America Vs. Europe

You do have a point. They use the Queen instead of the Prime Minister. America could do that but most of the space in the white house is for tourists or used for meetings and his (president) cabinet and other members. So he would probaly need a whole apartment biulding to do the job, but we have the white house to put a nice expensive image out. We also have it because its history and that is the same with the queen. Its with the tradition stuff.

I have a question for anyone who goes to school in Europe. What is your schooling system like? Because America's is separated in to three parts, elementary, middle, and high school.
And we have 12 years of school learning math, science, english (our language and its grammar) and in upper grades we learn one foriegn language.

nightmare2 said:

You do have a point. They use the Queen instead of the Prime Minister. America could do that but most of the space in the white house is for tourists or used for meetings and his (president) cabinet and other members. So he would probaly need a whole apartment biulding to do the job, but we have the white house to put a nice expensive image out. We also have it because its history and that is the same with the queen. Its with the tradition stuff.

I have a question for anyone who goes to school in Europe. What is your schooling system like? Because America's is separated in to three parts, elementary, middle, and high school.
And we have 12 years of school learning math, science, english (our language and its grammar) and in upper grades we learn one foriegn language.

I can only speak for the British schooling system, I know that different European countries all have their own education styles.

Similar sort of style to America, we have primary, junior and secondary school covering the same sorts of things. From their you can carry on to college and then university if you want to. Though that said there is variation but for the vast majority thats the way it goes.

When do you learn a secondary language? I learned about Germany's schooling system and am curious about some of the other countries.

nightmare2 said:

When do you learn a secondary language? I learned about Germany's schooling system and am curious about some of the other countries.

Well at my school at any rate we begin learning French in year 7 at the start of secondary school, so about 10-11 years old. At year 9 you had the option to pick up German or you could drop French and not bother with a language, provided you weren't in the top set in which case you were effectively forced to take French, 3 years I'd being looking forward to dropping French and then they hit you with that bombshell. Again of course different schools teach different languages and will have different ways of implementing it eg: when you start etc.

It must be said that while some topics do crop up fairly regularly in discussions about the differences between the 2 countries, education isn't usually one of them, at least in my experience which I do find surprising given that education is usually such a hot topic but I suppose things like forgein policy usually dominate.

« Last edited by super craig on May 16th 2010 »

Well, here in New Zealand it's similar to most other places.

We have what we call Primary school. Which is Years 1 through to 6.

Then we have Intermediate school. Which is Years 7 & 8.

Then we have High School. Which is Years 9 through to 12, with Year 13 being optional.

So, it breaks down to this as a general rule.

Year - Age when starting - crucial points in schooling.

Year 1; 5 years old - Start of schooling.
Year 2; 6 years old.
Year 3; 7 years old.
Year 4; 8 Years old.
Year 5; 9 years old.
Year 6; 10 years old - End of Primary schooling.

Year 7; 11 years old - Start of Intermediate schooling.
Year 8; 12 years old - End of Intermediate schooling.

Year 9; 13 years old - Start of High Schooling.
Year 10; 14 years old.
Year 11; 15 years old - First year of National Exams - (Level 1.)
Year 12; 16 years old - Second year of National Exams - (Level 2.)
Year 13 - 17 years old - Third year of National Exams - (Level 3.) - Year 13 is optional.

All Intermediate and High School years are broken down into 4 terms. Each term roughly 10 weeks. With a 2 week break between terms and roughly 6 weeks break between each new schooling year, which starts in either January or February, depending on the school level and school year & school itself.

I couldn't go and do Year 13, because to continue on with Year 13 and do the National Exams for chosen subjects, you had to have a minimum of 5 subjects, and I was only able to take forward 3, so I wasn't able to continue on.


As for languages, in Years 7 & 8 - we take 2 languages each year. Spending 2 terms on each language. In Year 7, I took French in the first 2 terms. Then took German in the final 2 terms. In Year 8 I took German for the first 2 terms, then took Japanese for the final 2 terms.

Normally, in my school, we didn't have a choice. It was supposed to be that students took German, Spanish, French and Japanese for 2 terms each, so we got a taste of the languages incase we wanted to take them in High School. I however managed to convince the school to let me take German twice, as I was serious about the language, however upon entering High School, I discovered the school didn't offer German. The school did offer French for some reason, but no other languages.

