General Discussion Thread

[Silenter]

The year after I left high school they changed the grading system from A, B, C, t (needs improvement [always lowercase]) and Z (failed to hand anything in) to O, (outstanding) C, (competent) S, (satisfactory) and P (preliminary...? i dunno).
Now at university they give out HD, D(N), Cr, P, and PP. So now when I come home and I say "Mum I got a D! " and when my little sister comes home and she says "Mum! I got a O+! " and mum's like "ZERO PLUS WHAT?!?! D: Oh god you're both fiALING?" (although after last year she's had to accept me saying "yES MUM BECAUSE I SUck..")

xDD I've never heard of any grading system like that, that's interesting... Where did the Z come from? I'm not in college yet, so I really can't say much if there's any difference over here. ^^

[OrigamiOwl]

The subject is fluid mechanics.  :/  The problem had us finding the relationship between the angular velocity and the change in height of the center of the surface of a fluid spinning in cylinders with different radii.

*runs for the hills*

No idea.  The thing he cares about most is that we can derive all the equations on our own, and explain why the equations are the way they are.  Does France have notoriously difficult schooling?  'Cause he's French...

*is hit by horrible French flashbacks whilst running for the hills*

xDD I've never heard of any grading system like that, that's interesting... Where did the Z come from? I'm not in college yet, so I really can't say much if there's any difference over here. ^^

Hmmm I don't know? It's just...there, and pretty self-explanatory: if you don't submit anything then there IS no lower grade 0____0

[Richard Weir]

The thing he cares about most is that we can derive all the equations on our own, and explain why the equations are the way they are.

So he wants you all to be mathematicians who *must* be able to do that, rather than any "lesser" (in his mind) class of person. Yeah, if you aren't studying for a pure maths course then that's unfair.

However, at least it means you won't accidentally get a job that demands pure maths ability, which happened to a friend of mine. He got a very high grade on a maths module because he had read far too many books around the subject and memorised a lot of equations. The grade impressed an employer who thought it meant he was a mathematician as well as an engineer, but he couldn't hack it. He had to quit in the end: the stress of the contempt he attracted for having to look things up when colleagues were deriving equations in their heads was too much.

[Sigrid Marie]

Oh wow, we passed 400 members! :0

*celebratory dance* *but only in my mind, because I'm in the middle of chemistry class*

[Fen Shen]

This discussion about grading systems strongly reminds me of the O.W.L tests at Hogwarts. T for troll and so on... 
We never had letters, just plain numbers from 1-6 (you'd fail with 5 or 6). At university, the numbers get "refined" so you could get 1,7 (like a 2+), 2 and 2,3 (like a 2-) and so on. At least this makes it easy to calculate your average grade.*


*[statistics flashback] Although I learnt that mathematically this isn't really correct because grades aren't on a metric scale level and therefore you can't calculate the arithmetic mean blabla... [/statistics flashback]

[JoB]

Does France have notoriously difficult schooling?  'Cause he's French...

Not sure about schooling, but when it comes to academia, there is sort of an elite-selection process going on. There's only a handful universities cranking out the guys who get the high-paid administrative jobs (the polytechs, enarcs etc.) - and the 90+% others are, to an extent, considered dropouts and failures ...

[Fimbulvarg]

This discussion about grading systems strongly reminds me of the O.W.L tests at Hogwarts. T for troll and so on... 
We never had letters, just plain numbers from 1-6 (you'd fail with 5 or 6). At university, the numbers get "refined" so you could get 1,7 (like a 2+), 2 and 2,3 (like a 2-) and so on. At least this makes it easy to calculate your average grade.*

It's the reverse here, with 6 being outstanding and 1 being a fail (2 is a passing grade). The universities use a similar scale but with letters, A-B-C-D-E-F(ail).

Before the 1999 reform of lower education they used letters: S (særdeles godt/outstandingly good), M (meget tilfredsstillende/very satisfactory), T (tilfredsstillende/satisfactory), Ng (nogenlunde tilfredsstillende/somewhat satisfactory), Mt (måtelig tilfredsstillende/conditionally satisfactory) and Ik (ikke bestått/not passed).

