language notes topic two US system of
[Music]
education education is a common topic of
conversation if you're going to talk
with Americans about going to school or
being a student it will certainly help
to have an understanding of the US
system of Education I'd like to give you
an overview of this system then you'll
have an idea about the kind of
educational experience one can have in
the US by the end you might also then
find it easier to talk about the
educational system in your own
country here in the US one's School
experience might begin as a baby at a
place called daycare
daycare is a popular choice among
working parents so children stay at
daycare the parents go to work in the US
a good dayare not only takes care of
very young children but also begins to
provide what we call an early childhood
education once a child is three or four
he or she she can
go to
preschool preschool in the US is not
mandatory it's not
required preschool programs might be 5
days a week or just a few days a week
once a child turns five the child can
attend
kindergarten
these are names of the programs a child
in preschool is called a preschooler a
child in kindergarten is called a
kindergartener kindergarten is also not
mandatory the law varies from state to
state so in some states kindergarten is
mandatory and other states it's not
I do believe though that school
districts must offer a kindergarten
program so that there is that
choice some Kindergarten programs are
halfday programs morning or
afternoon some Kindergarten programs are
full day
programs after kindergarten a child goes
to first grade in the US we have 12
grades from from school district to
school district the organization of
these grades is different they group
them together in different ways in
general it all begins with Elementary
School sometimes called Primary School
you might also hear grade school
elementary school is for the lower
grades you might find grades
kindergarten through 3D or kindergarten
through 5th at an elementary school for
the Middle grades children go to middle
school so a middle school might have
fourth through eth or fifth through eth
grades again it varies from school
district to school
district after Middle School comes high
school again you might find some
differences but in general in the US we
think of high school as a 4-year program
that's 9th 10th 11th and 12th grades we
can say 9th 10th 11th and 12th but we
also have special ways to refer to those
last four years we can say freshman year
sophomore year junior year and Senior
year so if someone is a sophomore in
high school they have two more years to
go a sophomore is in 10th
Grade when one finishes high school we
say he or she graduates from high school
when you graduate from high school you
receive a high school
diploma in the US it is not mandatory to
graduate from high school the law varies
from state to state but in general a
child must attend school until about the
age of 16 that's 10th grade After High
School many choose to go go to
college that's because many professions
require a higher
education higher education refers to
anything after high school high school
provides secondary
education College higher
education when we say a person is in
college that means the person attends
either a college or or a
university in the US colleges and
universities both have four-year
programs when someone finishes this
undergraduate program this person can
receive their first degree it's a
bachelor's degree it could be a Bachelor
of Arts or a Bachelor of Science ba
BS in college we have four years we can
talk about those four years the same way
we talk about those last four years in
Secondary School High School freshman
year sophomore year junior year senior
year so we have to be specific when we
say someone is a senior do you mean a
senior in high school or a senior in
college
a freshman in college has three more
years before
graduation I should note that outside
the US there is sometimes an
understanding that going to a university
is somehow more prestigious than going
to a college in fact in the US we have
prestigious universities and prestigious
colleges they both offer undergraduate
programs fouryear
programs when a person finishes College
he or she can study further and attend
graduate
school a person in graduate school is a
graduate student in contrast a person in
college is an undergraduate
student in graduate school one can
pursue a master's degree that's a master
of Art arts or master of science ma or
Ms if one goes to a business school and
studies business the person can receive
an MBA that's master of Business
Administration if one chooses to study
even further the person can receive the
highest degree possible that's a
PhD PhD stands for Doctor of philos
philosophy when a person holds a PhD we
can address this person as
Doctor I know I presented a lot of
information in a short amount of time
but hopefully you have that overview of
the system of Education here in the US
maybe now you'll also feel confident
when you talk about the educational
system in your country thanks for
watching and happy
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