈtʃaɪldhʊd - childhood/ - childhood;
• education /ˌedjʊˈkeɪʃən - education/ - education, i.e. learning process at school, college, university.

It is divided into several stages:

nursery school /ˈnɜːsəri skuːl - nyoseri school/ - a place where young children are taken care of while parents are at work. Something like our nursery + kindergarten, where you can send a child almost from birth to 5 years. When a child reaches a certain stage in his development, they begin to not only play with him, but conduct his first lessons.

pre-K /priː keɪ - with kay/ or pre-kindergarten /priː ˈkɪndəɡɑːtn - with kindegatn/ - pre (before, before) + kindergarten (kindergarten, see below). Children of 4-5 years old go here, where they already learn much more than just colors, numbers, shapes, etc.

kindergarten /ˈkɪndəɡɑːtn - kindegatn/ - from German kinder (child) + garten (garden). Here children aged 5-6 years are directly prepared for school. Kindergarten is sometimes even included in the primary school system (as a preparatory class).

On the subject: 15 tricky English phrases that many people misunderstand

Next comes school education, which is divided into:

elementary school /ˌeləˈmentəri skuːl - elementary school/ - primary school, which lasts from 1st grade to 4th or 5th grade (depending on the state).

grade /ɡreɪd - grade/ - class, year of study at school. There are only 12 grades in the American education system.

middle school /ˈmɪdl skuːl - middle school/ - secondary school, from 6th to 8th grades.

high school /haɪ skuːl - high school/ - high school, from 9 to 12 grades. In high school, as a rule, there are some compulsory subjects and some elective subjects. Depending on their plans for the future, students choose what suits them best. It could be:

• Arts /ɑːts - ats/ - areas of art, for example, music, photography, pottery;
• Computer technologies /kəmˈpjuːtə tekˈnɒlədʒiz - computer technologies/ - computer technologies, for example, the study of graphic applications or web design;
• Vocational training /vəʊˈkeɪʃənəl ˈtreɪnɪŋ - vocational training/ - practical training aimed directly at mastering new skills. For example, this could be car repair or nursing.

Also in high school there is an opportunity to pass advanced placement program.

• advanced /ədˈvɑːnst - advance/ - advanced, in-depth, that is, having a more complex level;
• placement /ˈpleɪsmənt - placement/ - placement somewhere;
• program /ˈprəʊɡræm - program/ - program, training course.

Those. advanced placement program (AP) is an advanced program that American students can take in high school to prepare for further university studies. It replaces the first academic semesters of the university. There are a total of 38 different AP courses. Students choose those that are required to study at the university of their choice - some take AP World History (world history program), and others take AP Biology (biology program). And high scores at the end of its completion guarantee immediate admission to the second year of university at many universities.

Higher - higher /ˈhaɪə - hai/ education - is optional. It is obtained over 4 years at a college or university, receiving a bachelor's degree or, after studying for another 2 years, a master's degree. Higher education can be obtained at college or university. The latter are distinguished by the presence of a more thorough research part.

College /ˈkɒlɪdʒ - college/ - college, higher education institution in the USA. In colloquial speech, any higher educational institution in the country is usually called college.

University /ˌjuːnəˈvɜːsəti - univeseti/ - university, higher education institution.

On the subject: 9 bad habits we inherited from high school English teachers

Autumn is just the right time to study. Children go to kindergarten, school, university... Adults also decide to learn something new: someone learns languages, someone is interested in pottery, and you never know what’s interesting all around. Let's not stand still and continue to develop.

Original column published on the blog. "Easy Speak - English School" on Yandex.Zen

ForumDaily is not responsible for the content of blogs and may not share the views of the author. If you want to become the author of the column, send your materials to [email protected]

Read also on ForumDaily:

Enriching our speech: 45 English analogues of Russian proverbs

It's time to remember: 13 pairs of English words that Russian speakers confuse

Sounds strange and rude: mistakes in English that Russian speakers do without realizing it

They are afraid to make mistakes and do not know how to reason: Russian students through the eyes of a professor from the USA

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.