« Last edited by sphynxx on May 17th 2010 »

I dont reall'y care to be honest, but me being from Europe I have to say America must be doing better.My country is really going downhill at this point in time.

« Last edited by snakespec on May 17th 2010 »

super craig said:

Also at the end of the day I suppose it is traditional and almost every country wastes money on image, for example the US president could do his job living in a one bedroom appartment and just using a normal office for work but instead they use the White House.

Firstly, in spite of the pomp and circumstance about the White House, it's at least easy to guard both from the ground and the air (they simply establish a no-fly zone and have military jets divert any wayward aircraft). A one-bedroom apartment is, for one thing, more susceptible to petty thievery.

Secondly, 10 Downing Street is very much alike in the manner: there's a no-fly zone and the street is sealed off to vehicular and foot traffic; it's very easy to patrol too.

Cross Stinger said:

super craig said:

Also at the end of the day I suppose it is traditional and almost every country wastes money on image, for example the US president could do his job living in a one bedroom appartment and just using a normal office for work but instead they use the White House.

Firstly, in spite of the pomp and circumstance about the White House, it's at least easy to guard both from the ground and the air (they simply establish a no-fly zone and have military jets divert any wayward aircraft). A one-bedroom apartment is, for one thing, more susceptible to petty thievery.

Secondly, 10 Downing Street is very much alike in the manner: there's a no-fly zone and the street is sealed off to vehicular and foot traffic; it's very easy to patrol too.

A good point, perhaps my one bedroom appartment idea was a little on the extreme end of the scale but I do think you could do just as well if the White House had been a normal office and had the same level of sercurity. Of course thinking on it a bit it would just have become traditional for the President to work in the Office Block of Freedom or whatever it would be called and you wouldn't have had addressed the issue of tradition.

sphynxx said:

Well, here in New Zealand it's similar to most other places.

We have what we call Primary school. Which is Years 1 through to 6.

Then we have Intermediate school. Which is Years 7 & 8.

Then we have High School. Which is Years 9 through to 12, with Year 13 being optional.

So, it breaks down to this as a general rule.

Year - Age when starting - crucial points in schooling.

Year 1; 5 years old - Start of schooling.
Year 2; 6 years old.
Year 3; 7 years old.
Year 4; 8 Years old.
Year 5; 9 years old.
Year 6; 10 years old - End of Primary schooling.

Year 7; 11 years old - Start of Intermediate schooling.
Year 8; 12 years old - End of Intermediate schooling.

Year 9; 13 years old - Start of High Schooling.
Year 10; 14 years old.
Year 11; 15 years old - First year of National Exams - (Level 1.)
Year 12; 16 years old - Second year of National Exams - (Level 2.)
Year 13 - 17 years old - Third year of National Exams - (Level 3.) - Year 13 is optional.

All Intermediate and High School years are broken down into 4 terms. Each term roughly 10 weeks. With a 2 week break between terms and roughly 6 weeks break between each new schooling year, which starts in either January or February, depending on the school level and school year & school itself.

I couldn't go and do Year 13, because to continue on with Year 13 and do the National Exams for chosen subjects, you had to have a minimum of 5 subjects, and I was only able to take forward 3, so I wasn't able to continue on.


As for languages, in Years 7 & 8 - we take 2 languages each year. Spending 2 terms on each language. In Year 7, I took French in the first 2 terms. Then took German in the final 2 terms. In Year 8 I took German for the first 2 terms, then took Japanese for the final 2 terms.

Normally, in my school, we didn't have a choice. It was supposed to be that students took German, Spanish, French and Japanese for 2 terms each, so we got a taste of the languages incase we wanted to take them in High School. I however managed to convince the school to let me take German twice, as I was serious about the language, however upon entering High School, I discovered the school didn't offer German. The school did offer French for some reason, but no other languages.

I America our schooling system is very similar in the Starting age, three different schooling levels, and when we start languages.

We have 13 years of school.
We start with kindergarten and we must be five to enter. After that we go to first, then second, and so on all the way up to the sixth year.
Then we go to a different school, called Middle or Secondary, that is for years 7 and 8.
Then we once again go to another school for years 9 to 12, called high or intermidiate.

All public schools start teaching a language at the start of Secondary Schooling. French and Spanish are almost always learnable. We are given a choice on which we want to learn. We continue learning that language until about year 10 or 11. After that you can drop it or choose a class such as world languages or cultures. You can also change you language whenever you want as long as your grades are good enough. We don't learn another language unless we choose it in college.

