Just curious - do they have standardized testing in other countries? What time of the year do most people go to school? Here's one for everyone: How long are school days? Where I'm at, we usually go from the beginning of September to the beginning of June, and days start at 7:45am and go until 3:00.

Just curious - do they have standardized testing in other countries? What time of the year do most people go to school? Here's one for everyone: How long are school days? Where I'm at, we usually go from the beginning of September to the beginning of June, and days start at 7:45am and go until 3:00.

I start school in late august and get out early June. My school starts at 8:55 and ends at 3:55. I think I ranges depending on you school, where I live. The Elementary gets out early but get there early. The same for High School.

Silver the Wanderer,
Yes, we have standardized tests in Australia but no 'pop quizzes' (whatever they are). School hours vary around Australia but mine started at 8:30am and went until 3:30pm (and that's probably average for here). There would be a 20min break for Recess/Morning Tea and a 40min break for Lunch. The Australian school year starts in late January/early February (depending on if you attend a public/private school). The school year finishes in mid-December. We have four school terms.

Yes, we have standardized tests in Australia but no 'pop quizzes' (whatever they are).

"Pop quiz" basically means that in class, the teacher suddenly decides to give you a quiz with no warning at all. I think they're overestimated, actually. We almost never get those. When we do, my teachers will let us use our notes or our textbook to look up the answers. Or they'll tell us ahead of time that there's going to be a quiz. So that pretty takes the "pop" out of "pop quiz".

School hours vary around Australia but mine started at 8:30am and went until 3:30pm (and that's probably average for here). There would be a 20min break for Recess/Morning Tea and a 40min break for Lunch.

That's cool! Sadly, we only have 30min for lunch, and that's it. But I think it depends on the school.

The Australian school year starts in late January/early February (depending on if you attend a public/private school). The school year finishes in mid-December. We have four school terms.

Oh, interesting! That's a long time! Do you have breaks throughout the school year?

Thanks for the pop-quiz definition. In Australia, we'd call them surprise tests and the other ones, open-book tests. I've heard pop-quizzes mentioned so many times on American TV series and movies, but they never explained them for international audiences.

The 40min of Lunch includes the time it takes to eat your lunch and go to the bathroom and get to class.

Yes, we have four terms for the school year. They more or less break up the year evenly. Terms vary from 9-11 weeks long. I think I've written a post on NarniaWeb about it. Let me check.

Here it is:

The Australian school year is generally as follows:

Term 1 - 27th January (public schools)/early February (private) to 2nd April
2 week Easter break

Term 2 - 19th April to 2nd July
2 week break

Term 3 - 19th July to 24th September
2 week break

Term 4 - 11th October to 10th December
7-8 week break Christmas/Summer holidays

*Rinse and repeat*

Oh my goodness! I've heard of schools like that even in the US only the terms are re-arranged. (Like 1 would be your 3 and 2 would be your 4, etc.) I don't think I could do that! I love having my three month summer break.

The nice thing about college is that it's way shorter than regular school. My college starts around late August/early September and then we have a couple days off for Thanksgiving, a month off for Christmas, a week for spring break, and then we get done in mid-May. It's nice.

The public school here goes from late August/early September to late-May/early June. The hours are 8:30 - 3:15. I'm not sure how there lunch and recess breaks go because (being homeschooled) I never attended there. On Wednesday's, they get out an hour early at 2:15. They have two weeks for Christmas, a couple days for Thanksgiving, and a week for spring break.

I think it changes from state to state

because our school day goes from 800(same as when i use to live in queensland and Tasmania). I this depends on not only the state but the school because my primary school finished at 3:10 but then on wednesdays be finished at 2.

Here private schools finish a week before us then go back a week before us.

Silver the Wanderer, I think what time you go to school from just depends on the district... cuz I go to school from 855, but some of my friends school's in neighboring districts have slightly longer days (starting and ending at different times), with 'late start wednesdays'

Schools here do vary by district and even type (elementary/grammar schools may have different hours than high schools - due at least in part to school bus scheduling) within each city or district.

