The Hopefuls discussion

Okay so I've been extremely interested in other cultures ever since I took sociology. And I was wondering if there was anyone else as interested as I am. Since we're a pretty diverse group, I figured we could use this to kind of discuss our own cultures and answer other people's questions about our own. For example, I've always been interested in England and what life is like there and if it differs much from that of the US. Also I think people just generally like to talk about what makes them different. So, what makes your culture different from others?

Also, I feel like with America being such a big country there's a lot of stuff people know about it but we don't know much about other countries. The one example that comes to mind is Hollywood. People everywhere know about Hollywood actors and movies and such, but there's the same things in other countries that we don't know about. We're just so 'in your face' that we don't realize that there's whole other communities out there. I actually feel kinda bad about it!

I'm from Australia and I can honestly say that basically no one uses any of the slang that appears in "How To Speak Australian" videos on YouTube. Some of it is used, but it's mainly on the East Coast (Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne etc.) cos I'm from SA and I've never heard half the slang that appears in the videos.

I think I feel comfortable saying my high school has a culture completely different than most. I live in a poorer farming community in NC. Out school is literally located in a field 10 miles away in each direction from the nearest town, and has a strange blend of lower class, middle class, and upperclass people (who mostly own giant homes overseeing the larger farms).

But what's really weird is that no one has to deal with any of the weird " high school royalty' BS. We all just kind of co exist for some strange reason. There's no clear line as to who's popular and who isn't. If someone starts acting weird and bossy and trying to take over, everyone just refuses to acknowledge their "authority" until things settle down. Theres no shaming for belonging to certain activities like band or theatre. It's pretty nice actually...

Darby, that sounds really cool actually. My school is kinda like that to a lesser degree. We're a small school in a rural-ish area and we've all known each other basically our whole lives. We all support each other for the most part. There's still a bit of separation, but it doesn't cause any drama. I've never seen the crazy high school movie cliques in person. I wonder who even came up with the idea...

Yes I'm really interested in culture! I'm from England, but over the last couple of years I've lived in France, Spain, Egypt and Martinique, in the French Caribbean. I feel like the rest of the world definitely knows more about American culture due to the popularity of American media. I feel quite familiar with American culture and lifestyle (obviously there are loads of things that I don't know about though) so it doesn't really seem that different. But then I think that most Americans typically know less about British culture than we do theirs, just because British films etc. probably aren't as widely watched.
Erica, is there anything in particular that you're curious about England? :P
Morganna, I'm really interested in dialect differences haha! My dad's Australian, from Newcastle :)

Morganna is right with the slang and just so everyone knows we don't throw another shrimp on the barbie lol. Morganatic will get that

Stupid auto correct morganna lol

I think she should change her name to 'Morganatic'

Hah that's actually a pretty cool rapper name

There's also a difference in accents in Australia. People on the East Coast tend to have stronger ones. I've often been told I sound British but I don't know if that's from living in SA or just watching Harry Potter and British YouTubers too much haha :)
But seriously, there really is a difference in accent strengths.

I've actually noticed a difference in accents but never really thought much of it!
Natasha, this is really random but I noticed it last year on Fat Tuesday, British pancakes are different than ours. They're much bigger and kind of more like crepes because they're a bit thinner. Are they all like that or was it just the ones I saw?

Oh! And what exactly is a traditional English breakfast? I have literally no idea!

It's egg, bacon, fried bread, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, hash brown and sausage. Sometimes a black pudding too (I think I've remembered everything)

Hehe I'd never heard it called Fat Tuesday until last month because I have some new American friends, in England we call it Pancake Day- I'd only ever heard that and 'mardi gras' lol. Yeah usually an English pancake is more like a crepe, so they're thinner and bigger (like plate-sized I suppose). They're a tiny bit thicker and moister than a lot of crepes though, no crispiness. One of the most popular ways to eat them is with lemon juice and sugar. In Scotland, pancakes are more similar to your American ones- we call them Scotch pancakes :)
A traditional hot English breakfast (called a 'full English' or a 'fry-up') has bacon, sausages, baked beans, fried or scrambled eggs, fried bread, grilled tomatoes, hash browns and black pudding (blood sausage eww). It doesn't have to have all of these things though. In hotels etc. you can choose between this or a 'continental breakfast', which is a European (continental European) cold breakfast consisting of sweet pastries, croissants, cereal, fruit, cheese, cold meats etc. Obviously tea is commonly drunk :P
Lool sorry, this was really long! Have you ever celebrated Pancake Day Erica? What are your favourite things to eat for breakfast?