[Nimphy]

I just found the following sentence in my English textbook while doing homework: "What are they on top of your head?". I had to read a few times, I'm still not getting the meaning. (Context: "I can't find my glasses")

[Eich]

I just found the following sentence in my English textbook while doing homework: "What are they on top of your head?". I had to read a few times, I'm still not getting the meaning. (Context: "I can't find my glasses")

Yeah, that doesn't make sense.  It... Kind of does, and I could figure out what they meant, but I think someone would say, "What are those, on top of your head?"

Edit: Being direct, someone would say, "They are on top of your head."
This is just a way of phrasing it differently, in question form.

[Piney]

I just found the following sentence in my English textbook while doing homework: "What are they on top of your head?". I had to read a few times, I'm still not getting the meaning. (Context: "I can't find my glasses")

I think that would make a bit more sense with a comma after the 'what.' It's still a weird question for soneone to ask, though.

[Eich]

I think that would make a bit more sense with a comma after the 'what.' It's still a weird question for soneone to ask, though.

I actually use similar phrases.  If my roommate was looking for his jacket, but he was wearing it and didn't realize, I'd say, "Uhhhh, dude, what're you wearing, you dummy?"

[JoB]

"What are they on top of your head?" (Context: "I can't find my glasses")

I could see that question answered with "useless", "forgotten", or "scissors", but it'ld be strange either way.

"Why are they on top of your head?" or "What are they doing on top of your head?" or "What, aren't they (those) on top of your head?" would make more sense IMHO.

[kjeks]

This discussion about grading systems strongly reminds me of the O.W.L tests at Hogwarts. T for troll and so on... 
We never had letters, just plain numbers from 1-6 (you'd fail with 5 or 6). At university, the numbers get "refined" so you could get 1,7 (like a 2+), 2 and 2,3 (like a 2-) and so on. At least this makes it easy to calculate your average grade.*


*[statistics flashback] Although I learnt that mathematically this isn't really correct because grades aren't on a metric scale level and therefore you can't calculate the arithmetic mean blabla... [/statistics flashback]

And here I say:

Hello folks,
I am DONE with my exams!. 5 years of studies and o 15 months of practical training finally come to an end! I was lucky with the comission, they seemed to like me. I ended the day with nearly best grades (1,2 for the whole practical part and 1,4 including Uni) . One of the comissioners half-offered me a job, so on the weekend I will work on my CV and then see were this might take me from april on.

I am sooo happy. My day consists of sleeping and grinning mainly (after work of course).

So after recovering I am happy to take up again all the nice things I skipped during the last 6 months.

So much for my happy thoughts .

[Fimbulvarg]

And here I say:

Hello folks,
I am DONE with my exams!. 5 years of studies and o 15 months of practical training finally come to an end! I was lucky with the comission, they seemed to like me. I ended the day with nearly best grades (1,2 for the whole practical part and 1,4 including Uni) . One of the comissioners half-offered me a job, so on the weekend I will work on my CV and then see were this might take me from april on.

I am sooo happy. My day consists of sleeping and grinning mainly (after work of course).

So after recovering I am happy to take up again all the nice things I skipped during the last 6 months.

So much for my happy thoughts .

Grats, and good luck on your application.

I just found the following sentence in my English textbook while doing homework: "What are they on top of your head?". I had to read a few times, I'm still not getting the meaning. (Context: "I can't find my glasses")

Maybe it's a variety form, there are lots of English varieties where seemingly nonsensical phrases make perfect sense.
Or maybe it's just sloppy handiwork and the what is not supposed to be there.

[Eich]

And here I say:

Hello folks,
I am DONE with my exams!. 5 years of studies and o 15 months of practical training finally come to an end! I was lucky with the comission, they seemed to like me. I ended the day with nearly best grades (1,2 for the whole practical part and 1,4 including Uni) . One of the comissioners half-offered me a job, so on the weekend I will work on my CV and then see were this might take me from april on.

I am sooo happy. My day consists of sleeping and grinning mainly (after work of course).

So after recovering I am happy to take up again all the nice things I skipped during the last 6 months.

So much for my happy thoughts .

Yeah!  Awesome, Kex! 
Have yourself some fancy, expensive ice cream to celebrate.  It's the best way to celebrate.

Grats, and good luck on your application.
Maybe it's a variety form, there are lots of English varieties where seemingly nonsensical phrases make perfect sense.

That's all it is.  I had to put it in personal context to make sense of it, because it doesn't seem to work on its own.