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C | History you learned | Cost of school | College | ||
NORTH AMERICA | |||||
U | You went over US history, and some European, in school. Not much Russian, Chinese, or Latin American. | School is free through high school (at least, it's an option, even if you went to private school); college isn't, unless you get a scholarship. | College is (normally, and excluding graduate study) four years long. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a bachelor's first. | ||
A | You went over Alaskan and US history, and some European, in school, but not much African, Chinese, or Latin American. You did study just a bit of Russian history though, since Alaska was colonized by the Russians. You're familiar with the pipeline, fireweed, the Alcan, openings, William Seward and Seward's Icebox, Give Moose a Brake, ANWR, the "bridge to nowhere", ulu knives, the Iron Dog, the Mount Marathon race, the Gold Rush, Matanuska Maid, the Fur Rondy, Balto, and (unfortunately) the Exxon Valdez. You know about the historical event the Iditarod commemorates, the diphtheria crisis of 1925. You may feel curiously disconnected to your state's own history, though; Alaska was settled so recently that it has undergone massive changes even in the past few decades. Alaska became a state just fifty years ago, and the last homestead was claimed only thirty years ago, which makes your state's reputation as "The Last Frontier" quite true. You probably feel that Alaska as you know it didn't exist until the oil industry kicked off; the time prior to that seems very distant to you if you are young or moved into the state after the 1970's. | School is free through high school (at least, it's an option, even if you went to private school); college isn't, unless you get a scholarship. The public education system is under-funded in several areas of the state, which prompts sometimes vicious debates about policy. | College is (normally, and excluding graduate study) four years long. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a Bachelor's first. | ||
L | You learned that New York was originally a Dutch Colony called New Amsterdam and that the US government was patterned after the federation of NY's Iroquois Indian tribes but not much else of NY or LI history. Children today are being incorrectly taught that LI had 13 Indian tribes. The role that any countries other than England played in settling areas that would eventually become the US was largely ignored. The only European history you learned were the explorers and things that directly affected the US (like WWII which you learned started in 1941). On the other hand, LI's high school students win more national science awards than any other region's. | You complain about the cost of school taxes, but you object to merging small school districts into larger ones to save money because you want to maintain local control of the schools. You have no idea where or when the local school board meets or who sits on it. | You (if you're older) or your parents (if you're younger) may be the first generation in your family to get a college degree. | ||
L | You went over Louisiana history, US history, and maybe some European history in school, but not much else. | School is free up to the 12th grade. Thanks to the TOPS program, just about anyone can get their college tuition paid for. | College is normally 4 years long. | ||
T | Not only do you remember the Alamo, you remember Goliad, too. As a student you have to go through several years of history about early Native populations, the Texan Revolution and Republic, and then general American and European history; you probably know some about the rest of the world -- but not a lot. |
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C | You learned Canadian history in school but found it very boring. You learned American, British, and French history in relation to their effect on Canada, and maybe separately in high school. You find American history much more exciting than Canadian history, but you "know" that Canada defeated the US in the War of 1812. | You probably went to a public school, but you may have gone to a separate school (in English Canada, that is a Catholic school; in Quebec, a Protestant school), which exist at both the elementary and high school levels, and are free. You start elementary school when you are 4 or 5, and high schools sometimes go up to grade 13. University and college are not free unless you get a scholarship. | You probably think universities are more elitist, and that colleges are more like trade schools, and would not usually use the words interchangeably. They are both usually 4 years long unless you want Masters' degrees or doctorates. | ||
B | You learned Canadian and American history in school, and some European. The fact that many Canadians fought and died in World War II isn't taught in American history classes, yet every Canadian schoolchild knows who Washington was. | School is free through high school. There used to be Grade 13 (university prep); it was discontinued in the 1990’s. University is fairly expensive. | You hope to go to university ('college' means 'community college', and is looked down upon). University is usually four years long. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a university degree first. | ||
O | You learned Canadian history in school but found it very boring. You of course focused on Ontario history, especially since it's so important to the rest of Canadian history, even though it doesn't begin until the 1700's. The War of 1812 was a time when Americans invaded, captured Toronto (York, at the time), and then had their asses kicked by the British army and Ontario militias (everyone knows no one really won the war, but you brag that the Canadian militia won anyway). You have been to a War of 1812 historical site. Laura Secord is a store that sells chocolates, but you also know she (and, if you are old enough to remember this part of the legend, her cow) warned the British of an American attack during the War of 1812. You also learned about the Rebellion of 1837, but you didn't learn that Quebec had a much more serious and bloodier rebellion at the same time. If you live in or around Toronto you have been to a site or building that has some connection to the rebellion, but maybe not on purpose (there are lots of them up and down Yonge Street - or Highway 11 - for example). You learned that the trillium is Ontario's provincial flower, and that it is illegal to pick them, but unless you spend lots of time in forests you have never seen one anyway. | You probably went to a public school, that is, a non-denominational school. If not, you went to a separate school (a Catholic school) or, less likely, a private school. Unless you lived in Toronto you probably did not have junior high. |
