Long Listening · Section 5

High School

I think this is an interesting topic to discuss because high school is different in different countries.

Level: A2 · 67 sentences

Transcript

1. I think this is an interesting topic to discuss
2. because high school is different in different countries.
3. In today's video, we'll focus on high school in America.
4. First, let's talk a little bit about the structure of high school in America.
5. Most high schools in the country include 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade.
6. Before students start high school,
7. they attend elementary school first and then middle school second.
8. High school is like the third level of education.
9. So let me teach you some important words we use
10. to label each year of high school.
11. People in their first year of high school, ninth grade, are called freshmen.
12. People in 10th grade are called sophomores.
13. 11th graders are called juniors, and 12th graders are called seniors.
14. These words are important to learn
15. because this is how native speakers refer to different years of high school.
16. So, during each school year, there are two separate semesters.
17. Normally, the first semester lasts from the end of summer
18. to the beginning of winter.
19. Then, the second semester starts at the beginning of the new year
20. and continues on until the end of spring.
21. In the traditional school system,
22. students have a long summer vacation at the end of the school year.
23. However, nowadays many schools have a year-round schedule.
24. In this system, the summer break is shorter,
25. but the other vacations, like winter break and spring break, are longer.
26. A lot of students prefer this system
27. because they would rather have more vacation time throughout the year
28. instead of a really long summer break. So, during each semester,
29. most students have around six different classes for six different subjects.
30. In general, most students take the same or similar classes.
31. However, some students take advanced level classes.
32. We usually call these AP classes.
33. I had a few AP classes during my time in high school
34. and they were definitely more difficult than the regular classes.
35. I think the normal high school classes in the US aren't that hard.
36. Many of my students who live in other countries tell me
37. that their high school classes were hard
38. and required a lot of work.
39. How about your high school classes? Were they hard?
40. Another important topic to talk about is the quality of the teachers.
41. In my experience, some public school teachers are good and some are bad.
42. Honestly, I don't think I had a lot of good teachers.
43. Most of them were average or bad.
44. In private school, the quality of the teachers is usually better.
45. This is probably the situation in most countries, not just the U.S. U.S.
46. One question that many people ask me
47. is about which foreign languages American students study in high school.
48. Well, in the US, most students get to choose
49. which language they want to study.
50. The majority of the students choose Spanish
51. because it's the most useful foreign language for most Americans.
52. There are usually more Spanish teachers and classes than any other language.
53. The second most popular language that students choose is French,
54. and the third language is probably Italian.
55. I studied Spanish in high school
56. because I thought it would be the easiest language to learn.
57. Okay, lastly, let's talk about the importance of high school in America.
58. Students need to do well in high school
59. if they want to go to a good college.
60. They need to get good grades
61. and they need to do well on the SAT.
62. The SAT is the exam that high school students take
63. if they want to go to college.
64. Students can take this test multiple times
65. to try to get a good score.
66. I only took the SAT once and I didn't study for it.
67. I didn't really care about going to a good college.