"I'm in the third grade" OR "I'm a third grade student" =『我是三年級（學生）』
They don't realize that this sounds rather strange to American ears. How can a twenty-year-old only be in third grade? How strange! 可是美國人聽了會覺得很奇怪，『明明是二十歲左右，怎麼可能還在讀小學三年級呢？好奇怪！』
The problem is that "third grade" refers to elementary school, not college. This is because the first twelve years in American schools (sometimes called "grade school") are numbered in two different ways, 6-3-3 and 4-4-4:
The 6-3-3 system is an older system which is not so
common now.
Grade
|
Name
|
1st~6th
|
elementary school
|
7th~9th
|
junior high school
|
10th~12th
|
senior high school
|
Most schools in the US now follow the 4-4-4 system
(but there are variations, such as 5-3-4 or 6-2-4)
Grade
|
Name
|
1st~4th
|
elementary school
|
5th~8th
|
middle school
|
9th~12th
|
high school
|
What about college students? 大學生該如何正確地自我介紹呢？
There are at least two different ways to identify college students by year:
(A)
"I'm in my first (second, third, fourth) year in college"
OR
"I'm a first (second, third, fourth) year college student"
(B)
"I'm in my freshman ... year (in the Applied English Studies Department)
OR
"I'm a freshman ... (in the Applied English Studies Department)
The second way (freshman ...) sounds more mature.
Please notice that the words “freshman, sophomore, junior and
senior” also apply to senior high school students.
|
9th grade
|
freshman
|
|
10th grade
|
sophomore
|
|
11th grade
|
junior
|
|
12th grade
|
senior
|
Thus, it is not enough to say that somebody
is a freshman or a senior. You also need to mention high school or college: “She’s a freshman in XYZ high school” or “He’s a
senior in college.”