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Q | In school, you have studied all the great Québec authors such as Michel Tremblay, Félix Leclerc, Yves Beauchemin and Gabrielle Roy. | School is free through high school, unless you go to private school. Colleges and universities are subsidized by the government, but they're by no means free (tuition can be up to $5000 a year). You can get a scholarship, but only an academic one, not for athletics. | After high school and before entering university, most students spend two years in a CEGEP earning a Diplôme d'Études Collégiales (similar to an undergraduate degree) and getting the partying out of their systems. University is three-four years long depending on the program, excluding graduate studies. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a bachelor's first, and years and years of training. | ||
LATIN AMERICA | |||||
B | You went over Brazilian history, and some Western European, in school. Not much American, Russian, Chinese, African, Asian or even other Latin American. | School is free through high school, but if you have money you send your kids to Catholic and other private schools. They then beat the poorer kids in the admission exams for the public Universities, which are free. If you are poor and ambitious, you may work during the day and use your salary to pay for the private college you go at night. | College is four years long, except Medicine which is five or six. Many people stay for graduate studies (Mestrado) with Government scholarships. | ||
C | You went over Pre-Columbian, Hispanic and Republican Colombian History in School. Some History of the Americas and some European history which pretended to pass as word history. Russian, Chinese or Indian history is practically unknown to you. | School is supposed to be free through elementary school. If you can pay a private school, you will probably put your children in one. College is expensive unless you get a scholarship. | College is (normally, and excluding graduate study) five years long. If you want to be a doctor, just dress with a tie. On the other hand, if you want a PhD, you better have a Masters degree first. Lawyers insist in being called "doctor" just after under-graduate school. Well, not only lawyers. | ||
M | You went over Mexican history in school, and some US and world history. You can name the year when the USA took more than half of our land from us, and you resent Americans for that. | School is free from elementary school (primaria in Mexico) to middle school (secundaria). Kindergarten (preescolar, kinder or jardín de niños) is sometimes free, but high school (preparatoria) and university are only free if you get a scholarship. | School grades are kindergarten 1st to 3rd, elementary 1st to 6th, middle 1st to 3rd. High school comes in half years 1st to 6th. Some high schools (like mine) have a yearly (not half-year) calendar. University is most often 5 years long. Doctors most often have their bachelor's, but there are some doctors with fake diplomas. | ||
EUROPE | |||||
A | You went over Austrian and European history very extensively, a bit of Middle Eastern history probably, fragments of American history, and most probably no African or Asian history. | School is free through high school. You have to visit a "höhere Schule" and pass the final Matura exam to be accepted at university, which means you'll be in school at least 12-13 years. University is not free, although heavily subsidised and therefore still easily affordable. | There is no such thing as a college/university distinction. University curricula are usually 4 to 6 years long and completely different from school (nobody would ever refer to university as "school"). You're likely to have a half-time job and draw your studies out a bit longer. You'll have a degree comparable to a Master's when you're finished, although there are now Bakkalaureat degrees for shorter studies. If you want to be a doctor, you don't need to get a bachelor's first. Rich Japanese people send their pretty daughters in masses to expensive Austrian music colleges where they learn to play the violin. | ||
F | In school, you learned bits of European history, something about America and even less about the Third World. If you are over 35, you and your friends tell each other horror stories about how miserably few facts of history and culture modern kids really learn at school (while in "Europe", as you know, children are still forced to memorize important names and dates and read several national classics). | School is free, so are the universities. | If you want to be an engineer, you don't go to universities, but to a korkeakoulu (literally: "high school") -- but you know these are called "universities" in "Europe". | ||
F | In school, you learned the history of antique Egypt, Greece and Rome; of France; French geography; bits of European history; geography and recent history of the USA, China, and the former USSR. You know something, but not very much, about Asia and Africa. | School is free through the baccalauréat (roughly equivalent to the first year of college for Americans), provided you go to public schools, collèges (French meaning!) and lycées. University (post-baccalauréat) is not free, but it does not cost much. | Higher studies last 2, 3, 4, 5 or 8 years, depending on the degree you are studying for. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a bachelor's first. If you want to be an engineer, you don't go to universities, but to Grandes Ecoles (as far as I know, this is typically French). | ||
B | You went over French and European history at school, but not over American or Chinese ones. | School is free through high school (at least for state and associative schools). University isn't, despite claims of the contrary. You expect the state to help you pay for university, if your parents can't. Schools are public, religious or associative. If associative, it is a Breton language school (roughly 5% of the pupils but growing fast). | University is (normally, and excluding graduate study) four years long. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a doctorat first. | ||
