Day 11 with audio!

[cerealjoe]

Day 01 // 02 // 03 // 04 // 05 // 06 // 07 // 08 // 09 // 10 // 11: the name of my elementary school. This time it's a bit different as I didn't feel like typing everything up - you can hear me talk for three minutes about my elementary school career! Sorry about the low audio. In the video I mentioned a previous post where I talked about the school, it can be found here. And the school in Ukraine I mentioned can be seen on the right side of this photo. On that subject, how does everyone feel about these kinds of video posts? Too traumatising or once in a while it's ok?

Comments

[theidolhands.livejournal.com]

Your accent is no problem to understand. :)

In America, grades:
K-5 = Elementary School
6-8 = Middle School
9-12 = High School

Once in a while, an elementary school might include 6th grade, but usually not. These last years, "pre-school" has become very commonplace (with working parents, and a need to "get ahead" even starting as toddlers). However, it used to be a concern that it was developmentally unnatural to place such young children in school. It didn't do anything for my sister (and her's was very simple and not every single day), though I never had to attend myself and got into kindergarten at 4 (unusual, often they make you wait until you're 5). I LOVED school. I was the only kid on my bus not in a panic.

[cerealjoe.livejournal.com]

The middle school I went to basically was "middle school" for everyone, from kindergarten... I guess it was because it was a rather small school so they could house everyone together.

Yep, pre-kindergarten, these days it's pretty a must if you want to work at the same time and don't have too much money. I don't actually know if it affects kids all that much. Back in the day toddlers and young kids would spend hours on the playground and running around the street, now due to "safety concerns" they're inside playing watching telly, so I think that something like pre-kindergarten would be a rather good idea for them to socialise in a more "safe" environment than the playground/street/neighbourhood.

[ammesor0.livejournal.com]

teehee your accent is wonderful! everyone loves accents, right right? or maybe just me studying linguistics makes me love accents.

i agree with what theidolhands pointed out regarding school systems in the US. but my mother says that pre-k/pre-school made a huge difference for me. but i also was there from 6am until 6pm monday-friday (due to my mother's work schedule), unlike her sister :).

[cerealjoe.livejournal.com]

I love accents, especially strong German accents in English and strong British accents in French. People love to discuss just what kind of accent I have in English... When I came back from the US I actually had an accent in French but over time I came to this "bland" French, no one can place where in France it's from, it's just random (incidentally my older sister got a southern French accent right away). In English though, I really am influenced by where I am, right now I mainly speak English with peeps who tend to have French accents and so I might be borrowing from them (and dumbing unintentionally my English), in Finland I was much closer to a London accent because I closely worked with people from around there.

Ah, linguistics, if I weren't into engineering I would have perhaps chosen that field.