Talking about your education in English

Raw Material

Hi, Tim here with another 925English lesson!

In today’s lesson we’re going to learn how to talk about your education.

Your education is an important part of your background. And there are a lot of situations where you might talk about where you went to school and what you studied.

A job interview is an obvious one, but you might also talk about your education in csual conversation.

The first thing you might mention is where you went to school. More specifically, people might be interested in which university you attended.

And there are several ways we can tell them about that. Firstly you might just use that verb ‘attend’. Similarly, you could say you ‘went to’ or ‘graduated from’ a certain university.

Another way to talk about your university is to say that you are an alumn of a certain school. Alum is short for alumnus, which is a word that means a person who attended a school. So, for example, I might say “I’m an alum of Columbia University.”

Let’s try practicing some of this language. We’re going to give you some examples. After each example, try repeating it youself.

Ready? Let’s give it go.

A: I graduated from Yale in 2008
B: For my undergrad I went to the London school for Economics
C: I attended a small technical college in Colorado
D: I’m an alum of Washington University

Ok, we’ve practiced some different ways of talking about our university. But another important aspect of your educatuion is what you studied. In English we call your area of your study ‘major’. This word can be used in a few different ways.

So, for example, if you studied biology, you could say that your major is biology. But you can also say that you were a ‘biology major’. So the noun means both an area of study and a person who studies that area. We can also use the major as a verb, such as i majored in biology.

After you tell someone your major, you might also mention an area of focus. For example, within business, you might have focused on finance. Or you might mention your minor, which is like your secondary area of study, And just as we say we majored in a subject, we can say we minor（蚂蚁呢） in a subject.

There is another, much simpler way to talk about your major, and that’s just to say something like ‘I studied biology.’ Of course that’s not the only course you took, but person understand that was your major.

Now, there’s one more way to tell people what you studied, and that’s by saying you have a degree in a certain field. Your degree might be a mater’s degree or a bachelor’s degree.

And you can use the short form of these such as MA or BS, which means bachelor of science and is used for degrees in technical fields such as engineering or computers.

Let’s practice some of these expressions for talking about your major. Once again, you can repeat the examples after you hear them.

A: I studied international business, with a focus on finance.
B: I majored in French, with a major in Political science
C: I started out as a science major but switched to education
D: I have a bachelor of science in mechnical engineering

So we’ve learned some different ways of talking about your university and your major. But how do these expressions sound in a real conversation? Let’s listen to a short dialog between Tania and Jose. Tania is asking Jose about his education.
A: so did you go to university around here?
B: yeah, i graduated from lowa State University in 2010
A: oh yeah? Great school. What did you study?
B: I majored in business, with a major in statistic.

As you just heard. Jose says he graduated from lowa State University. And when asked about waht he studied, he say he majored in business. He also adds that he had a major in satistics.

Now it’s your turn to practice.We’ll repeat the dialog, but this time we’ll beep out the second speaker’s words. You’ll have to say those parts yourself.

Remember to start by saying that you graduated from lowa State University. Then you can say that you majored in business and minored in statistics.

All right, we’ve learned some great ways to talk about your education, including waht university you attended and what you studied. Be sure to tune in next time, when we will learn how to talk about your career.

Util then, so long and happy learning!

Tutorial

Note on Understanding Talking about Education:

In this tutorial, Tim discusses various aspects of talking about one’s education, covering both the university attended and the major of study. Here’s a breakdown to deepen your understanding:

1. University Attended:

   • Tim mentions different ways to express where you went to school, such as using “attend,” “went to,” or “graduated from.”
   • An interesting point is the use of “alum” (alumnus) to describe a person who attended a school. Example: “I’m an alum of Columbia University.”

2. Practical Examples:

   • Tim provides examples for practice, including statements like “I graduated from Yale in 2008” and “I attended a small technical college in Colorado.”

3. Major of Study:

   • The term “major” is introduced as the area of study in English.
   • Tim explains that “major” can be used both as a noun (the area of study) and as an adjective for a person who studies that area.
   • Additionally, he covers the use of “minor” for a secondary area of study.

4. Expressing Major:

   • Various expressions are presented, such as “I studied biology” or “I majored in French, with a minor in Political science.”
   • Tim mentions the simplicity of saying, “I studied [major]” to convey the main area of focus.

5. Degrees:

   • The tutorial touches on degrees, including master’s (MA) and bachelor’s (BS).
   • Short forms like MA and BS are used for technical fields like engineering or computers.

6. Dialogue Practice:

   • A dialogue between Tania and Jose is provided to illustrate how these expressions work in a real conversation.

7. Interactive Practice:

   • Tim encourages listeners to participate by repeating the examples, enhancing practical application.

8. Conclusion:

   • The tutorial concludes with a reminder of the covered topics and a preview of the next lesson on talking about one’s career.