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Document 1575

Conversation 38: Two female students discussing school in the UK and Luxembourg and travel

Author(s): N/A

Copyright holder(s): SCOTS Project

Audio transcription

F1148 So, how old were you when you went to school?
F1149 Ehm I was four when I started, ehm cause I started in August and I turned five in //October, so//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 really five, kind of thing. How about you?
F1148 I was four.
F1149 Four for the whole?
F1148 Four for the whole year, //cause I turned//
F1149 //Really?//
F1148 four in in May and then school started in September.
F1149 Erm, was that because you started a year earlier or is that how old //you are when you start school in Luxembourg?//
F1148 //That's how old you are when you start// school cause you, like you're four when you start pre-school, like we actually call it playschool,
F1149 Okay.
F1148 so you go there for two years.
F1149 See, well, I think normally you go to nurs-, well I went to nursery for a year, //like the year that I was four, kind of thing.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 I went to like a playgroup before that.
F1148 Uh-huh.
F1149 But normally you're five when you start school, here, unless, like there were some people in my class who were four but that's because they were kind of, quite bright,
F1148 Mmhm.
F1149 and they'd been allowed to start a year early.
F1148 So is that like primary school then? //Uh-huh, cause you're six when you get into primary school.//
F1149 //Yeah, that's primary school.// //Are you? Aw, [inaudible].//
F1148 //Yeah, cause you have to go in that playschool for two years.//
F1149 And how many years do you have in, oh what's it called, is it called, do you call it primary school? //Do you? Alright, okay. [laugh] How many years do you have?//
F1148 //Yeah, we call it primary school. Uh-huh. [laugh]// Erm, six, so you go there from like six to about twelve.
F1149 Okay. Cause we have seven, so. //Like [inaudible].//
F1148 //Like, yeah.// //Th-//
F1149 //And then how many years do you have to do at secondary s-?//
F1148 erm seven years [?]there[/?] //[laugh]//
F1149 //Okay, that's like, seems quite a lot, [laugh] cause we only have to do four.// And you have to do Standard Grades, //in third and fourth year,//
F1148 //Uh-huh, yeah.//
F1149 and then if you want to you can stay for a fifth year, then if you want to you can stay for a sixth year.
F1148 Mmhm.
F1149 So. //O-.//
F1148 //You sort of have to to get a degree,// //like do the whole thing.//
F1149 //Yeah.// And is there any, er could you leave before seven years if you didn't want to go? //Oh yo-you- you graduate from//
F1148 //We-// //yeah, cause you graduated from like the seventh year, but//
F1149 //secondary school. Okay.//
F1148 erm they have different like types of schools, so you could, like depending on where you go, sort of more practical based, you know, sort of more, ehm, you know, if you get like an a- an apprentice in, you know, ki- some kind of work place //then you might//
F1149 //Uh-huh.//
F1148 like only go to school for, until you're sort of fifteen or sixteen. And then do more work placement and only go to school like a couple of times a week, //until you've finished and like//
F1149 //Mmhm.// //So is y-, yours is more classical//
F1148 //get-,// yeah more like much more sort of, you know, probably more like your school days,
F1149 Uh-huh.
F1148 you know, cause you did languages and maths and everything.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 And then erm, yeah it's probably how it works.
F1149 S- do you h-, like, did you like everything, all the subjects you did, or?
F1148 Erm, I sort of di- cause you, like, the older you get the more choice you get.
F1149 Okay.
F1148 When you start out you have to do all of the classes, like
F1149 Yeah.