G | You went over ancient Egypt, Greek and Roman and medieval and modern European history in school; if you're under 30, add the Nazi time. Not much Russian (unless you're from the east), Chinese, or Latin American. | School and university are free (at least, it's an option, even if you went to private school). There's a poltical debate on whether or not universities should stay free for everyone. | There's no 'college' as opposed to universities (although you can go to a Fachhochschule or vocational school). Everyone goes to school for at least 9 years; but to get into the university you need an Abitur, gained with 13 years of schooling. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a Magister first (7 to 9 semesters beyond high school). | ||
G | You studied ancient, medieval (Byzantine), and modern Greek history at school. This situation led you to conclude that until WW I, there were no other nations on the planet. But despite these school-based efforts, you know almost nothing about Greek history either. | School is free but expensive. It lasts 9 years (12, including senior high). | University is normally four years long-- unless you want to waste precious parental resources. The word "college" might confuse you because in your language a koleyio is a private high school. There are no private universities. | ||
I | You went over Greek, Roman, Italian and European history in school. Some US history, too, starting from Cristoforo Colombo. Some Russian, but no Asian or Latin American. | School is free through high school (at least, it's an option, even if you went to private school). University isn't that cheap, but not prohibitively dear either. Books are dear from sixth grade up. The American education situation looks unexplicably primitive to you. | University is (normally, and excluding graduate study) four years long. Medicine and engineering are longer. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a laurea (master's) degree first, and most likely a postgraduate specialization degree if you really want to find a job. | ||
N | You went over Dutch and European history in school, not much Russian, Chinese, or American. You couldn't name the last four wars that your country was involved in. | School is free through high school (at least, it's an option, even if you went to private school); university isn't. You expect the state to help you pay for university, if your parents can't. | University is (normally, and excluding graduate study) five years long. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a doctoraal (masters) degree first. Bachelors degrees don't exist. | ||
P | You went over Polish, European and Russian history (and you actually consider Russia a part of Europe: Europe ends at the Ural Mountains). You know some American history, especially the 20th century. | School is free through high school. Universities and colleges are free for day students, but not for extramural students. The competition for free places is quite fierce, so many people will go to private colleges, where you have to pay fees. | College is (normally, and excluding graduate study) three years long. Most people, for some reason, do a five-year Master course, even though they don't need it. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a MA first. Then you must be an intern for something like 3 years. | ||
S | You went over Swedish and European history in school, not much Russian, Chinese, but some North American. | School is free and university too (there is the option to choose private schools) If you got a scholarship it would go towards subsistence, not tuition. You normally apply for state loans to live on. | University is (excluding graduate studies) three years long (=B.A.). Högskolor, higher schools: (cf. écoles superieurs, Hochschulen) - technical, mercantile or medical are four to six years. If you want to be a doctor, you need to pass a "kandidat" and a "magister" first, but I think you can skip the "licentiat" if you are going for a doctorate. If we are talking about the medical profession "kandidat" is the half way mark. Most medical "doctors" do not actually write a doctoral thesis, though. | ||
E | You went over British history, and some European, in school, not much American, Asian or anything else. You did Hitler and Stalin in particular because they're memorable and easy to teach, or else the Reformation years for similar reasons. | School is free through high school (at least, it's an option, even if you went to public (that is, private) school). College is heavily subsidised -- at the moment. | College is (normally, and excluding graduate study) three years long. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a master's first. | ||
Y | You went over British history, and some European, in school, not much American, Asian or anything else. You did Hitler and Stalin in particular because they're memorable and easy to teach, or else the Reformation years for similar reasons. | School is free through high school (at least, it's an option, even if you went to private school). You would have been hard-pressed to feed your children during the miner's strike if it weren't for free school meals. College is subsidised. | University study is 3 years. You or your parents may be the first in your family to go to University (or even stay on at school beyond age 14). If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a master's first. | ||
S | The history you were taught in school consisted of, in decreasing proportions, Scottish, British and European. | School is free up to P7, although the better-off prefer to send their children to public schools; from there on you expect to have to pay to get a decent education. If you stay on beyond S4, you expect to do Highers in S5 and normally CSYS in S6 before going on to University. In Edinburgh, the school sombody went to, matters a lot in some circumstances, although you feel it shouldn't. | University degrees are four years long, except for longer courses like medicine and dentistry. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a bachelor's first. | ||
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND | |||||
A | You know who the first American President was, but not the first Australian Prime Minister. You don't really know what happened in Federation. | School is free through high school (at least it's an option, even if you went to private school), but you have to pay HECS to get into tertiary education. | University is (normally, and excluding graduate or part-time study and double degrees) three years long. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a master's first. | ||