So it is baked beans I'm always seeing! I thought it might be something else. I never thought to have baked beans with breakfast haha.
My family has never had a "pancake day" I guess. For Fat Tuesday we just load up on sweets and have a big dinner before we give up whatever we're giving up for lent. My mom usually gets paczkis, which are Polish donut-like pastries. (We totally aren't Polish but I think my mom wishes we were.) This year we were a bit lazy and just got donuts from Dunkin Donuts.
Breakfast is actually my favorite meal! On the weekends when my mom doesn't work we always have a huge breakfast. I love fried eggs, waffles, hash browns, biscuits and gravy....breakfast is just amazing!

What are biscuits? Ive always wanted to know. Our biscuits are your cookies

Haha yeah I totally forgot about that! They're kind of like flaky rolls. If what I know as a roll is the same for you haha!

I completely agree with this. I'm from London, England, and since I've been studying Spanish (six years), I've been fascinated by the different cultures in Spain and South America. I go on holiday to Spanish speaking countries a lot (mainly Spain and the Canary Islands). Last year I went to a place a bit off the beaten track in Spain and we went to a small fishing town and at about midnight, everyone gathered in the square to have a bit of a party. And apparently that happens pretty much every night. There was also a random marching band that went through the town at one point. I just love how spontaneous and fun the culture is, and how different from the rather stiff attitude of the Brits. Anyone on here live in Spain or South America?

I go to a private religious school (its horrible eurgh) and we never really have separations, considering its all girls. There are like girls with designer bags and stuff but I'm mainly trodding around in vans tbh. Culture wise, I'm half French, half Somali but born and bred in the UK so its kinda strange but I learn a lot from both sides. 99% of the girls in my school are south east asian really

Spanish culture is so cool! I took 3 years of Spanish in school and the culture was always my favorite part. Everything seems so much more fun and, like you said, spontaneous. I'd love to visit there someday!
Have any of you seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Greek families just seem so fun and crazy. That may be just the movie stereotypes, but it looks like fun. Same with Italian families. I have a couple of friends who are Italian so I get to experience it a bit :)

Oooh this thread is so interesting! I love learning about other cultures.
Louise: I'm from Argentina :) And about the party in Spain: a friend of mine has some (rather distant) Spanish relatives that live in a little village in Spain. She went to visit them once and when she came back she told me the same thing about the parties! Now she goes around once a year to visit them :)
Erica: I don't know about Greek families, but Italian people seem fun! I was once at a restaurant and this huge group of Italians arrived. They just seemed to lift the mood of the place, they even started singing some songs in Italian haha!

Exactly! And they always seem to have big families. I've always kinda wished I had a big family. Not necessarily more brothers and sisters, but like aunts, uncles, cousins...all of my cousins are way older than me because my parents are both the youngest in their families. It would just make family gatherings so much fun!

Catalina wrote: "Oooh this thread is so interesting! I love learning about other cultures.
Louise: I'm from Argentina :) And about the party in Spain: a friend of mine has some (rather distant) Spanish relatives t..."

Oh that's awesome :) I'm hoping to visit Argentina and other parts of South America as part of a gap year before I go to uni. Are there any particular bits you'd recommend going to? And that's really cool about your friend, I bet she has the best time :D

Nothing too interesting for me, haha. I'm from New Jersey, but I'm like, 15 minutes away from New York..pretty much the same! haha, I think the biggest difference is the way people from other parts of the world see people from here. We actually aren't rude, just busy! haha, but seriously, I don't know where that started. There isn't some crazy abundance of rude people here! Not more so than other places, anyway :) And the accents...gosh. None of those "How to do a New York accent" videos are accurate. (But I do definitely have an accent... :P can't pronounced dog, coffee, rollercoaster, or chocolate the "proper" way for the life of me!) There's a lot of different cultures here, but there's still a big Italian influence, especially where I live. That's also been part of my culture growing up, since my mom's Italian. We've done the whole Sunday dinner with the whole family thing since before I was born. :)

So, like I said...not too out there or rare, but that's mine!