Private schools of course vary. But usually have languages starting in Primary Schooling years.

nightmare2 said:

I have a question for anyone who goes to school in Europe. What is your schooling system like? Because America's is separated in to three parts, elementary, middle, and high school.

First off, I apologise if this post is er... not allowed. I checked the rules for this board and they seemed to be fine with responding to old topics so long as there was some content. Also apologies if this is a bit long.

In response to Nightmare's question, here's what happens in France, where I grew up:

-"L'ecole Maternelle" (similar to kindergarden) for the small kiddies. French kids between 2 and 6 years old are given introductions to reading, counting and writing, often in the form of play. (I'm vaguely aware of phonetics being used when I was of that age.) The kiddies tend to have an afternoon nap too. :3

-"L'ecole Primaire/Elementaire". Kids between 6 and 11 years old are taught maths, logic, french grammar and spelling, as well as some science, history and geography. Near the end of primary, they'll also be introduced to some foreign language (english usually). If a kid in Maternelle can already read and write fairly fluently, they tend to send him into the primary school sooner.

-"College" is the french name for the school kids go to between the ages of 11 and 15. Things start to get a bit more serious and there are more varied subjects, amongst which:
Maths, French, Technology, Sciences of Life and the Earth(Biology and Geology as one), History and Geography(and Citizenship class, all taught by the same teacher in the same time slots generally), Physics and Chemistry(again taught together), Art, Music and Sport.
For the first two years, it is compulsory to learn a foreign language, which you continue to study for the two years following, when you will also study a different foreign language. Optionnal subjects can be added such as ancient latin or greek. There aren't any woodwork or home economics equivalent at all. Technology gives you a basis in electronics and that's about it (though that may have changed since).

-"Lycee" is the equivalent of high school: students are between 15 and 18 years old, and stay for three years. There are three different types of Lycees, mostly based on what they teach: General, Technology and Professional. I went down the General route, I know little of the other two apart from the fact they seem less academic and more specialised.
Class years are a countdown to the end of Lycee from the beginning of college: 6,5,4,3,2,1,Terminale <- last year of compulsory education.
Lycee is where the French start to specialise. In Seconde, first year of lycee, you continue the more complex versions of subjects from college (minus technology and music), learn how to write shorthand, and take one of a range of options, which tends to be associated with what you'll specialise in later.
In the General Lycee type, in the second year of lycee(premiere) you choose your main specialisation from the following options, which skew your subjects in the chosen flavour: Sciences, Literature and the Social and Economical Sciences. In the last year, you tend to tend to chose a subject that will count as your major I guess(at least in the sciences). It is interesting to note that Philosophy is compulsory and only taught in the Terminale year, and you can take optional classes where only points above a pass have any impact on your final exam: Le Baccalaureat. For the baccalaureat you sit exams in all your chosen subjects (French being replaced by Piloshopy, you sit it -both written and orally- the year prior) and all the grades are added together with different weightings to give your final overall grade. 10/20 is a pass, 12/20 is a mention("Assez Bien": Pretty Good), 14/20 "Bien", 16/20 "tres bien" and 18/20 is excellent. Even better, it's possible to get 21/20 and more with optional class bonusses and excellent grades.

=
Overall the french system is pretty academic: it gives a good base of general knowledge and in languages (at least 2 foreign languages studied for 5 and 7 years each mostly english and spanish or german where I was) and gives you the option to study further in topics you enjoy. It does however give fairly poor teachings of craft and the like if you go down the general route, and you only finish your education at 18. And that's if you don't go into La Faculte (French equivalent of the British College), L'Universite or the Ecoles Superieures.

Another bonus is that in primary you have wednesdays completely free, and afterwards you get wednesday afternoons free, in exchange of having classes on saturday mornings, and finish most other days after 4pm.

In the UK they are starting to make people stay in school untill they are 18.

And its normally French or German, that schools teach, some teach Spanish aswell.

I personally belive Europe would win, with the UK being an Island nation they would need a strong Navy and they have a strong army aswell, but with the whole of Europe with the UK they would be unstoppable, no doubt England would get Australia involved aswell. And i think Canada would help Europe.

Australia doesn't have much in terms of Military power. If it came down to it; Austrlia would be demolished.

Same with New Zealand, although both New Zealand & Australia both can proudly claim to have some of the best elite soldiers in the world, in the SAS, which incidently the UK has as well.