OK, searched the forums thoroughly, so unless someone started the same topic 10 seconds before me, you can't whack me round the head with the search bar. Also, my first topic, yay! There will be drinks afterwards.
So here's the story: way back in my Polish high school, a teacher told me that apparently, in the UK his is a highly respected profession, that teachers are paid well and have a good sense of responsibility, and that the British school system is among the best in the world. I'd had that image stuck in my head since then to the point of being a bit afraid when I went to study in the UK. I expected that I'd be totally wasted in the first nerd duel(*) I run into and become the laughing stock.
Then I spent almost an hour trying to prove to a geography student that there exists a country called Armenia.
Then I met another student who, until her boyfriend asked her if she wanted to go to the Niagara Falls, thought the Falls were in Africa.
And recently, another one asked me in short succession what does the word "Shah" mean (she was reading about the Iranian happenings on BBC News) and who Kafka was.
Now, before anyone flames me, the purpose of this thread is not to laugh at the Brit's ignorance. It's just that there is this discrepancy between my previously held beliefs about the British school system's quality and what I've experienced and I'm curious about the reasons. So, my dear British escapists, I have a few questions:
Is the system just incredibly Britain-centered, so that anyone can quote the total beef production of Yorkshire for any year between 1900 and 1990, yet fail to name the capital of France? Or is it, plainly, not as good as advertised? If the latter, then where does the reputation come from? Is it that it USED to be very good, and just turned worse recently?
(*) For those of you who don't know, a nerd duel consists of throwing random trivia at each other unless one runs out of ammo or admits that they hadn't known what they were just told.
So here's the story: way back in my Polish high school, a teacher told me that apparently, in the UK his is a highly respected profession, that teachers are paid well and have a good sense of responsibility, and that the British school system is among the best in the world. I'd had that image stuck in my head since then to the point of being a bit afraid when I went to study in the UK. I expected that I'd be totally wasted in the first nerd duel(*) I run into and become the laughing stock.
Then I spent almost an hour trying to prove to a geography student that there exists a country called Armenia.
Then I met another student who, until her boyfriend asked her if she wanted to go to the Niagara Falls, thought the Falls were in Africa.
And recently, another one asked me in short succession what does the word "Shah" mean (she was reading about the Iranian happenings on BBC News) and who Kafka was.
Now, before anyone flames me, the purpose of this thread is not to laugh at the Brit's ignorance. It's just that there is this discrepancy between my previously held beliefs about the British school system's quality and what I've experienced and I'm curious about the reasons. So, my dear British escapists, I have a few questions:
Is the system just incredibly Britain-centered, so that anyone can quote the total beef production of Yorkshire for any year between 1900 and 1990, yet fail to name the capital of France? Or is it, plainly, not as good as advertised? If the latter, then where does the reputation come from? Is it that it USED to be very good, and just turned worse recently?
(*) For those of you who don't know, a nerd duel consists of throwing random trivia at each other unless one runs out of ammo or admits that they hadn't known what they were just told.
