012 What is school like in the US?

In this episode, we talk about the American school system and how it works, all in easy-to-understand Kuli-level English and with lots of little stories to keep things entertaining.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:29 The school system
• 3:48 Preschool
• 5:10 Best friend Matthew
• 8:30 Kindergarten
• 9:36 Yugioh and Sonic
• 12:47 1st grade to 5th grade
• 14:41 AR points
• 20:37 Teacher notices
• 24:59 Middle school
• 28:44 Dating
• 34:34 High school
• 40:40 Looking for a video editor!

Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome back to Kuli English Podcast. It's me, your host Chris. So in the last episode we talked about what the crazy Japanese book, The Red Shoes, and this time, so today is June 30th and pretty soon like within this week it's going to be July 4th. 

And so July 4th is a special day in the U.S. I think a lot of people outside of the U.S. don't know about it, but it's Independence Day. It's the day that the U.S. became its own independent country in 1776. And I feel like most Americans like just know this because you learn about it in school and you learn about it like a lot. 

Like they keep teaching, oh this is this is when America became its own country. But then, you know, I think people outside of the U.S. that didn't go through the American education system, it's not something they know. And actually I don't even know when Japan like you know did this or did that. Because I didn't go to the Japanese school system. 

So I always thought it's kind of interesting how, you know, like different countries like their school systems are different. So I thought, okay maybe today we can talk about that. 

So we're going to talk about a couple different school systems. And it might sound a little bit boring because I'm telling you, oh we're going to talk about school, we're going to talk about learning. But actually some of this stuff I'm going to sprinkle some of my own stories in there. 

And so if you went to an American school growing up, then hopefully some of this stuff is going to be a little bit like nostalgic to you. Like you're going to hear it and you're going to think, oh yeah I remember that happened. And then it's going to be like, oh I remember good funny memories or like, oh that was embarrassing but it's a long time ago so it's okay. 

So I'm hoping that we'll have some nostalgia there. But if you didn't go to a U.S. school system, well then I think this is like mainly what the podcast is for. So that you can kind of learn a little bit about, I don't know, random stuff in English. 

And I always found it pretty cool to hear about like the school systems for my friends from other countries like in Japan or Mexico, anything like that. But I'll try to do a good job of representing this stuff. I went ahead and looked up some of the information too. 

So most of what I say is generally going to be true. And I also double checked it. So with that, let's go and take a short little music break and then we're going to get back into it.

All right. So let's go ahead and talk about the American school system. So the normal rules are you have to go to school until you finish high school. 

And that includes the 12th grade. So high school is usually 9th grade to 12th grade. And then so it's about four years usually. 

And then so you have to finish high school or else you like, you're just supposed to. I don't know what happened if you don't do it but you're supposed to. And so the rules are that's when it ends. 

That's when the mandatory school ends. But when does it start? So I said grade 12. I said 12th grade is when you go until. 

When does it start? Well, you might be thinking, oh, school probably starts in grade one. So first grade, right? And it's a good guess, but that's not the right answer. It's a little bit tricky, but there's actually one grade before grade one. 

And it's not even called grade zero. It's called kindergarten. And I don't know who came up with this name, but, you know, if it's confusing and you can blame them, but it's not me. 

It's not my fault. So kindergarten is the grade below the first grade and everyone is required to go to kindergarten, generally speaking. Maybe if it's like a really, really small town, it's different. 

I mean, I grew up in a small town, but there was still kindergarten. And but actually even before kindergarten, there's one more, right? So, you know, before grade one, there's grade zero, which is like kindergarten, and then there's grade negative one. And this is called preschool or pre-k. 

So pre-k, by the way, the K is for kindergarten. So pre-k meaning like before kindergarten. So preschool is optional. 

You don't have to go to preschool. But, you know, if you want to go to preschool, then you can go to preschool. If you don't want to go to preschool, that's okay. 

You don't have to go, but you have to go when it's kindergarten time. And I say all this like you have a choice, but you really don't have a choice. Like it's your parents that decide for you or whoever's taking care of you. 

So, you know, if your parents want you to go to preschool, you got to go to preschool. And if your parents don't want you to go to preschool, then I guess you're not going to preschool. And for me, I went to preschool, but I think I didn't really want to because I wanted to stay home and play video games. 

Like, you know, that's the best thing ever. And I remember I had, I had the, not a Nintendo 64, but like the older version of the Nintendo 64. It was called the Super Nintendo. 

And then I played Super Mario Bros, like the original one where you go, and you jump around and you, you smash the enemies and stuff. And I, I like playing that, but you know, well, sometimes I had to go to preschool. So preschool was like, uh, I don't remember too much about preschool, but I do remember that I had a best friend named Matthew. 

