明天就要开学啦!我们今天就说说在美国上学。
美国人上学很轻松?没功课、像玩儿? 作业、分数不重要?
听Jenny, Spencer带你了解真实的美国校园生活↓↓
节目音乐: Cheerleader by Pentatonix,这首歌唱的就是加油打气,适合新学期哦!
Back to school: 开学啦!
美国开学基本上也是9月1日,但是各个学校(特别是私校) 也有权自己选择。总之都在8月底、9月初。中小学的暑假差不多2个半月;大学的暑假则有3个月,有些甚至将近4个月。
Happy new semester! 新学期快乐!
I dreaded going back to school as a kid: 我小时候,最惧怕开学
Inspirational quotes to motivate you: 激励人的金句,给学生听众们新学期打气
We'll also be talking about what it's like to go to school in America: 也聊聊在美国上学是什么样的
"Back to school" is a big commercial opportunity: 开学季也是个大商机
Back to school specials/back to school promotions: 开学特价、开学促销
I always tried to get my grandma to buy me new clothes: 我小时候都会缠着外婆买新衣服
"Come on grandma, I can't go back to school wearing the same old clothes. Other kids will laught at me": “外婆,我开学不能穿旧衣服,同学会笑我的
I didn't have to wear uniform: 我不用穿校服
Most public schools in America don't have school uniforms: 美国公立学校基本上没有校服
开学、新学期有两个主要的说法:
美国除了公立学校、私立学校
还有特许学校、和家庭学校
Charter schools are a special type of school that receive public funding but operate independently: 特许学校是比较特别的一类学校,他们拿政府补贴,但是独立运作
*Charter scools出现于90年代,是针对公立学校体制僵化、教学水准下降等问题的新尝试。*
Charter schools often have higher standards and academic quality: 这些学校通常要求和教学质量都比较高
The schools often have a focus on a special academic field: 很多特许学校也会在某一个学业领域建立特色
比如这几年美国大力倡导的理工科STEM教育 (science technology engineering math: 科学、科技、工程、数学),很多charter school都选择STEM作为其特色。
美国上学很轻松?
The stereotype is that going to school is like a big field day in America: 大家可能有一种概念,就是美国上学很轻松,像春游秋游一样
Compared to kids in China, going to school in America is definitely less stressful: 跟中国孩子相比,在美国上学肯定比较轻松
Most elementary schools don't have homework: 小学基本没有作业
I loved recess in school: 我最爱上学时的自由活动时间
You can go to the playground and play freely: 这段时间,可以去操场,自由玩耍
说到这里,是否勾起你对校园时光的怀念?
美国孩子不做作业,也没关系?
It's not true that students don't have homework in America: 美国孩子没作业的看法是不正确的
We have homework, but it's mostly activities in middle school: 我们也有作业,但是比如初中作业,很多是各类活动、要动手的
The older you get, the more serious and challenging the homework gets: 越大、年级越高,作业也越发有挑战性
What will happen if you don't do your homework? 不做作业,会怎么样?
It will affect your overall grades: 会影响你的整体成绩
They factor different things in to give you an overall grade: 上学有一个总成绩,是各种因素结合而成的
If you didn't do your homework, it will pull down your overall grade: 如果不做作业,会拉低你的总成绩
GPA (grade point average): 平均成绩点数
You have GPA in high school and college: 高中大学都会算GPA
什么是GPA?
*GPA这个概念大家应该听过。申请美国大学都要高中GPA成绩。
进了大学,还有大学的GPA。GPA的满分是4分(A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1), 精准度通常会达到小数点后1到2位。
GPA的算法也不止是把学科总成绩除以学科数,而是有很多不同的考量因素。就是Spencer节目里说的"They factor different things in." 比如下图,大家就能看到参与各类活动activities对于GPA就很重要。*
美国人不看重分数?
Are test scores important? 考试测验分数重要吗?