F1148 like in my school, you know, actually like the first year in secondary school was called like the the seventh year and then they count down to sort of the first //year. [laugh] But erm in//
F1149 //I remember learning about that in French, that sounded [laugh].//
F1148 like the other type of school where it's sort of more work orientated they actually count up from seven to thirteen. //[laugh]//
F1149 //Really? Okay. [laugh] Okay!//
F1148 So like in my school, you know, you'd have sort of a year of sort of orientation, in, like I said, like first year,
F1149 Uh-huh. //Se- [laugh]//
F1148 //seventh grade, and then// erm you could choose whether you wanted to start with English straight away or do Latin as well, //and like//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 second year, like sixth grade, and erm that would be the same for the following year as well, and then you could choose whether you wanted to do the, like, sci- scientific orientated or purely linguistic,
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 but mostly everyone does scientific where you do a tiny bit of physics and chemistry as well, and then, cause they change it now again. [laugh] //But when I went//
F1149 //Wh-.//
F1148 to school erm you did that for two years, and then in your two last years you could choose whether you wanted to do, concentrate on languages or maths or biology or art, //or music, whatever you//
F1149 //Uh-huh mm.//
F1148 were best at.
F1149 Okay. So like how m- how many languages could you be doing at one point? Like w-
F1148 You could be doing four languages at a point, //one point, yeah.//
F1149 //Okay.//
F1148 Yeah cause you do French and German anyway, and then you st- actually, yeah, and then you do, no actually at some point you could do five languages.
F1149 Because you do French and German //then Latin?//
F1148 //You do French and German and then you do Latin, then English,//
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 and then you get the option of doing like Spanish.
F1149 So you did Spanish //as well?//
F1148 //So I did Spanish as well.// So yeah, at some point I actually had //five languages.//
F1149 //See,// see like the school that, like my secondary school just didn't have any sort of focus on language really.
F1148 Mmhm.
F1149 Like, they did it year about, like the year I was in we got French in first year, so then we got French again in second year and we ha- everyone has to do a French //Standard Grades in third and fourth year.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 And when you get to third year if you want to you can take up German as well.
F1148 Mmhm.
F1149 But then like they alternate it so the year above me and the year below me would have done German from the //start and then had the option//
F1148 //Mm.//
F1149 to take up French. Kind of once you get to sort of fifth year, you can, I think we did sort of Spanish and Italian but it was only like wee sort of modules, //it wasn't really,//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 like you couldn't do a proper Higher
F1148 Yeah.
F1149 in the subjects. It's kind of a shame cause obviously I quite like //languages and//
F1148 //Uh-huh.// //Mmhm. Mmhm.//
F1149 //it wasn't really, like other schools [inaudible] like focused more on it, we just.// //Don't know what my school focused on actually. [laugh] Nothing.//
F1148 //[laugh]// Yeah, cause I, like, the, cause I chose to do languages, I gave up Latin after four years, I only did //it like from//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 second to fifth year, and then erm cause I chose languages, I did like French, German, English and Spanish in //my Highers.//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 But my sister's doing Maths, so //she's actually//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 erm she never did Spanish to start out with and she stopped doing Latin as well after like first year.
F1149 Mm.
F1148 And then she did, last year she did take erm three languages, like German, French and English, but this year she actually gave up French, so she o- she only kept the two.
F1149 Okay.
F1148 The other two because, you know, she's just concentrating much more on //Math and Informatic you know, kind of thing.//
F1149 //On Maths, mmhm.// How many years does she have left?
F1148 Oh this is her //last year, uh-huh. [laugh]//
F1149 //This is her last one, I didn't realise. [laugh] Erm,// it's like, I did erm English, Maths, French, Chemistry and Physics,
F1148 Mmhm.