And, uh, I, I didn't call him Matthew. I called him something else and not because he has a nickname, but it's because when I was a kid, I couldn't pronounce my TH sound. So, you know, Matthew with the TH,the tongue comes out in between the teeth. 

So Matthew, if I, if I don't, if the tongue doesn't come out, then I can't pronounce it. Mass you, then it's, it's wrong. Uh, but as a kid, you know, I was extra wrong. 

And what I said was, I think Mappew. And then, uh, so, you know, every time Matthew did stuff, I always followed him around. So if he says he wants to go to the bathroom and he's like, teacher, I want to go to the bathroom. 

The teacher is going to ask like, Oh, does anyone else want to go to the bathroom too? And I'm always like me, me, because Matthew's my best friend. And, uh, you know, wherever Matthew sits, I sit next to him. But, um, the truth is actually Matthew was my best friend, but I wasn't his best friend and I wasn't even his normal friend.

Like actually Matthew didn't like me. And, uh, it's because I didn't speak English. And, uh, I mean, I just followed him around and, and just, you know, did whatever he did. 

And he was always thinking like, dude, you're kind of weird, like get away from me. And then I was like, no, it's okay. You're my best friend. 

And I can't understand what you're saying. Like, if you don't like me following you around, I didn't understand that. And, uh, so I remember, um, in preschool, sometimes like all the kids, they sit around and then you listen to the teacher while the teacher reads something. 

So the, so the teacher has got a book and the teacher's reading and he's like, Oh, once upon a time, somebody sent me something. And then, um, I didn't understand what the teacher was saying. Okay. 

Cause like I suck at English. My, I didn't grow up in a family that spoke English at home. So then, uh, what I would do is I would just like watch other people. 

So other people are watching the teacher and listening and understanding. And what I do is I'm just like doing whatever I do, whatever I want. I look at the other people and I'm hearing this like language that I don't understand, which is English, but I didn't understand it.

And then, and then when other people laughed because of something from the story, then I laugh too. So I see people laughing. Oh, they're laughing.

And then, uh, so what I did was I often looked at Matthew a lot. So I just stare at Matthew. And then when Matthew says like, aww, then I say, aww, and then when Matthew laughs, then I laugh too. 

And, uh, it makes so much sense to me now why Matthew didn't like me because I'm just like some weird guy who followed him around. You know, when he goes to the bathroom, I go to, I gotta watch it go to the bathroom, Matthew. And, um, so, so preschool was, uh, I, I have a couple of memories from preschool and I just remember a lot of preschool was pretty tough because I didn't actually speak English. 

Uh, and you know, I could speak a little bit. Like if people ask me like, Hey, do you, I remember someone asked me like, do you want these crackers? They're peanut butter crackers. And I can't have peanut butter cause I'm allergic to peanut butter. 

I didn't know how to say that, but I just said, mmm, mmm, so I do remember like I can speak a little bit, but not to the point of being able to make friends. Um, but you know, I, I was so young and so stupid that I didn't know that they weren't my friends. I just thought Matthew was my best friend, but Matthew actually hated me. 

And, uh, that's okay. So, um, let's go ahead and continue to the next grade. So remember preschool is like the optional level. 

It's level negative one. And, uh, then the, the, the next level after that is you, you have to go to kindergarten. So kindergarten is required for everybody. 

Everybody has to go to kindergarten. And uh, what do you learn at kindergarten? Um, I honestly don't remember that much, but I do remember like something that I learned from kindergarten was extremely, extremely useful. And that was the order of the days of the week. 

So, you know, like we talk now and I tell you like, Oh, the day that comes after Monday is Tuesday. And after Tuesday is Wednesday. But when I was a kid, I didn't know that.

And so like, I would always be really confused about what day of the week it was. And then like, if someone, and it's really natural in conversation to tell people like, Oh, like, you know, I'll see you again on Thursday. Or, Oh, I have this, I have this lesson for piano every Tuesday or something. 

Uh, but if you don't know the ordering of the days, then you really don't know like when it is. And, uh, I remember I would watch like cartoons on TV and I used to watch this show called Yu-Gi-Oh. Uh, I, I might've talked about Yu-Gi-Oh before, maybe not, but Yu-Gi-Oh is like, um, it's like a little cartoon. 

It's kind of made for little boys. And, uh, you know, the Yu-Gi-Oh people, they play these cards and like, I'm going to duel you. And then they duel and then they fight and then something happens and someone gets banished to the shadow realm. 