They'd give you a percentage score: 会有百分比的分数
In my elementary school, we also had a system like this:
Test scores are not the only thing that matter in school: 分数不是唯一标准
Things like behaviour and activities are also very important: 其它的因素,比如行为举止、参与活动也很重要
不论什么国家,每个班级,都有这么几种人↓↓
不同的学生类型,你是哪一种?
Naughty kid/trouble maker: 皮大王、捣蛋鬼
Class clown: “班级小丑”,即特别爱搞怪、搞笑的学生
Teacher's pet: “老师的宠物”,应该很容易理解意思吧;就是特别乖、表现好,受老师喜欢的学生
Apple polisher: 和teacher's pet意思差不多, 马屁精
(Imagine a student who will polish the apple before giving it to the teacher: 想象一下,一个学生宋老师苹果吃,而且还擦干净再给老师)
I don't want to stereotype, but most Asian girls are very obedient:我不想以偏概全,不过很多亚裔女生都很乖、很听老师话
I had a small crush on such a Chinese girl in school: 我以前就暗恋过这样一个华裔女生
校园的社交压力
图片版权:seventeen.com
Peer presssure: 同学、同伴间的压力
The pressure to fit in: 要融入大家的那种压力
Are you part of the in-circle?: 你在那个受欢迎的小团体里吗?
If you're already labelled an outsider or a nerd, they might not pressure you to be part of the in-circle: 如果你已经被看作是局外人、书呆子,那你有自己的圈子,他们不会来找你
Nerd/dork/: 书呆子
英语怎么说“学霸”?
英语里的nerd, dork都是比较贬义的,“书呆子”的意思。
没有“学霸”这种让人羡慕、佩服的气息。
比较对应的就是前面说的:
美国高中像青春片?
大家看过“Glee”, “High School Musical”这些美剧吗?
戏里美国高中生的生活多彩多姿,和国内高中生压力山大的生活简直天上地下。现实情况也差不多。
在美国,除非是特别好的学校,一般高中生的学业压力不会太过分,好坏取决于学生自己。
Grades and academic performance are almost the only thing that kids are judged on in China: 成绩、学业表现几乎是中国孩子被检验的唯一标准
There's so much emphasis on the academics: 我们对学业的重视度特别高
Not so much in the States: 美国不是这样的
They want to see extra curriculum activities when you apply to college: 申请大学时,课外活动就特别重要
Grades don't guarantee you entrance to a great university: 成绩好不是进好大学的保障
You can still have a great school life even if you don't have good grades: 即使你成绩不好,也可以有一个快乐的校园生活
My high school was pretty much like what you see on shows like Glee: 我的高中就和美剧Glee里的很像
We had every type of students and everyone had their own thing and we all had fun: 有各种不同的学生,大家有不一样的爱好, 都很开心
Athletes: 运动员、体育很好的人
Jocks: 体育很好的学生, 这是一个俚语表达
In general, if you're good at sports or if you're in a band, you're gonna have a great life inschool: 总的来说,如果你体育好、或者你组了乐队,那你就是学校的风云人物
主播寄语
节目最后,Spencer,Jenny各自挑了一句喜欢的话送给要开学的朋友们:
图片版权:seventeen.com
图片版权:seventeen.com
"You're off to great places, today is your day, your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!": 你将去各种精彩的地方,今天是属于你的日子;高山等着你攀越,快上路吧!
*这句话是西方著名童谣作者苏斯博士(Dr. Seuss)儿歌中的一句。
他写的儿歌都非常押韵、有趣(像这句话),伴随好几代美国小朋友成长。
爸爸妈妈们不妨给小朋友试一下,建议找动画朗读结合的版本。*
最后,说说K12:
这两年,中国也常说K12这个概念。这个说法是从美国引进的。
K指的是kindergarten(幼儿园),但和国内幼儿园不同,美国的K其实是算在小学教育里的,相当于中国的幼儿园大班。小朋友先上一年kindergarten,然后升到grade 1(一年级), 之后一路到grade 12(12年级,就是我们的高三)。
所以K12指的就是小学到高三整个教育体系: