Education — B1 Vocabulary

B1 VOCABULARY · EDUCATION

Two Schools

PICTURE

(you add this)

"They're not two versions of one thing. They're two different childhoods."

UK and US school systems · *behave, cheat, be expelled, revise, pass, fail* · *educate* vs *bring up* · *learn* vs *study*

Reading

Speaking

LEAD-IN

School memories, rapid-fire

Tell your partner.

1. Your favourite teacher — and why.

2. A rule at your school that made no sense.

3. Something you had to learn by heart that is still in your head today, uselessly.

PICTURE

(you add this)

VOCABULARY · B1

Sort these words into the UK and US columns.

Some describe the same thing with a different name — put those pairs side by side.

primary school · elementary school · secondary school · high school · nursery · kindergarten · terms · semesters · pupils · grades · head teacher · twelfth grade · college (US meaning) · middle school

UK

US

VOCABULARY · B2 & B3

Complete the definitions and the verb chains.

1. A ________ school is paid for by the government; a ________ school is paid for by parents.

2. At a ________ school, children study, eat and sleep. · At a ________ school, some teachers may be priests or nuns.

3. A person who has finished university and has a degree is a ________ . · The person in charge of a UK school is the ________ ________ .

4. Verb chains. Put in a logical order: revise → ________ → ________

5. And the sadder chain: cheat → be caught → be ________ → (in serious cases) be ________

6. What's the difference between fail an exam and be expelled?

BEFORE YOU READ

Chicago to England, at fifteen

Magda Sowa moved mid-year, mid-friendship-group, mid-everything, from an American high school into a British secondary school.

PICTURE

READ ONCE AND ANSWER

(you add this)

1. What surprised her most about each system?

2. Which does she prefer now?

READING

Two schools, one childhood

Magda Sowa was fifteen when her family moved from Chicago to a small town in the north of England, transferring her — mid-year, mid-friendship-group, mid-everything — from an American high school into a British secondary school. Twenty years later, she still gets asked which system is better. "Wrong question," she says. "They're not two versions of one thing. They're two different childhoods."

The vocabulary alone took months. "In Chicago I was in ninth grade; suddenly I was in 'Year 10'. My little brother went from kindergarten to 'reception'. The school year was chopped into three terms instead of two semesters, teachers called us pupils instead of students, and everyone was terrified of someone called the head teacher, who in America would just be the principal but here seemed to have the powers of a small king."

The deeper differences took longer. "My American high school was — I say this with love — a movie set. Sports teams with stadium lights, endless clubs, pep rallies, everyone performing their personality at full

volume. School was the centre of your entire social universe. My English school was quieter and, honestly, funnier: less school spirit, more sarcasm. Nobody performed anything. It took me a term to understand that the boy insulting me every morning was being friendly."

Exams shocked her most. "In the US, your grade was continuous — homework, participation, projects, all year, every year. In England, everything aimed at final exams. Two years of work, decided in a few silent hours in a sports hall. I watched brilliant, hard-working classmates revise until midnight and still fall apart with nerves — and I watched one boy who never once behaved in class pass everything, beautifully, because he was good at exams. I still don't think that's fair. I'm still not sure the American way is fairer."

And the famous question? "People expect me to pick a side. Fine: the US taught me confidence, England taught me irony, and both systems punished the same things — being different in the wrong way at the wrong age. If I could design a school, I'd take American enthusiasm, English humour, and give teachers in both countries double the salary. They were bringing us up eight hours a day, after all. Our parents just did the night shift."

COMPREHENSION

UK school, US school, or both (B) — according to Magda?

1. The year was divided into three parts. ______

2. School was the centre of students' social lives. ______

3. Final exams decided almost everything. ______

4. Assessment was continuous through the year. ______

5. Punished students for "being different in the wrong way". ______

6. Should pay teachers much more. ______

LANGUAGE FOCUS

Translation table, then the verb pairs.