So their soul gets stuck in, in like a terrible place or something, but it's usually bad guys that get banished. So it's okay. And, uh, so, so, you know, you watch Yu-Gi-Oh and then, then there's commercials that come out. 

Like, so in the middle, you watched your show and the commercials come out. And then when I'm watching the commercial, sometimes they show me another cartoon that I want to watch. And so, you know, they act like it's a really common thing, right? So, you know, like if you really like looking at cat videos, then you get cat commercials and it's like targeted advertising. 

It's, they give you ads and, uh, they, they tell you about things that probably you will like based on what you're looking at. So like while I watched Yu-Gi-Oh, they would show me other cartoons that young boys also like. And this one was called Sonic the Hedgehog. 

And I always wanted to watch Sonic the Hedgehog, but they would always tell me like, oh, Sonic the Hedgehog is airing like, you know, what is it? Eight, eight o'clock on Saturday. And then I would think, oh, okay, great. I got to watch it. 

But I never knew when Saturday was because I didn't know the ordering of the days of the week. And this is something that I learned in kindergarten. So, you know, I, I used to, I remember, I think it was like Tuesday or Wednesday that always tripped me up. 

Like I knew that Monday was in the beginning, but then the day that comes after Monday, I was thinking, is it Thursday or is it Tuesday or is it Wednesday? And then like, I always got those confused. Um, and then like, I, I guess Saturday was also hard for me cause I, I actually never was able to watch Sonic. Uh, I, I knew that it's on a Saturday, but I never knew when Saturday was. 

So I would just watch the commercial and say, oh dude, I got to watch Sonic. That looks great. There's like a really fast blue guy. 

That's the main character. Uh, by the way, if you don't know what Sonic is, Sonic is a hedgehog. Uh, so Harinezumi and uh, so, but he's really, really fast and he's like the fastest, fastest living being like in the world. 

And uh, so you'll see this in internet slang too. And people say like Sonic or they mispronounce it on purpose and say Sanic and it means fast. Uh, but Sonic has like an enemy called Dr. Egghead and it's because his head is like really smooth, like an egg. 

And he, Sonic has like a, a friend/rival. That's like a black guy, not a black guy, but he's a, he's a black hedgehog. So he's like the black version of Sonic and his name is Shadow. 

And I know all this stuff, but I've actually never watched Sonic. And it was because I didn't know the days of the week in kindergarten. Uh, so anyways, uh, after kindergarten, there's going to be like actual grade school. 

So grade one through five, but let's take a short little break and then we'll come back.

All right, so let's continue. Uh, so now we're going to talk about grade school.

Um, so I, I guess what I mean is like a grade one through five and a lot of places, especially like in like smaller areas. So I, I grew up in like a small place in Oklahoma. And, uh, so a lot of the elementary schools, um, they all generally are like, they have like all the grades, like, like, like stuck together. 

So like first grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade, it's all in the same building. Um, and, and probably at like really big places, uh, by big places, I mean like big towns, big cities. Uh, there's probably, there might be like, you know, a different school, a different building for like first grade, different building for second grade. 

And it's because there's a lot of people. So, you know, you need more buildings to have more people. But for me, uh, in this small town, like there's not that many people. 

So all of the people that are, you know, grade one through five, they go to the same, they go to the same elementary school. And then in that elementary, oh, um, by the way, I think I have talked about this elementary school a little bit before, um, in, in my superstition episode. Uh, cause I talked about how I would walk home all the time. 

Uh, and it was really close to my house and I would walk home and then I'd kick a rock and I found like a special magic lucky rock that gave me luck and I took it home and I took care of it and became my pet rock. Uh, but anyways, this is the same, um, I'm a, sorry, I'm laughing at myself for having a lucky rock. But, um, so this, this elementary school is, uh, like it's grade one through five. 

And then I still remember the names of all my teachers. I'm not going to say them cause you don't know them. It's like, you know, Ms. Sutton and Ms. Gibson, Ms. Wilson.

Uh, anyways. Um, so in grade school, I, I'm not gonna, I'm not going to talk about each grade and what I learned cause I don't really remember what I learned, but I do remember, um, I remember something called an AR points. 

Uh, so AR points is basically, there's like a system in elementary school in the US and they tell kids like, Hey kids, if you read books, like fiction books or whatever books, read those books and then go on the computer and take a test, a comprehension test that basically tests to see, like, if you know what happens in the book. 

And then if you pass that test, you get some points called AR points and AR points are like the closest thing to money. And, uh, every month the school will have something called like AR points shop and they set up a shop and they sell like the most amazing things ever to a kid, which is like, you know, some really cheap pencils or some really cheap erasers or like some tiny bits of candy and like basically like garbage, like stuff that nobody really wants, but kids love it. So this is the AR point system. 

