Language of the Day: Back-to-school

In Canada, the month of September is known as back-to-school season.

Every country has their own academic schedule, but growing up in Canada: our school year ends in June, we go on vacation for July and August, and the next grade starts in September.

This time of year carries a lot of familiar feelings for Canadians. We have a bit of sadness for the end of summer, but we are full of excitement for the new challenges ahead.

If you grow up and have children of your own, you will still get the back-to-school experience each year. But even for those of us who don’t have kids, the feeling of September when the leaves begin to change will always remind us of the back-to-school feeling.

In honour of this special time of year, here’s a few school related vocabulary terms for you.

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Back-to-school shopping: Have you seen signs or ardvertisements for this yet? This time of year has sales and discounts at most stores on items like notebooks, backpacks, pens and pencils, and even laptops.

Agenda: When you begin a new school year in Canada, you will probably get a brand new agenda on your first day. This is a small notebook produced by the school board where students can record their schedule and homework assignments.

Homeroom: This is the class where high school students will report and have their attendance taken at the beginning of the day.

Skipping class: If you decide you would rather go to the mall or the park than your boring Math class, you might be tempted to “skip class.” This is against the rules, of course, but it’s still quite common.

Electives: Electives are classes that are not mandatory but you chose to take because you thought the subject was interesting. In high school, for example, English class is madatory, but something like Acting class or Business class would be an “elective.”