This can affect not only hours each day but even days of the week. For example, local kids go to school Monday-Friday but my brother's children (who live in a small-town district north of here) only attend Monday-Thursday (though this was larely a financially-driven decision).

Most schools in Minnesota run roughly from early September to late May or early June with various breaks for Christmas or other holidays.

Summer vacation in US schools is a vestige of our agricultural history - kids were needed on the farm for planting/harvesting. Now, with the urbanization of the country, along with financial considerations, some locations are experimenting with, or have moved to, variations of year-round school (the hours attended are about the same; there's just a difference in when the breaks occur).

I've got a question. In my readings of British literature from around the 1910s to the 30s, I've noticed a lot of characters will end their sentences in "What?" I was wondering if anyone knows why. It certainly doesn't seem to be in vogue anymore. My theory is that it's similar to the Canadian, "eh?" For example:

"Those dogs certainly bark loudly, what?"

What? = Do you agree?

Possibly, I don't know. I'm an Aussie.

What fun!

So, I am from Appalachia and I have often heard that the dialect around here is very close to Scottish/Gaelic/English/Irish languages. Does anyone know if that is true?
Also, how hard would it be to learn Gaelic, since I am American (French just about killed me)?

As for the whole discussion of American accents. We have so many and I am sure everyone else does too. Though, I am one of those strange people who do not have accent.
I am originally from down South but no one would ever know it. I often have people ask me where I am from because they cannot tell by my speech. Unless I slip up and let out a "y'all". My family up North say I do not sound southern and the ones down South say I do not sound northern. People around here say I do not sound [Appalachian]. Oh well, it has it's benefits.
Do y'all (oops, there I go ) have such people?

And last- for now- do any of you other countries have obessions with different countries like we seem too with England and the rest?

As for the whole discussion of American accents. We have so many and I am sure everyone else does too. Though, I am one of those strange people who do not have accent.
I am originally from down South but no one would ever know it. I often have people ask me where I am from because they cannot tell by my speech. Unless I slip up and let out a "y'all". My family up North say I do not sound southern and the ones down South say I do not sound northern. People around here say I do not sound [Appalachian]. Oh well, it has it's benefits.
Do y'all (oops, there I go ) have such people?

My sister in law is from VA, but you really can't tell, she doesn't have a really sothern accent, although she does hav a bit of an accent. I think I've got an odd one too, actually, but not in that way, just that I've been picking up on outside influences...

We have standardised tests in the UK, too. I always found the US's 'pop quizzes' interesting, we don't really have them over here, The teacher always let us know tests were coming, big or small.

At my school the day started at 8:30 and finished at 3:15, but I think we were the odd one out, most of the other schools started at 9 and finished around 3:30.

Kate - W4J is right, it more or less means "Right?". It's not said very often now though, I only know it because I have a great aunt who says it sometimes

What fun!

Also, how hard would it be to learn Gaelic, since I am American (French just about killed me)?

My mother tried to get me to learn Irish Gaelic as a child, but I was pretty resistant to it (as far as I was concerned it was a bit of a 'useless' language, since everyone in Ireland spoke English anyway. Now I can see she wanted to forge a connection with my heritage and I wish I'd kept it up). It would be harder to learn than a language such as French because there's less material on it (compared to all the French novels, films, courses, etc) and it differs from English, and similar languages like French, German, Spanish, etc, in many basic functions. That being said, I wouldn't advise against trying to learn some, it's a very beautiful old language and I do like having a clue what the signs say when I visit Ireland But it would be harder than learning a more widely spoken language.

And last- for now- do any of you other countries have obessions with different countries like we seem too with England and the rest?

Less so, but people being in love France and all things French is pretty common.

This thing is growing so fast I've officially given up trying to read every post!

So more Brit questions: How do New Zealand accents differ from yours? Irish? Scottish?

Lu