N | You went over some New Zealand history at school, and very little from anywhere else. | School is free through high school, university is heavily subsidised but still expensive. | You may not have gone to university - it's not considered absolutely necessary as long as you have some other route into employment. If you want to be a doctor, you have to get a master's first. | ||
ASIA | |||||
I | If you are upper middle class you went over Indian and world history in school; and the ignorance of college educated Americans amazes you. | School is nominally free or very cheap; but still beyond the range of many people. Infrastructure is totally inadequate and it is often an economic necessity for children to assist parents with earning money. Paradoxically, the best college education is highly subsidized. | If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a bachelor's first. | ||
C | You accept everything claimed by teachers and "experts." If you find errors in their thinking, you will complain, but next time you will still believe them. You are familiar with Qín Shihuáng, Sunzi, Confucius, Zhongshan Sun, Xùn Lu, Chairman Máo, Prime Minister Zhou, GuanYin bodhisattva, Wùkong Sun, the Spring Festival, dumplings, fire crackers, and the Great Wall. | School is free through middle school. High school and college aren't, unless you get a scholarship. | College is (normally, and excluding graduate study) four years long. If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a doctor's degree. Otherwise, you can't get a job in a good hospital. | ||
J | You went over Japanese, Chinese, European, and U.S. history at school, with a little bit of Southeast Asia and the Middle East thrown in. If you're female and single, learning ikebana (flower arrangement) and sadô (tea ceremony) are Good Things too-- if nothing else, they give you an air of culture and sophistication, which is a definite plus when you're going through a third party to find a husband. | Compulsory education (six years in elementary school and three years in junior high) is free, unless you go to a private school. About 95% go on to senior high schools (three years), which charge only a nominal tuition. About half of high school graduates go on to colleges, and these can be expensive if you go to the private ones. | College is four years long, unless you study medicine (six years). If you want to be a doctor, you need to get a bachelor's first. Competition for admission to the better universities is pretty fierce. | ||
AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST | |||||
N | Education is of extreme importance to you. You would kill to send your kids to school. | Education is very expensive, it's more about quantity (how much you pay) than quality (how much you learn). | Anyone can be a doctor, just get a stethoscope. | ||
S | At school, you learned the history of South Africa. If you're under 20 your teachers probably made you watch Shaka Zulu during History. You also learned about World Wars I and II and the Anglo-Boer (a.k.a. South African) War. You know all about the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the Cold War, but this is due to exposure to American TV. | School is supposed to be free, but if you send your child to a 'free' school then it's likely that he or she will become a victim of the concept that "you get what you pay for". University is not free. In fact, it's very expensive. |
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I | You went over US history, and some European, in school, Not much Russian, Chinese, or Latin American. You mostly concentrated on ancient and modern Jewish history. | School is free through high school (at least, it's an option, even if you went to private school); college isn't, but it is not prohibitively expensive unless you come from a very poor family. | College is (normally, and excluding graduate study) three years long. If you want to be a doctor, you start studying immediately after army service, once you begin your bachelor's degree. | ||
T | You studied Ottoman and Republic history in school. But chances are you are getting all your Ottoman rulers mixed up now. You are good with geography. | School is free but expensive. | University is normally four years long-- unless you want to waste precious parental resources. The word "college" might confuse you because in your language a kolej is a private high school. | ||
SUBCULTURES | |||||
1 | If possible, try to be well educated before you arrive. This will save you a lot of time since developed countries probably have enough un(der)educated citizens without you adding to their ranks. A first generation migrant from the developed world has generally an acceptable level of education allowing him to fit in quite quickly. From a developing country, it takes a lot more determination. But, don't despair; the opportunities are there if you want them. As an f-g migrant you probably don't know much about the history of your magnet country and are not really bothered since you spend too much time trying to make ends meet to learn. You'll absorb it by osmosis over time from reading the press and picking up articles alluding to events in history. Anyway, Hollywood is constantly changing history to suit the producers objectives. | Strictly speaking, developed countries are developed because they have a functioning educational system. So, if you are courageous and bright enough to both work hard and study hard at the same time, then you can rapidly catch up. Evening school and further education is not always free but charge only a nominal fee. Developed countries know that an educated population is a happy, productive population. | Unless you've already been through higher education in your country of origin, if you want to become a doctor, best to wait another couple of generations! It's only from the third generation that your offspring will be sufficiently assimilated to complete the (mandatory) secondary school curriculum and get to university. However, even if you were already a qualified doctor when you arrived in the magnet country, you'll certainly have had to pass a series of exams (equivalence) to show that you have achieved a level of competence comparable to that that the local GP's are presumed to possess. In extreme cases, you may be allowed to do all the red-eye shifts in geriatric wards that nobody sane wants to do. Within Europe itself young people are encouraged to study abroad via the Community Educational programmes (Socrate & Erasmus). |
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