1. Build the table from the text: ninth grade ↔ Year ________ · kindergarten ↔ ________ · semesters ↔ ________ · principal ↔ ________ ________ · students ↔ ________ (in UK schools)

2. **educate or bring up?* Which means teach at school or university, and which means raise a child and teach them how to behave? She was ________ by her grandparents. · He was ________ at a private school in Geneva.*

3. **learn or study?* Which is the process, and which is the result? I'm ________ economics at university. · Where did you ________ to drive? · I ________ all weekend and still failed.*

4. Exam verbs. Find in the text: ________ until midnight (prepare) · ________ everything (succeed). Add the missing ones: the opposite of pass = ________ ; to sit an exam = ________ / ________ an exam.

PRACTICE · F1

Complete with a word from the lesson.

1. In England, children start ________ school at five; before that, many go to ________ .

2. About 90% of UK schools are ________ schools — education there is free.

3. He was sent to a ________ school at eleven: lessons, meals and bedtime all in one building.

4. The school year has three ________ , with holidays between them.

5. In the US system, the final year of high school is ________ grade.

6. Higher education in the US is often just called ________ .

7. She has a degree in biology — she's a chemistry teacher and a biology ________ .

PRACTICE · F2

Circle the correct option.

1. If you cheat / revise in the exam, you'll be punished / passed — and you might even be expelled / graduated.

2. I have to take / make an important exam in June. I hope I pass / approve, but I haven't had time to revise / rehearse, so I'm scared I'll lose / fail.

3. My parents educated / brought up three children on one salary.

4. Luke was educated / brought up at state schools and then Oxford.

5. How long have you been learning / studying English? And what did you learn / study at university?

6. The children behaved badly / behaved themselves badly — which of these is correct English, or are both?

SPEAKING

The exam question

Half the class defends final exams: fair, equal, objective. Half defends continuous assessment: real, humane, complete.

• Four minutes to prepare, then debate. Every speaker must use at least three target words.

• Vote at the end — first as students, then again as imaginary teachers. Does the vote change?

• Alternative: design Magda's school. Take the best three features from your country's system and two from any other. Present it in 90 seconds.

PICTURE

(you add this)

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

B1 UK: primary school, secondary school, nursery, terms, pupils, head teacher · US: elementary school, high school, kindergarten, semesters, grades, twelfth grade, college, middle school. Pairs: primary ↔ elementary; secondary ↔ high school; nursery ↔ kindergarten; terms ↔ semesters.

B2 1 state / private · 2 boarding · 3 religious · 4 graduate · 5 head teacher

B3 revise → take an exam → pass. cheat → be caught → be punished → be expelled. Fail = not pass the exam; be expelled = be permanently removed from the school.

GIST The US: an all-consuming social world, school spirit, continuous assessment. The UK: sarcasm and irony, the terror of final exams, the head teacher's power. She refuses to pick — American confidence, English irony, and double pay for teachers everywhere.

COMPREHENSION 1 UK · 2 US · 3 UK · 4 US · 5 both · 6 both

LANGUAGE FOCUS 1 Year 10 · reception · terms · head teacher · pupils. 2 educate = school or university; bring up = raise at home. She was brought up by her grandparents; he was educated at a private school. 3 study = the process or subject; learn = acquiring a skill or knowledge. studying / learn / revised (studied). 4 revise · pass; the opposite of pass = fail; to sit an exam = take / do an exam.

F1 1 primary / nursery · 2 state · 3 boarding · 4 terms · 5 twelfth · 6 college · 7 graduate

F2 1 cheat / punished / expelled · 2 take / pass / revise / fail · 3 brought up · 4 educated · 5 learning / study · 6 Both behaved badly and behaved themselves exist; the mixed form behaved themselves badly is the odd one — discuss.

HOMEWORK Write "Two schools, one childhood" about yourself in miniature (100–130 words): your primary and secondary schools, how they differed, which shaped you more. At least ten target words.