Another question just popped in my head, is country music popular in other countries too?

Ah that's what I thought. Not too many cowboy hats and boots then? Haha

Oh my...I'm in a small group of people that don't listen to it. I live in a rural area so it's obvious a lot of people would listen to it, but it is literally everywhere.

It's most definitely true. But not everyone wears a hat and a pair of boots all the time. Literally everyone listens to it!

It's interesting to read these things, fascinating.
What sounds the strangest is the thing about English breakfast. I almost never eat anything warm in the morning/afternoon and when I do it, it isn't food I usually eat as dinner.
And Erica, about the Polish thing: I took part in an exchange with Polish people this year (middle/high school, so I've been in Poland for a week. I learned a lot about the culture there, since I stayed at a family and I have to say I can understand your mum, because the food there was delicious haha.
Btw, I'm from the Netherlands.

Haha! Polish food is great! Gotta love the polkas too. Is cabbage and noodles polish? I think it is...but that's my absolute favorite!

I'm not sure and I don't think I've eaten it, but it sounds good :)

This thread is really cool, I'm sad I'm so late to the party! I don't feel like my culture is too unusual, but it's all relative I guess :) I live in a pretty rural area of Illinois, but I'm only half an hour away from one of our larger cities. It's a 3-hour drive to Chicago, which I think is where everyone seems to think you live if you're in Illinois. I was homeschooled my whole life and am only now transitioning to my community college, so I can't really weigh in on the school angle, but from what I can see from my friends, you people who said your schools mesh pretty well should be very thankful! Our schools around here are pretty terrible, unfortunately. :/ Anyway, my family doesn't farm but we live on 5 acres and have ducks and a barn for equipment, etc. and some of our extended families have farms. :) I love hearing about the contrasts between British/English and American cultures! One thing I've never been able to understand... How does your schooling work there? (As in school year, grades, breaks, ages, etc) I've heard terms like "A-levels" and "GSCEs" thrown around, as well as "Year (insert number here)" but I haven't been able to put it all together XD

Susanne: It's funny, I'm confused about the opposite! In England, Primary School starts in Reception (4 and 5 years old) and then its years 1-6 in most schools. You leave Primary School the school year after you turn 11 and go to High/Secondary school for 5 years (7-11). In years 10 and 11 you sit your gcses and btecs. Year 12 and 13 are sixth form where you do a-levels or go to college (16-18 roughly). After that it's university, which is optional :)

Sorry, just realised I spelt your name wrong! Also, the school year is September to July, with 3 1 week breaks in each term and 2 2 week breaks separating each term (Xmas and easter). Then there is a 6 week break for summer for most schools, except private ones. Grades go from 1c-8a in the lower years, then at gcse level it goes from ungraded-a* or distinction star. Hope I haven't forgotten anything :)

That seems like so many letters and numbers to remember...I guess it makes more sense if you grow up with it. But from what I've gathered, the UK allows students to narrow down their studies a lot sooner than we do in the US. Which I haven't quite decided if that's a good or bad thing yet. (I'm going to school to be a teacher and I'm still weighing the positives an negatives) We have a very broad curriculum here. I hope to study other school systems more closely in college and maybe work to make some changes to our school system :)

Thanks, Chloe! I agree with Erica, it seems like a lot to remember, but it's all relative I guess :) let's see if I can sum up our schooling system... (it's a little complicated even to me, being homeschooled, so everyone feel free to correct me if I mess this up!) Basically, you start preschool when you're 4, where you stay for one year. Then next year is Kindergarten for 5-year-olds. 1st through 6th grade is "grade school" (I think!) and that's for 6 year olds to 11 year olds. Then you graduate to "junior high school" or "middle school" (I think that's what it's called... Heheh) and that's grades 7 and 8, ages 12 and 13. You start high school at 14 and you're there for grades 9, 10, 11 and 12. (Also known as freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, and senior year, respectively) I'm not entirely sure which years you take which exams, but we have the ACT and the SAT. After you graduate senior year of high school, then it's onto college, which is optional and typically lasts 4 years, unless you only get a 2 year degree. :)

