Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment [ 19 ]

19- ] Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment .

Education .

Here are some names that are used to describe the different types of education in Britain .

1- ]play school                       pre-school [ 2-5 years old ]       mostly play with some early learning .

/group nursery school 

2- ]infant school                   primary [ 5/6 –12/13 ]          basic reading , writing , arithnetic, art etc.

junior school  

3- ]comprehensive school     secondary[12 /13 – 16 / 18 ]  wide range of subjects in arts and

or grammar school                                                                   sciences and technical areas

sixth form college [16-18 ]              

4- ]college or university    further / higher [18 +]   degrees / diplomas in specialized academic areas .

‘Comprehensive schools’ in the UK are open to all and are for all abilities . You can only get into a ‘grammar school’ by competitive entry [ an exam ] . ‘Public schools’ in the UK are very famous ‘private schools’ . ‘Colleges’ include ‘teacher-training colleges , ‘technical colleges’ and ‘general colleges of ‘further education’.

B-] Exams and qualifications :

- ‘take / do / sit’ an exam , ‘re-sit’ an exam [ take it again because you did badly first time ]

- ‘pass’ [ get the minimum grade or more ] / ‘do well in’ [ get a high grade ] an exam .

-‘fail’ [ you do not get the minimum grade ] / ‘do badly in’ [ you fail , or don’t do as well as expected / as well as you wanted ] an exam .

- Before an exam it’s a good idea to ‘revise’ for it . If you ‘skip classes / lectures’ ,

you’ll probably do badly in the exam . [ informal ; miss deliberately ]

- Some schools give pupils ‘tests’ regularly to check their progress . The ‘school-leaving exams’ are held in May / June . In England , these are called ‘GCSEs’ [ age 16 ] and ‘A-levels’[ age 18 ] . In some schools , colleges and universities , instead of tests and exams there is ‘continuous assessment’ with ‘marks’ , e.g. 65% or ‘grades’ , e.g. A , B + for essays and projects during the term . If you pass your university exams , you ‘graduate’ [ get a degree ] , then you’re a ‘graduate’ and you may want to go on to a ‘post-graduate’ course .

C-] Talking about education :

- In colleges and universities , there are usually ‘lectures’ [ large classes listening to the teacher and taking notes ] , ‘seminars’ [ 10-20 students actively taking part in discussion etc. ] and ‘tutorials’ [ one student or a small group , working closely with a teacher ] .

- A ‘professor’ is a senior university academic who is a well-known specialist in his / her subject . University and college teachers are usually called ‘lecturers’ or ‘tutors’ .

D-] Asking somebody about their country’s education system .

What age do children at art school at ?

What’s the ‘school-leaving’ age ?

Are there ‘evening classes’ for adults ?

Do you have ‘state’ and ‘private universities’ ?

Do students get ‘grants’ for ‘further education’ ?

Work .

A-] Some job-titles are found in a wide range of different workplaces . The broad meanings are given here :

-‘director’ [ member of the board of a company ] , ‘executive’ [ important person who makes big decisions ] , ‘administrator’ [ person who runs the office day-to-day ] , ‘clerk’ [ ordinary office worker ] , ‘skilled-worker’ [ trained to do specific tasks , e.g. building a computer ] , ‘unskilled-worker’ [ doing a job that needs no training ] , ‘laborer’ [ does hard , physical work ] , ‘receptionist’ [ visitors must check in with them ] , ‘public relations officer’ [ gives information to the press , TV , etc. about the company ] , ‘safety officer’ [ makes sure machines , etc. are not dangerous to use ] , ‘security officer’ [ makes sure thieves / criminals cannot enter] , ‘union representative’ ] looks after the staff’s interests ] , ‘economist’

[ expert in financial matters ] , ‘personnel officer’ [ takes care of administration for new and existing employees ] , ‘sales assistant’ [ sells goods to the public ] ,

‘education officer’ [ organizes training , classes etc. for employees ] , ‘research worker’ [ investigates and develops new products ] , ‘supervisor’ [ makes sure workers are doing their job properly ]

B-] Here are some ‘professions’ [ jobs that require considerable training and / or

qualifications ] and trades [ skilled manual jobs requiring on-the-job and other training ] .

-‘lawyer’ , ‘dentist’ , ‘hairdresser’ , ‘mechanic’ , ‘architect’ , ‘priest’ , ‘vet’ , ‘librarian’ , ‘physiotherapist’ , ‘child-minder’ , ‘police officer’ , ‘accountant’ , ‘engineer’ , ‘scientist’ , ‘chef’ , ‘firefighter’ , ‘civil servant’ , ‘tailor/dressmaker’ ,

‘designer’ , ‘builder’ , ‘carpenter’ , ‘plumber’ .

C-] Collocations of words connected with work :

- It’s not easy to ‘get / find work’ round these parts . I’ve been ‘offered’ work / a job in Cairo .

- What do you ‘do for a living’ ? I’m ‘in publishing / banking , etc.

- It’s hard to ‘make a living’ as a freelance writer . [ earn enough money to live comfortably ]

- She’s not prepared to ‘take on that’ job . [ suggests ‘having personal responsibility’ ]

- to do shift-work or to work shifts [ nights one week , days the next week ]

-to be on flexi-time [ flexible working hours ]

- to work nine-to-five [ regular day work ]

- to go / be on strike [ industrial dispute ]

- to get the sack [ thrown out of your job ]

-  to be fired [ more formal than ‘get the sack’ ; often used as a direct address : ‘You’re fired !’ ]

- to be made redundant [ thrown out , no longer needed ]

- to be laid off [ more informal than ‘made redundant’ ]

- to give up work [ e.g. in order to study ]

- to be on / take maternity [woman] or paternity [man] leave [ before / after the birth of a baby ]

- to be on / take sick leave [ illness ]

- to take early retirement [ retire at 55 ]

- to be a workaholic [ love work too much ]

- to be promoted [ get a higher position ]

- to apply for a job [ fill in forms , etc. ]