F1149 as my Highers in fifth year, so but that really put me off //sciences later down, [laugh] so that's erm.//
F1148 //[laugh] Do you get to choose your subjects then for the Highers?//
F1149 Yeah, y- well uh-huh. when you get to Standard Grades you have to choose eight subjects, //but really you only have//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 to choose five because it's compulsory to do Maths, English and either French or German, //whatever language you'd been doing.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 You can choose the other five, so I did. And you had to pick at least one social science, //like either Geography,//
F1148 //Mmhm.// //Mmhm.//
F1149 //History, or Modern Studies.// So I did so I did Geography and History, Chemistry and Physics, and Art, //as well.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 And then you can obviously, obviously you have to pick your Highers //as something you'd done in//
F1148 //Uh-huh.//
F1149 Standard Grades in. And in fifth year you have to do English and Maths still, so if you've, if you didn't get a good enough Standard Grade //to take a//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 a Higher in those subjects you have to take like an Intermediate //One or Two, which is//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 like a lesser qualification. But I don't know, when I was, just when I was doing my Highers, a lot of people were complaining about that, //because//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 there were a lot of people who really weren't so good at Maths, but because they were having to do it //in fifth year,//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 it meant they could only do four Highers //cause they couldn't do Maths as a Higher, do you know?//
F1148 //Mmhm, yeah.//
F1149 So the- if they didn't have to do Maths they could potentially have done five //Highers just in//
F1148 //Highers, uh-huh.// //Yeah.//
F1149 //other things, so.// //I don't know if that's changing now or,//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 cause I think that was just, I know other schools didn't make you //do that.//
F1148 //Mmhm.// //[laugh]//
F1149 //It was just my school again! [laugh]// So, //yeah.//
F1148 //Ah, cause like in// our final exams, you have to like take exams in sort of all of your subjects,
F1149 Oh right, okay.
F1148 [inaudible] like musical education or something or //art but you only have the one class in that a week.//
F1149 //Oh. [laugh]// //Mm.//
F1148 //So you don't have to take an exam in that in that one.// But we had to take an exam in Philosophy and erm like, you know, sort of Economic Studies //as well//
F1149 //Uh-huh.//
F1148 I remember that one, erm or [?]I didn't have my[/?], what's the other one, [?]other one[/?] oh erm there was History as well. No more Geography, erm no. //[laugh] I can't really remember! [laugh] Yeah.//
F1149 //[laugh] It seems like ages ago now.// [cough] Like, my sister is in second year now //so she'll have to pick//
F1148 //Mmhm.// //Uh-huh.//
F1149 //her Standard Grades this year.// And there's, seems to be a lot more they can choose from now.
F1148 Mmhm.
F1149 Like a lot more sort of business //subjects and//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 computing and things like that. You know, when you get to fifth year now as well if you want to you can choose to do Psychology.
F1148 Uh-huh, that must be interesting.
F1149 And the school, there's a college quite near where I //live and//
F1148 //Mm.//
F1149 the school sort of sends you one afternoon a week to //college.//
F1148 //Mmhm.// //That's very good, yeah.//
F1149 //So tha- it's quite good.// I think if that had been there when I was sort of in [inaudible] sixth year, //just to kind of escape from school, [laugh] for an afternoon.//
F1148 //Mmhm. [laugh]//
F1149 But I might have tried it.
F1148 Did you go on any school trips?
F1149 Yeah, uh-huh in primary school ehm we went to this activity centre,
F1148 Mmhm.
F1149 in England, which was was quite good fun, and then in secondary school I went to Majorca! //[laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]// //[laugh]//
F1149 //Which must have been educational! [laugh]// [laugh] So, [laugh] not really any sort of //actual educational trips, just the ones, how about you?//
F1148 //Uh-huh.// Erm, we went ski-ing in the last year of primary school //for a week.//
F1149 //Oh yeah, okay.// //Where did you go ski-?//
F1148 //Uh-huh. Erm, to Switzerland.// //Mmhm, it was really good.//
F1149 //Oh, nice.//
F1148 And erm,
F1149 Is that when you got a taste for snowboarding and stuff?
