Everybody knows that America and the UK are two countries separated by a common language. Throw in other English-speaking countries — Canada, South Africa, Australia — and English becomes a linguistic stew that everybody thinks they understand, and sometimes don’t.
As an American living in Britain I’m keenly aware of this. Slang and idioms vary from place to place, and can get you in trouble if you’re oblivious. The Husband once told co-workers that he “got pissed” in a meeting. They responded in horror: “You got drunk at work?” He had to clarify: “Pissed off.” Angry, not plastered.
One topic where Brits, Yanks, and Aussies use different terms is education. And most Americans have no idea about this. In the USA, if a parent says, “My kid’s at school,” she could mean kindergarten or an MIT doctoral program. American kids are “students” from the time they sit down at a desk. They graduate from high school at eighteen, go to a college or university for a four-year bachelor’s degree, and, after they graduate, may go on to graduate school.
In the UK and British-influenced school systems, that’s not so. Kids may start school at four and most finish at 16. Nobody “graduates” from high school. They leave. Schools have “school-leavers” dances, but no ceremony. Many kids go on for two more years to get their A-Levels (sort of equivalent to AP courses, for you Ameri-types); to do this they may continue at their high school or go to Sixth Form colleges. When a Brit says he’s at college, that’s what he means. If he’s going on in higher ed, he goes to uni — to university. Bachelors’ degrees are generally three-year programs, and then, perhaps, it’s on to post-grad. Masters, D.Phil, etc. And it’s only when you get to uni that you’re a “student.” And a graduate is somebody who has earned his degree.
If I’m telling everybody in the Commonwealth what they already know, I apologize. But most Americans have no idea that other educational systems even exist. I began to notice this when reading U.S. newspaper and magazine articles about international figures. I realized that the U.S. journalists hear about their subjects’ education and get it all wrong. Namely, repeatedly: the American journos will say that a Brit or Australian is a high-school dropout. They read “left school” and translate it into “dropped out.”
Case in point: Sam Worthington. Britain’s Daily Mail reports straightforwardly that Worthington left school at 17. After that, he went to drama school. But a high-profile U.S. story said Worthington had dropped out at 17. (Sorry I can’t find the link, but I’m airport-blogging and have to shut down in a minute. If I can find it later I’ll update.) This is a case where a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Of course it’s not only Americans who misconstrue phrases that mean one thing to them and something different to other English-speakers. But it’s the one that happened to annoy me this morning. So consider this post a public service announcement. That’s why I trolled around online looking at photos of Sam Worthington until I found an article that illustrated my point. It’s all for your benefit. Trust me.
Airport trolling and snarking aside, I appreciate this tutorial on the British school system. Thanks, I mean it.
However, if in the British system a person isn’t a “student” until at uni, what do you call a younger person in school? As in, “In an emergency, teachers, please gather all of those little people around you and head for safety.”
@Snart – usually just ‘pupils’. Technically they are already students, and that term can be (and sometimes is) used, but usually in school the kids are just ‘pupils’.
Or ‘hellspawn’, but the higher ups tend to frown on that.
Am thinking about the emerging American practice of graduation ceremonies for 5-year old kindergartners, 5th grader 11 years olds, and 8th grade 14 year olds. Mortar board caps and gowns, mini-me size; dances, diplomas, Pomp & Circumstance, solemn ceremonies. Kind of like Halloween decorations going up on Labor Day to usher in the holidays… no one seems to bother with waiting in joyful anticipation anymore!
Thanks for this, Meg. It does clear up a few things, especially the differences about the upper levels.
In SA school kids are called pupils or learners, students attend universities and colleges. You’re an under-graduate until you’ve obtained a degree only then are you a graduate. If you study for an honours, masters or dictorate you’re a post- graduate student.
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