Erica: It is good and bad I suppose. We only have to do our own choices at a-level, but we are restricted in the number of subjects we can do (I'll be doing 5 subjects in my first year at 6th form and I wish I had even more choice.
Suzanne: Thanks for explaining it :)

Not a problem! I'm still getting a big kick out of the time difference, too... I'm guessing you just got up for school, and I haven't gone to sleep yet XD

I think it's good to have a broad curriculum. It gives you more of a chance to explore what you like and don't like. It also helps you to find what you're good at!
Here you don't really start taking career specific courses until your second or third year of college (your university equivalent). Unless you go to a specific college prep school. There's one near where I live that's centered around STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

I find reading about the differences in schools really interesting! I think one of the biggest differences in organisation is that we don't have middle schools in England (some areas do but they're not very common). I'm not sure about Scotland cause the system's different. So like Chloe said, it's primary school from age 4-11 (Reception to Year 6), secondary school from age 11-16 (Year 7 to 11) then Sixth Form or College from age 16-18 (Years 12 and 13). Sixth Form is if you decide to carry on in the same secondary school for the last two years, college is if you leave and is only for 16-18 year olds. In private schools though, they often have prep schools which go from age 4-13, and then you start secondary school at 13 rather than 11. Also, just to confuse things, 'private schools' are the same as 'public schools' haha (a free school is called a 'state' or 'comprehensive' school).

How common are single sex schools in other countries? I went to an all-girls school for secondary school and Sixth Form, it's quite common in the UK, especially for private schools (mine was state though). We also have grammar schools, which are secondary schools that you have to take an exam to get into. And almost all schools wear uniforms, but in American films and stuff they never do?

At 18 you can go to university or 'uni' (we never call it college or school). Before you start, you have to choose which subject you want to study and apply specifically for this subject. Degrees last three or four years and you normally study one subject the whole time. You can do 'Joint Honours' in two subjects if the uni offers that course, or 'Combined Honours' which is a mixture. Sometimes you can do optional modules in another subject though. There are no compulsory courses for all students at the uni, it depends on subject. I've known people from America who have been forced to study maths etc. at college, which seems so bizarre to me? In England, university grades, from best to worst, are 1st, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd, fail. Then you can go on to do a Masters degree, usually one year.

In the US public and private schools are different. Public schools are usually the ones you see in the movies. Private schools are usually religiously affiliated and they cost quite a bit of money to attend. Those are also the schools that usually have uniforms.

I don't know of many single sex public schools, but there definitely single sex private schools. Two of the biggest schools in my area are all boys catholic schools.

Our grading systems are quite different too! We just use the general A, B, C, D, F scale. From what I've heard it seems like it's harder to get "straight A's" there. Your schooling honestly seems way more rigorous than ours. It seems like you're always studying! I've honestly like truly studied for something maybe 2 or 3 times in my whole high school career haha!

Lol I don't know why we call private schools 'public school's here! 'Public schools' are often the oldest, most famous and most expensive. They have loads of traditions and crazily posh uniforms hehe.

Haha I think it's just very different! I prefer having to choose subjects early like in the UK, but I don't necessarily agree with it. I finished education last year, when I was 21, but I haven't studied maths or science since I was 15!

Yeah at school, the national exams are graded from A* to U (unclassified) but there's always news stories about how exams are becoming easier and more pupils are gettings A*s and As haha.

How do your exams work? It seems so different from ours haha. Does the high school set its own exams for each subject, then you do the SATs or whatever on top of that?

Exams are kind of hard to explain. It's often different from school to school, but here's how my high school did it. We have two big exams during the year, mid-terms and finals. Our school is set up on a 9 week schedule, which is a quarter of the year. So after two quarters, aka the first semester, we take our mid-terms for full year classes and finals for semester classes. Then at the end of the year we take finals for all of our classes.

There's also another test you take your sophomore year, the OGT, which is the Ohio Graduation Test. This is specific to just my state and I'm not sure if other states have the same thing. But either way you have to pass these tests to graduate high school in the state of Ohio. You're tested in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. Our school just started these pre and post test things, which I won't really go into because it's just a way the state is evaluating teachers.

