Last week I was up in Canada beginning a consultation on the school's web strategy for recruitment and retention. It was a couple of days filled with great discussions, ideas and experiences. Part of the consultation involved focus groups with students and faculty. The students were very refreshing - the passion and zeal they had for their school and education were outstanding.
As we worked through the focus groups, a few terms, words and phrases caused me to pause and explore their meaning. Though subtle, if ever working with Canadian schools/students it is best to understand the lingo:
- Mark = grade
- GPA is calculated on a percentage scale 85% ~ 3.5
- College is a community college. Any institution above this is only a university (college and university are not interchangeable).
- Enroll is spelled enrol
4 thoughts:
I wouldn't say that "enrol" is universal, but my school uses it. I hate it.
Another difference is the description of elementary/secondary grades. For example, it seems more common in the U.S. to say "12th Grade" whereas in Canada it would usually be referred to as "Grade 12".
Also, on the college thing, many Canadian community colleges have actually dropped the word "community" from their names or adopted alternate terms, like "institute of technology" or "polytechnic".
Also, it's quite common for a US school to include a number of distinct "colleges", each of which is focussed on a broad subject area (eg. "College of Sciences"). In Canada these entities are referred to as "Faculties" (eg. "Faculty of Sciences").
Also . . . rarely hear anyone speak of "freshman", "sophomore", etc. More common Canada: first year, second year, etc.
K
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