A journey through the educational system in England :the experience of teaching spanish as a modern foreing language assistant

Abstract

All children In England between 5 and 16 years old are entitled to be educated. By law, all state schools in England are required to follow the National Curriculum, which supply with the significant knowledge that students need to be part of the British society. The educational systems in England and Chile are divided into the same stages, preschool, primary, secondary, further and higher Education. In Chile, education is compulsory up to the age of 18 years old; in England the mandatory age is 16 years old. In both countries, students are required to wear uniforms, however in England is not necessary for sixth form students. In both countries, the school year is different, in Chile it goes from March to December and in England from September to July. In England the school year is divided into terms and in Chile it is divided into semesters. One of the most important differences between these two educational systems is related to language learning, In England students must start learning foreign languages at year 7, when they are 12 years old. Even though in Chile, the compulsory age is a year before than in England, most school start teaching from preschool. Another difference is related to examinations, in England the results are important for the school and the students; in Chile the results are only relevant for the school. Working as a Modern Foreign Language Assistant, I observed how students learned Spanish as a foreign language and tried to help them to acquire the language. As an overall experience, it helped me to understand both educational systems and compare language learning in both countries, which made me appreciate the way I was taught at university and made me realize the relevance of learning the culture of the language that students wanted to learn.