4. Which is just as well, as I've had some slightly surreal jobs, all in all! The summer I graduated I got a job temping as a tea lady in the Patent Office (hey, don't knock it, Einstein worked as a clerk in the Patent Office in Berlin, I seem to recall). It was like going back in time, working there. I'd wheel my trolley of tea and biscuits round at the allotted times, and the Head of Department would smile diffidently and say, "Thank you so much, Miss O'Neill. Now, I wonder if you'd mind awfully translating this patent application for us? Quite a lot of it appears to be in French
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4.Tea Lady!?!?!?! I don't think there is a comparable job description for that over here.
11.Okay, my mind is spinning from that one. IF I understand it, it sounds much more sensible than the system we've got over here. As to colleges being more generalized, I certainly agree with that. That is why I encouraged my daughter to go to an art college, rather than a college or university that just had an art program. She has absolutely no need for or interest in Calculus or Physics and, while she has to take math and science classes even at her school (Memphis College of Art) they are directed towards art. Her math class will focus on running an art business and this year she will take Anatomy for a science class but it will be focused on how the human body works and how to apply it to art.
11. Yes, that's what I inferred from earlgreytea's story. How bizarre! So, do you have to take a mixture of subjects for any degree? If you're taking Physics, for example, do you have to do English or Spanish or Art? I don't see why you should have to take sciences or maths if you're taking an arts-based degree
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Yeah, pretty much for any 4 year degree you have to take a certain amount of other subjects that are considered to be core but outside of your major. I guess the theory is to make you a well-rounded person? I don't know how they would compare to the A-levels or to your college courses. A lot of them are "survey" classes....for example, for my Political Science degree, I had to take Art Appreciation, Music Appreciation and Theater Appreciation to fulfill my Fine Arts requirements. They were pretty easy and didn't go into much depth. As to school before the college level, most kids start at Kindergarten(age5) but it is not required in most states. Most states require kids to start attending school at age 6 which would be First Grade. Elementary/Grade School generally runs from 1st - 5th Grade, but some include 6th Grade. A very few(my school back in the 70's for example) include up to 8th grade. That is extremely rare now. Once you are done with Elementary/Grade school, you go on to either a Middle School(6-8th) or Junior High
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Yeah, in the UK you can leave school at 16, but you've usually taken a few GCSEs these days when you do. You don't have to stay on till 18. In my day, you left at 16 or 18 or you went on to further education - the difference is, that when I went to college, only 6% of people did so - these days, I think it's about 45%. It's great in theory that more people are going on to higher education, but of course the standards have dropped, you don't get it for free like you did in my day and - most importantly of all - you aren't more-or-less guaranteed a job at the end of it! Also, what I think is quite sad, is that you used to be able to study whatever you liked, that interested you - study for study's sake, rather than with an end in view. My brother did a Classics degree - Latin, Ancient Greek and Ancient History. What job was he planning to get? - didn't have a clue, but he knew he'd get one, as the fact that you had a degree in those days meant that you just did. In the end, he decided to be a doctor, then decided he couldn't bear
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The other thing I always forget is that America isn't one country. When you said "depends on the state" I suddenly realised it again. How strange. I think the UK would fit into... can't remember, somewhere beginning with I, I think - Indiana possibly? (How big is Idaho, LOL!) We have some 60 million people balancing on this island but they all more-or-less come under the same rules (apart from the Scots, who have different rules regarding education and university and are generally More Jammy Than The English In This Regard) so it's always strange to me to think that you are effectively a collection of separate countries who happen to speak the same language ... well, to a certain extent, anyway!
Thanks for your long reply. I feel suitably educated at the end of it (and my daughter was very unimpressed that you don't have to take any exams at school).
11. How old is your son and what are A levels? Never really understood that.
17. What's a Brummy accent?
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11.Okay, my mind is spinning from that one. IF I understand it, it sounds much more sensible than the system we've got over here. As to colleges being more generalized, I certainly agree with that. That is why I encouraged my daughter to go to an art college, rather than a college or university that just had an art program. She has absolutely no need for or interest in Calculus or Physics and, while she has to take math and science classes even at her school (Memphis College of Art) they are directed towards art. Her math class will focus on running an art business and this year she will take Anatomy for a science class but it will be focused on how the human body works and how to apply it to art.
17. Was that guy actually speaking ENGLISH?
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Thanks for your long reply. I feel suitably educated at the end of it (and my daughter was very unimpressed that you don't have to take any exams at school).
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