And so this is supposed to incentivize you. This is supposed to motivate you. It's supposed to make you want to read books. 

And, uh, so what I would do is I would read the books and then I take the tests just like, you know, normal people, that's what you're supposed to do. Uh, but then, you know, there, there are some people that want more AR points and, uh, they're willing to, you know, bend the rules a little bit. So what they do, it's actually probably just breaking the rules, but, uh, what they do is like, they have their friend who recently read a book and that friend takes the test. 

And after they take the test, then like you ask the friend, Hey friend, can you take the same test for me? And then on the computer, you just log in as a different person and then you take the same test. And then the second time you take the exact same test, you usually are pretty good at it. So, so people would do that. 

I never did that because, you know, I, I think it was against the rules and I never ever broke the rules for like at all when I was a kid. Uh, it's, it's different after I grew up, but, um, there was something that I did that was kind of, that was kind of funny. Um, but I, I honestly, I don't really, I don't think it was breaking the rules or anything like that. 

But, um, so I want AR points, right? Everybody wants AR points. And by the way, AR points stands for accelerated reading points, but nobody, nobody cares what it stands for. Everyone just knows it as AR points and to us and we're kids. 

Okay. We think of it as, Oh, this is the same as money. Okay. 

Money can buy me nice pencils. Money can buy me nice erasers. Well, so can AR points. 

And, um, anyway, so, so, uh, I, once I realized that, uh, there was some kind of system reset. So then the whole AR points thing, like, uh, it resets every year. So you get, you get, you start with zero, you start out with zero again every year, but then, uh, it usually, it knows what tests you've taken so that you can't take the same test multiple times. 

But then, uh, once I realized, Oh, I think the system reset. So then like, uh, I could take like previous tests that I've already taken. I could take it again for myself. 

And you know, I, I, it's, I don't know if that's against the rules. It's probably not really good. Uh, you're not really supposed to do that. 

You're supposed to just take the test once and then that's it. But I wanted points. So then I was like, Oh, okay. 

Why don't, why don't I just try taking a test for like this really, really long book? And, uh, I actually did read the long book, but it was like two or three years ago. So it was, it was Harry Potter. Um, I remember reading Harry Potter and then Harry Potter is actually a really long book. 

It's not one book. Okay. Harry Potter has like seven books and then the seventh book has two parts. 

So it's basically eight books. Um, and I remember most of the names too. Like the first one is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

And the second one was Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets. The third one was Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Azkaban. And you don't have to know these names and I'm sure they're a different name in other languages. 

Um, but I remember, um, I, the longest one is Harry Potter number four, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And so, uh, this Goblet of Fire, it's, it's like, it's worth so many points. Like if you take this test, it's worth the same as like taking like 10 other tests. 

And then I was like, Oh, okay, well I read this book, so let me go ahead and take tests for the second time, see if I can get some points. And so I took the test and then, um, it was actually really bad because like I read the book like I think two or three years ago. And then, uh, and then I actually watched the movie and then like the movie is a little bit different from the book and I knew it at the time, but then like after two or three years, like I kind of forgot what happened. 

And like, you know, you read the next Harry Potter book and then more stuff happens. And the whole thing is gets really confusing. There's just too much stuff to remember. 

So then when I was taking this test, you know, at first it's easy. It's like, Oh, who's the main character? I'm like, Oh, that's easy. It's Harry Potter. 

He's the main character. That's why everything's called Harry Potter. And then it starts asking these really hard questions like, Hey, uh, how did they like, you know, bully Harry Potter? Like which were these four that they do? And then one's like, I don't know. 

They like slapped them on the head. And the other one is they, they threw rocks at him. And the third one is like, they put bubble gum on his glasses or something. 

And I was like, dude, I don't know. So I just like randomly guessed. And then, um, but like the main story, I think I sort of remembered, but I think the whole AR point system, like they know how to catch this. 

And also I watched the movie and then like something happened in the movie that I remembered. And I put that there, but I got that wrong. Cause that's actually one of the parts that's different from the book. 

And you're supposed to read the book and take the test, not watch the movie. That's, that's like cheating. And then, so I got like a 60% or like a 70%, which is like, I think it was still passing. 

You just need like a 60% and then you get 60% of the points. And you know, like the goblet of fire, the Harry Potter, number four, it's worth so many points. So 60% of a lot of points is still a lot of points. 

I was like, Oh yeah, this is great. Heck yeah. And then I like went and I bought some pencils that I never used and they probably broke and I probably threw them away. 

But, um, there was something else that happened too here. So like I took this test and then I did pretty badly. Right. 