As for the ACT/SAT you can sign up to take those whenever you want. It's recommended that you wait until the end of your sophomore year or your junior year to take them. You don't have to take both, it just depends on where you want to go to college. The scores of those tests are sent to the colleges you apply to and they help determine whether you get in and how much scholarship money you get. I only took the ACT because most schools in Ohio don't require SAT scores. If I wanted to go out of state or abroad I'd have to take the SAT.

College is kinda different. I took college classes while in high school. College classes are set up on a semester schedule so your schedule is different each semester. There aren't full year classes like in high school. So the first semester, aka the fall semester, you take a mid term and final for those classes. Then in the spring semester you do the same for those classes.

Kind of confusing, I know. I hope it makes sense. I can try clearing some things up a little more haha

This topic is great! You answer so many questions that I had about UK/US education. Thank you all.
BTW, I'm from Brazil but I love the UK culture.

It all sounds confusing hehe! It seems strange that you can do the SAT or ACT when you want :P Are quite a lot of exams multiple choice? They're not in the UK, but from what I've heard it's more common in America?

In England, you do your GCSEs at the end of Year 11 (age 15/ 16). Most people do about ten subjects, some of which are compulsory and some of which you choose at the end of Year 9. You study them for two years and then have the final exams, but with coursework (essays/ projects) and sometimes modular exams beforehand, which contribute to your final grades.

A-Levels are made up of an AS Level, taken in Year 12, and an A2 level, taken in Year 13. I did four AS Levels and three A2 Levels because that's all my school would allow, but a lot of people do more. You apply to university using a national standardised online system (UCAS) in Year 13, using your predicted A-Level results.

GCSE and A-Level exams are national, so there's a couple of exam boards which offer different courses for each subject. The school chooses which course they want to follow for each subject, and everyone in the country doing that course sit the exact same paper at the exact same time. Results come out a couple of months later, in August, and the entire year group usually goes into school in the morning and collects their results in an envelope. Particularly stressful for Year 13s, because these results determine whether they have made their university offers (since you apply with predicted grades, universities usually give you a conditional offer and specify which grades you need for them to accept you. You have to accept a firm offer and an insurance offer before results day).

Sorry, that probably made no sense!

@Mari, ooo tell us some interesting things about Brazil! What's the education system like there?

Multiple choice is very common actually. The ACT is all multiple choice (except if you take the writing portion). In fact they encourage guessing on the ACT because wrong answers don't count against you. Each portion of it is timed, so if you find yourself running low on time they say to at least make sure all the bubbles are filled in haha.

I kind of like how you can pick your subjects so early. But I'm a very indecisive person with broad interests and I'd be afraid I'd change my mind and waste time on something I don't want. But I guess it doesn't matter in the long run!

Haha Canadian school is different from English and American School. We start Kindergarten at 5 years old. Where I'm from elementry schools are from K - Gr. 7, and highschool is 8-12. But some parts of Canada, they have middle schools which are usually 6 - 8. I'm not sure how common these are, but my friend who lives about 1 hour from me goes to a middle school. The only same sex schools I know about are private schools, and their usually the old ones in the middle of the city, and there's an all girls boarding school on Vancouver Island.

For class selection I'm not exactly sure how it works at higher grades, because I'm just about to finish my first year of High school, but for Grade 8 and 9's we get the choice of choir, band, dance, art, drama, multimedia, and Spanish. In Grade 8, you have to take French, and you can take Spanish as an elective. In Grade 9 you can either choose French or Spanish. We have to take Science, Math, English, and Socials. My school is different to other schools though because we're private. My school is also really good at giving options to take higher classes. For example I'm already in math 9, and 8/9 French, which bassically means we do two years of French in one. I know at higher levels you can take enriched and AP courses.

For exams, we have Finals in June (mine start on monday :/) and some subjects have midterms in november. In gr. 10 and 12 we have to take Provincial exams for some subjects. I know definitely math and english but i'm not sure what other ones. We can take the SAT and tests like that if we want to get into American Universities, but Canadian ones don't require it.

The public schools are striking right now, and I feel terrible because some people might not get to graduate because they're about to write their finals. My school is private, so we don't get affected by the strikes.

Anyways, i think its pretty cool learning about all the school systems. I knew most of the things about American schools because of books and stuff, but not much at all about English schools!