F1148 No, I got that before. //[laugh] Erm,//
F1149 //Did you? [laugh]//
F1148 well my mum decided to take us on like a ski-ing holiday beforehand, so we would already be able //to ski and not break our necks on that school trip. [laugh]//
F1149 //To ski! [laugh]// //I think I was insistent I [?]wouldn't do that[/?]. [laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh] Erm,// //no and then erm [laugh]//
F1149 //[laugh]//
F1148 in the like third year of secondary school
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 like all classes went on a school trip but half of them went ski-ing and half of them went to Normandy, in summer, //so I went to Normandy.//
F1149 //Okay.// Mmhm. //So did you li-//
F1148 //That was really good as well, yeah, did loads of, you know, like water sports like canoeing and// erm what are they called aga-, you know? [tut] You know, it's not like er it's like canoeing in unders- you know sort of the boat thing, but it's not, what are they called? Erm, it's ridi- I think they call it er in French "catamaran". //You know, it's//
F1149 //Is it like white-water rafting?//
F1148 no it's not really like, well no, it's it's completely different cause you do it in like on the sea.
F1149 Oh okay.
F1148 But it's not actually like going sailing but sort of slightly different, you know, you do have a sail, but it's, the boat has different shape, kind of thing.
F1149 I think maybe it's just called a catamaran as well. //Like transferred.//
F1148 //Possibly.// //I don't really know what that's called. Yeah, that's quite good as well.//
F1149 //But you did that? [laugh]// We did a canoeing thing on a primary school //trip.//
F1148 //Uh-huh.//
F1149 We had to like get capsized //from the canoe.//
F1148 //[laugh] Yeah.// //Not very nice! [laugh] [laugh]//
F1149 //It's, no, it's just, no [laugh] took us on holiday and then capsized us [laugh] don't really know why. It was alright.// It was, it was quite fun actually cause there was like erm abseiling and archery and //all that sort of other stuff as well that was really,//
F1148 //Oh that's//
F1149 although the fact people kept setting off the fire alarm in the middle //of the night.//
F1148 //[laugh]//
F1149 Cause it was like, I think it was in Staffordshire, //or somewhere and there was, it was like a big centre for loads of schools, there was loads of other schools as well.//
F1148 //Mmhm mmhm.//
F1149 And it was dorms, and girls from a school in the dorm like across from //us kept like stealing things from us! [laugh]//
F1148 //Mmhm. [laugh]// //[laugh]//
F1149 //[laugh] It was actually quite stressful. [laugh] But yeah.// //[laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]//
F1149 But like, well I went on this trip to Spain, and that //was in second year,//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 but every year there's a trip you can go on. //I'm not sure where it is in first year.//
F1148 //Okay.// //Mmhm.//
F1149 //I can't remember, but second year you can go to Spain.// In third year you can go to Holland.
F1148 Mmhm.
F1149 And then, after that I think they must have run out of inspiration cause you can just choose to go to Holland //like [laugh] every year like when you're in fourth and fifth year so.//
F1148 //[laugh] Uh-huh.//
F1149 It's like Holland and Germany, it's the theme parks and stuff. [?]I think[/?] Sarah when she was at school, //she went ehm//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 to Venice.
F1148 Oh that's really good.
F1149 That's was a trip with the art department.
F1148 Uh-huh. //Oh.//
F1149 //Ehm, she went twice, so.// //I was quite jealous when she said that, it'd be quite nice to have the chance to do that. Different.//
F1148 //That's really different. Yeah. Uh-huh.// [?]A trip to[/?]. Yeah I think we actually did like a trip to like Frankfurt once.
F1149 Oh yeah.
F1148 For just a couple of days, it was erm in fifth year, yeah, in fifth year. My sister, she went to Berlin when she was in si- fifth year which was really //good, [inaudible].//
F1149 //Yeah.// //Have you been to Berlin?//
F1148 //Uh-huh.// I have but eh it wasn't on the school trip.
F1149 Mm have you been, have you been to quite a lot of places in Germany? //Or//
F1148 //Erm, yeah.//
F1149 would you go on holiday in France if you were younger?
F1148 Well actually when we were really young we always used to go like just to the Belgian coast.
F1149 Okay.
F1148 Cause my sister's like really really fair. //Looks completely different from me. [laugh]//
F1149 //So she is [laugh] yeah.//
F1148 And my mum was too scared she might like get
F1149 Get burned.