And then I was like, I don't care. I get points. And then, uh, and then the, actually the AR point system, it's so that the teacher can track like student progression so they can see how much progress the students make. 

The students, if they read hard books and then, you know, they don't do well and then they read hard books again, like different levels and then they are doing better than they can see like, Oh, they're progressing. They're getting better. And then, uh, so for me, it wasn't progression. 

It was the opposite. I was regressing. I was like getting dumber because I used to read books the fair way I would read the book. 

And then right after I read the book, I would take the AR test. And so I had another episode about trumpet of the Swan. That one was one of my favorite books. 

So I read that as an example. And then afterwards I take the test and I remember it really well. Like, because you just read it, you just spent like the past week, like reading it. 

So you remember it really well. But then, but then like after I took the Harry Potter test, like all the stuff started going down and I didn't stop at Harry Potter. Okay. 

So not just Goblet of Fire, like every single other book that I've ever read, I think I took a bunch of those tests. So then the system shows like my average performance went from like, you know, like 95%, 90% to like, like 60 or 70%. And then it's like, you can see this huge drop in performance. 

So then what happened was the teacher actually pulled me aside. The teacher was like, Chris, come here. I need to talk to you. 

And teachers like, Chris, is there something at home that's distracting you from reading? I've noticed that you're reading isn't as good as it used to be. And you know, like, I want you to be a good student. And I was just thinking like, no, what are you talking about? Because for me, like the truth is everything was the same. 

It's just, I also decided to take some extra tests and then like, it wasn't so bad that it's like, I didn't read it. Like I did read it. It's just, I don't remember it. 

So then what the teacher sees in my performance is like, oh, Chris is getting dumber. And then, so the teacher is like, Chris, like your score used to be much better. You used to get like 95% and 100%. 

And now your average is like below 70%. And so now we have to like, you know, check to see if there's anything. This is called an intervention. 

And this is when the, when the teacher like asks and, and this is basically like to kind of check, oh, is there something really big happening at home? Like maybe if your parents are going through a divorce or like, you know, maybe, I don't know if your pet died or something like that, like these are things that will affect you. And then, and you can't really focus on studying. You can't really focus on reading and then your AR points goes down. 

Uh, but then I, I had no idea why the teacher was asking me this. I was just thinking, no, like everything's the same. Everything's the same. 

And the teacher is just like, okay, I guess you're just, you're just getting dumber. And then I was like, yep. Okay. 

And, um, if I was a little bit smarter, what I would have done is number one, maybe I would have had like someone else who just took a test, like take it for me. That would have been good. But if I was a little bit smarter, like while this teacher was talking to me, I should have been nervous because what I was doing was I was taking all these tests and getting these bad scores to get lots of AR points. 

But like, it never occurred to me, like I never even thought that, oh, maybe this is something that you're not supposed to do. Like, I was just thinking, why is this teacher asking this? No, like I'm, I'm the same, like I'm still reading books and stuff. And, you know, I just, I take the tests when I'm, when I'm good. 

And the teacher also never thought that I would do something like, like take a bunch of tests for books that I've already read maybe because she didn't know about the system reset or something like that. So anyways, this was kind of like a misunderstanding, but I thought it was kind of funny because, um, now that I think about it, it's like, oh, the teacher was actually being really nice. The teacher wanted to check, oh, is, is one of my students having a lot of like personal problems? Like, do they have problems with the family? Is there something I can help with? I want to help them. 

And then I was just thinking like, no teacher, you're stupid. I'm smart. And I didn't get dumber. 

I remember just cause I was just thinking that. So anyways, let's take a short little break here and then we'll continue with middle school.

Alright, so let's go ahead and talk about middle school. So again, just to review, elementary school is like up until 5th grade, and then middle school, also called junior high school, is from 6th grade to about 8th grade. And sometimes it changes a little bit, that's like the usual case. 

In some cases elementary school goes up to 6th grade, but you know it's around 5th or 6th grade. And so going to middle school for me was a big deal because instead of going to this like small little elementary school, I actually had to take the bus and go like kind of far away. And I think that's probably like the first time in my life where I would like go to some faraway place where I didn't know how to walk there. 

Because you know, growing up in a small town, like you go to like the local school, you go to friends houses and stuff like that, it's all within walking distance, like you can walk there. And I can walk there as a kid because I knew where to go and it doesn't even take like 10-15 minutes to get there. But the middle school was really far away because the middle school was like, there's like one middle school in the whole area, so all the different elementary school kids, they all go to the same middle school. 

