Spanish word of the month

The word for September 2000 is: Enseñanza
(School and Education)

Homepage: http://www.lingolex.com/spanish.htm


Introduction

As many of you may be returning to school after the holidays we decided to send a list of education related word.
You should bear in mind that many words are specific to just one country, just as they are between British and American English. Using terms like K-12, Secondary modern, GCSE, A level, sixth form, without explanation, should be avoided if you are speaking to an international audience. In Spain, they have recently changed the education system so rather than EGB, BUP and COU it has been changed to Primaria, ESO and COU. Suposedly all the Spanish speaking countries have a separate set of acronyms. For this reason we have avoided country specific vocab.

 

English Spanish
nursery school la guardería
kindergarten jardín de infancia
primary school el colegio/la escuela
secondary school (Br. Eng.)
high school (Am. Eng.)		 el instituto
technical college la escuela técnica
university la universidad
a state school una escuela pública (primary)
un instituo público (secondary)
a private school una escuela privada (primary)
un instituo privado (secondary)
a public school (Br. Eng.) un colegio privado
a boarding school un internado
faculty la facultad
medicine faculty la facultad de medicina
the Open University la Universidad a Distancia
private classes las clases particulares
the year el curso
the term el trimestre
a degree una licenciatura
a course un curso
to do an English course hacer un curso de inglés
a degree course una carrera/licenciatura
I'm in the second year Estoy en segundo
I study French at university Estudio francés en la universidad.
to have a degree in chemistry ser licenciado en química
I graduated last year. (from university) Acabé/Terminé la carrera el año pasado.
Me licencié el año pasado.
She graduated in French. Se licenció en francés.
a dissertation una tesina
a thesis un tesis
a doctorate/PhD un doctorado
a master's degree un master
Teachers and pupils - Los profesores y los alumnos
the headteacher/principal (of a school) el director/la directora
a teacher un profesor/una profesora
a primary school teacher un maestro/una maestra
a pupil un alumno/una alumna
a boarder un interno
a maths teacher un profesor de matemáticas
a classmate un compañero/una compañera de clase
a swot (colloquial) un empollón/una empollona
teacher's pet el favorito/preferido del profesor
a (college/university) student un estudiante/una estudiante
a lecturer (a university teacher) (Br. eng.)
a professor (Am. Eng.)		 un profesor universitario
freshman estudiante de primer año
a professor (higest academic rank) (Br. Eng.) un catedrático
At school - En el centro docente
a class una clase
a classroom una aula
staffroom la sala de profesores
the headteacher's office el despacho del director/de la directora
library la biblioteca
language lab el laboratorio de lenguas
the café el bar
playground el patio
gym el gimnasio
auditorium/assembly hall/school hall el salón de actas
a desk un pupitre
blackboard la pizarra
chalk la tiza
board rubber/eraser el borrador
school bag la cartera
a book un libro
an exercise book un cuaderno
a notebook una libreta
a dictionary un diccionario
a pencil case un estuche
a pencil un lápiz
a ballpoint pen un bolígrafo
an fountain pen una pluma
a rubber (Br. Eng.)/an eraser (Am.Eng.) una goma
a ruler una regla
a pencil sharpener un sacapuntas
a calculator una calculadora
Phrases - Frases
to go to school/university ir al colegio/instituto/a la universidad
to study estudiar
to learn aprender
to do my/your homework hacer los deberes
to know saber

to play truant
to skive off (colloquial)

 hacer novillos
pirarse
to miss class/school faltar a clase
I flunked French me reprobaron en francés
to swot up (Br. Eng.) empollar
Exams - Los exámenes
to sit/take an exam

presentarse a/hacer un examen
examinarse

to pass aprobar
to fail suspender
marks/grades las notas/las calificaciones
an oral exam un examen oral
a written exam un examen escrito
a multiple choice test un examen tipo test
(public/state) competitive exams las oposiciones
to revise repasar
to prepare for an exam prepararse para un examen
to repeat a year repetir curso

 

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