And then in this middle school, I remember like this was the first time I met people with like different backgrounds. Because for me like going to this local elementary school, like 100% of the people, except me, are just white people. And there wasn't even any like black people. 

But going to middle school, I remember meeting like a black person for the first time, meeting like a Mexican person for the first time, and then meeting people who actually didn't already speak English for the first time. And I remember like, oh, like when I did that, I kind of understood what other people felt like when they met me, right? Because my skin color is not white, and they grew up in like a white environment. And then they meet me for the first time, they're like, Oh, Chris, you're the first non-white person I've ever met. 

So like, can you tell me about you? Like, where are you from? And why is your skin color different from mine? And then and then so when I actually saw like, I think black people or like Mexican people for the first time, I always thought like, hey, how come you don't speak English? Like, I don't know, I always grew up around people who could speak English. I mean, me myself, I didn't actually speak English when I was really, really young, but I don't know, as a kid, you just forget stuff. 

So then I just kind of like, forgot everything except English. And then I just assumed that other people would also speak English. But middle school is really interesting, because there's like a really big, it's got a lot of diversity. 

So you got some black people, you got some Mexican people, all sorts of different people. There's no Asian people, not in Oklahoma. So but but also another thing is like, for the first time in middle school, I started hearing bad words, like swear words. 

So I'm not going to swear on this podcast, because I want this podcast to be clean. And then, you know, if anyone, if anyone has kids, then you can be confident that no bad words will ever come out. But like there are certain bad words that people use like a lot. 

And in particular, it's like, you know, for example, if I say, oh, it's really hot. By the way, it really is hot right now. Like in Japan, it's really hot right now. 

So instead of saying it's really hot, I could replace the "really" with some kind of swear word. And really anything works. Because in English, like swear words don't really have rules, I guess. 

But people just use them in in all sorts of ways. It's kind of interesting, because like English has all these swear words, and other languages also have all these swear words. But Japanese, I think doesn't really have that much, like strong swear words. 

Like there are a couple like bad words and stuff, but it's not nearly as much as the US. And it's not as common to use those, like strong words. But anyway, so middle school is kind of interesting. 

And there was one thing that I wanted to talk about, which is probably like the last main topic. And it's, it's dating. And I don't mean dating like now. 

Okay, so now I'm like 30. And it's different. Like if people talk about dating when they're 30, like, oh, yeah, with the recent, like, you know, because of the internet, because of online dating, and then because of like, I don't know, like depression and stuff and obesity, like whatever, there's a lot of stuff. 

But I mean, dating, like, in like sixth grade, and it's a completely different meaning. So first of all, like dating in like the real world, so not the sixth grade world, but like the real world in the US, there's kind of like a vague definition of like, oh, I'm like going out with someone, or I'm dating someone. And this is like the phase before you become official. 

And at some point, like somebody has to say something to make it official. So it's got to be like, oh, do you want to be my girlfriend? Or do you want to be my, my boyfriend, and it becomes official after that. And so like official is kind of like a big thing. 

And then after that, then you are boyfriend and girlfriend. But before you officially ask that, like, technically, you're not boyfriend and girlfriend, you're just dating, or you're going out is what you say. And then, so in sixth grade, like, you know, going out with someone was like a big deal. 

And if you go out with someone, then, then what do you do? And it's kind of funny that I tell you this now, because I think it's kind of stupid. But if you are going out with someone, back then in sixth grade, it's like the same as your boyfriend and girlfriend, it's the same as you're like meeting with your soulmate, true love, whatever. And what you have to do is you have to buy them snacks. 

And that is, that's the only important thing about dating somebody in the sixth grade. So around lunchtime, everybody goes to the same cafeteria for lunch. And, and, you know, at the cafeteria, they have like different lines for different food and stuff, and you get food. 

And you actually don't have to eat all your food, you can also throw it away or whatever. Like nobody's, no teachers are there to tell you like, Hey, you need to eat a balanced diet. Like, there's none of that. 

It's just whatever, do whatever you want, eat whatever you want, bring your food, and then throw away whatever you want. But next to the cafeteria, there's a snack bar. And I say snack bar, but it's not a bar, it's just a place that sells snacks. 

And then they sell snacks at a little bit like higher price than what you would find at like a store. So you know, like for a little bag of chips, it's maybe like $1.50 or something like that. Or they have these little cakes. 

And I remember it's like Twinkies or like zebra cakes, hostess cakes are what they call, you don't have to know what these are. But that's just if anyone knows what they are, I want them to be like, Hey, yeah, nostalgic. So like the zebra cakes are like these little cakes that they have like these, like black chocolate streaks on it. 

Oh, wow. It's so it's so nostalgic. And there's this brand of, it's from the same brand as Twinkies, which probably most people know. 

And then I think the another brand is called hostess is what it's called. But anyways, like if you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend in the sixth grade, you have to go to the snack place at least once a day and like go buy something. So for maybe $1 or $1.50, buy something and then give it to your girlfriend or boyfriend. 

And, and the funny thing is like this one, it's not even something that you request. So you don't you don't tell your boyfriend like, Hey, Hey, boyfriend, like, can you buy me a snack or like, you don't tell your girlfriend, Hey, can you buy me a snack? You don't do that. You have to give it like unwarranted. 

So unwarranted mean like nobody asked you to do it, but you do it. You have to just give it. And then I always thought this was funny because like, there's multiple flavors of chips, right? There, there's like, there's like, I don't know, barbecue. 

There's like sour cream and onion. There's like salt and vinegar, which, which is nasty in my opinion. Uh, and there's nacho cheese, cool ranch. 

And so there's lots of flavors. And then, so you just have to pick one and give it to them. But in the sixth grade, like when you're dating somebody, you don't like get to know them. 

Like there's no emotional connection. You just, you just do this and give it to them. And then, and then other people say like, Hey, did you know that? You know, like, you know, Bob is going out with Alice or something like that. 

Oh yeah. I saw him buying snacks because buying snacks for your girlfriend is the most important thing ever. So I just thought this was so funny. 

And um, and I, I didn't do that because you know, I was a loser and I didn't really have friends. So of course I didn't have a girlfriend or, or boyfriend. So, so nobody bought snacks for me and I didn't buy snacks for anybody. 

But I do remember thinking like, if I ever had a girlfriend, like in the sixth grade, I wouldn't buy them snacks because I can buy the same thing from Walmart for like half the price. So I was thinking, Oh dude, I would just go to Walmart, buy like a 24 pack. And then every day I can bring one to school. 

And then, and then I also don't have to line up at the snack bar and I can save money and then I can give the, the girlfriend, you know, what I have to give. Cause that, those are the rules for having a girlfriend. And, uh, and then I think about it now and then, uh, I just think it's funny because number one, it's silly that you have to like buy these snacks and that's like the culture. 

And number two, it's also silly that I was like so cheap and I was just thinking about saving like 50 cents if I had a girlfriend. And, um, yeah, anyways, uh, so that's middle school. And, uh, the truth is I actually had a bunch of other stuff planned for this podcast episode. 

Um, but, um, I, I'm not going to talk about high school much because there's too much to talk about in high school. So let me summarize a couple of different things about high school and college and stuff like that. And then, um, we'll go ahead and finish there. 

For the high school stories, I'll tell the stories in another episode, but the, because there's just so much stuff in high school that I'm happy to talk about, uh, it's going to take too long. And to be honest, this is the third time recording this episode. Uh, like the first two I already tried and it ended up being too long, but anyways, so middle school is from about sixth grade to eighth grade. 

And then, uh, from ninth grade, then it's high school. And so ninth grade to 12th grade is high school. And then, um, in high school is probably like where you actually start making academic decisions for the first time in your life. 

Um, meaning like you have to decide what classes to take. So in elementary school, like you don't decide anything. You just go to the class, you go to Mrs. Wilson's class and Mrs. Wilson tells you what to do every single day.

Mrs. Wilson's like, today we're going to do math. Okay. You have to do math today.

We're going to practice writing and okay. We have to practice writing. But, uh, like in, in high school, that's when you actually decide they're like, Oh, what classes do you want to take? And then you decide like, not your parents, but you decide, well, you can, usually people just go home and have their parents decide for them, but you can actually decide without your parents too. 

You can say, I want to take this. And then like, there's something called AP English, uh, sorry, AP versus non AP and AP stands for advanced placement. So it's like the level up and, uh, it's actually, there's like a, I shouldn't say that it's like a level up, but it basically is like the harder version of some class because, um, at the end there's a standardized test. 

Oh, this is going to get really complicated. Let's not talk too much about that. Uh, but I'll just, I'll just talk about like, there's this thing called the ACT and there's this thing called the SAT. 

And these are like standardized tests, meaning all the high schools in the whole US, in all of the US, they all take the same ACT and SAT. It's like a national test. And then what they do this because, you know, if, if someone comes from this high school and they took that high school's test and they said, Oh, I'm, I'm like the best of this high school. 

And then you have someone else from another high school and they're like, I'm the best of this high school. Like who's the real best. Um, so what you do is you have the standardized test. 

Um, and then, so everyone takes the same test and then so their scores can be compared with each other. And, um, so, so like you have the SAT and you have the ACT and then these are what you take in high school to actually like write down on applications and stuff. So when you're going to apply to college, you actually write down, Oh, I got this score on the ACT or I got this score on the SAT. 

And, uh, by the way, you don't have to know this, but like the ACT is something that's more from the central US uh, like in the middle where Oklahoma is at the central US state. And then on the east coast and west coast, which by the way has more people, then it's more about the SAT. And, uh, they're, they're different. 

Like the ACT, the best score is a 36 and the SAT, the best score is supposed to be 2,400, like 2,400. Uh, it's actually changed recently, so I don't know what the new best score is. Uh, but anyways, you take these and then you apply to college. 

Uh, and then, you know, this is like the, the very hand wavy hand wavy, meaning a very sloppy, like whatever-version, I'm not giving that many details about, you know, like high school and then applying to college. So, uh, I think that that's probably good enough for here. And, uh, I'll, I'll talk a little bit about July 4th and then, and then we'll just call it a day. 

And then in the next episode, I'll continue and actually give more stories about high school. And then maybe a little bit about college, but it's just, you know, like everyone has a lot of life experiences in high school and college. Like those are big things. 

And then in elementary school and like preschool, like you don't really remember that much and not that much happens. So there's not that much to talk about then. So I don't want to talk too much about high school and college in this episode or else it's going to be too long. 

Uh, but I also do want to talk about July 4th. So, um, I, uh, I think, um, there was this one like television company that came to like my job once, uh, when I was teaching English at the cafe and then, uh, they, they asked, they were like, Hey, how do Americans celebrate New Year's? And then, um, I was thinking, Oh, uh, actually New Year's, it honestly feels very similar to the July 4th celebration. So July 4th is Independence Day, um, for, for like the US. And so usually I think what people do is they just like go to their friends' houses and like, I don't know, drink. 

And then you watch fireworks. There's always, it's always fireworks for these two. So on New Year's you watch fireworks on TV, or maybe you go to some place and watch like New Year's fireworks and same for July 4th. 

Then I don't know why, but you do fireworks on July 4th. And then you can also watch that on TV or you can go out somewhere and do it. Uh, but it's like, depending on the area, like there might be laws that are like, you can't do fireworks inside the city. 

You have to go to the outskirts. You have to go to some place where there's no one there and then you can shoot fireworks and stuff. Uh, but I think, uh, for me, especially the July 4th and the New Year's that I remember, it's actually just when friends gather because that's what people do. 

And so like, you know, in college or like after college, then everyone just goes to some friend's house and that friend has a bunch of stuff ready. And some of these stuff that, that they get ready, it's the same chips that, uh, that the people in sixth grade would buy because, you know, it's like Doritos, like these are very famous chips that everybody knows. I like Doritos when I was in sixth grade and I like Doritos even now, but the Japanese Doritos taste different. 

Uh, but anyways, so, you know, I just wanted to talk a little bit about July 4th so that, you know, in, in this podcast episode, like I still talk a little bit about American culture, uh, but the main focus was kind of about school. So again, uh, we've got the American school system is different for elementary school, like middle school and high school. Uh, but they're generally around the same cutoff points. 

Like it's usually those grades. And then in the next episode, I think we'll probably go ahead and talk about like high school and stuff like that. So let's go ahead and end here. 

Thank you so much for listening to Kuli English podcast. And, uh, I have to do the normal plug thing that's like, Oh yeah, share the podcast. But basically, you know, if you want to share the podcast and share it, if you don't want to share it, it's okay.

And if you, if you want to subscribe so that, you know, when new episodes come out, it's always Tuesday, you can do that, but you also don't have to subscribe and you can unsubscribe if you want anytime. Like it doesn't hurt me. Um, just, you should do whatever you want. 

So if you want notifications and subscribe, if you don't care, then don't subscribe, you know, just take whatever you want and you don't have to give anything anyways. Thanks so much for listening. And we'll see you. 

Wait, wait, wait. There's one more thing. There's one more thing. 

Uh, I am actually looking for an editor. Um, so editor mean like a video editor, because all these videos and, and in particular, like reels and stuff and shorts and TikTok, I have to edit that myself, uh, which I don't really like doing. I'd rather just focus on the podcast and the content and then like the reels, editing and stuff, and then adding the subtitles and then like doing the cuts, I want someone else to do that.

So if you, if you are, uh, if you like video editing and you want a video edit, like maybe we can work out something, then please let me know. Or if you have a friend that wants to edit this kind of stuff, uh, definitely, you know, reach out to me and I'm looking for help. 

So with that, that's, that's it. Okay. So thanks for listening until the end, and I hope to see you next time on Kuli English Podcast.