F1148 get burned if we went to Spain //or somewhere.//
F1149 //Mm.//
F1148 Uh-huh, so we e- like either went to Brittany or just Belgium.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 Erm, yeah, like my parents used to, when we, when we got older my parents used to take us to like city trips and stuff,
F1149 Yeah.
F1148 which was really good.
F1149 See I think my dad would quite like to, after he came, ehm, he went to Copenhagen. //And after that//
F1148 //Mmhm.// //Huh.//
F1149 //he got a taste for the sort of city thing.// But my sister's still quite young.
F1148 Mmhm.
F1149 Like, she's just turned thirteen and she still gets quite bored,
F1148 Yeah.
F1149 quite easily so.
F1148 Uh-huh.
F1149 She would be too, //she's interested in shopping and [inaudible] and that's about it! [laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]//
F1149 But when I was younger I didn't really like beach holidays. I used //to get really bored.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 Because I'm quite fair-skinned as well, like, I //couldn't really//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 my mum and dad wouldn't let me lie out in the sun and //it wasn't fair! [laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh] No,// like, we would never go on a beach holiday and just lie in the sun. //Our//
F1149 //Uh-huh.//
F1148 mum would always like choose somewhere where there's loads to //see, so we//
F1149 //To do as well.//
F1148 we would like, either drive there, like take our car, or rent a car //so we could//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 actually go on day trips.
F1149 Yeah.
F1148 Uh-huh, you know. But my sister really loves just being in the swimming pool and just going swimming, like spending //a whole day, uh-huh.//
F1149 //Quite a holiday person?// How old were you when you learned to swim?
F1148 Oh I was really old. //[laugh] Ehm.//
F1149 //I was old as well, it's okay! [laugh]// //[laugh]//
F1148 //Started from about six or seven.// //[laugh]//
F1149 //Okay, I was ten! [laugh]// //[laugh] I'll get embarrassed now. [laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]// Just just too afraid to drown. [laugh]
F1149 I was quite scared when I was younger as well. //[laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]//
F1149 My siste-, my brother, we learned at the same time, //so he was//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 like he was about seven, and I was really old. //But erm, my sister, she learned when she was really young, she was like three or four, she just really really loved the water.//
F1148 //Mmhm. She loved it.//
F1149 But ehm, once when she was tiny, and she was kind of swimming with //armbands on//
F1148 //Uh-huh.//
F1149 when we were on holiday, //and she went in the water and forgot to put on armbands,//
F1148 //[inhale]//
F1149 and my mum and I were just like sitting reading a book, //and//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 this man was sort of shouting on us like, "Your child is like [laugh] //drowning", so//
F1148 //[laugh]// //[laugh]//
F1149 //that was quite scary, we all to go into the water to get her. [laugh]// I used to be quite scared to learn to swim.
F1148 My sister once got lost on the beach when she was only //three. Uh-huh,//
F1149 //[inhale] Oh no!//
F1148 cause we were on holiday and erm like we had met like sort of, you know, like people my dad knew. //And//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 they were j- like actually just by chance living right next to us,
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 and they had two boys our age, so we like just you know went to the beach with //them all the time.//
F1149 //Yeah, that's cool.//
F1148 And erm I think all four of us went to like, you know, just to to the sea to get like shells and stuff or maybe some water for her.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 Erm, and I think I took like the younger boy back up to his parents, and the older one was supposed to look after my sister, //and he was fi- he was fishing//
F1149 //Oh oh!//
F1148 for shrimps, [?]I remember[/?]. //And he was//
F1149 //Ah.//
F1148 so busy doing that that he like sort of didn't actually pay attention when she decided to leave,
F1149 Okay, and she was three?
F1148 Uh-huh, and you know we ha- the, like quite colourful wil- windcheater and mum was like quite sure that we would find the windcheater //and get back to//
F1149 //Uh-huh.//
F1148 them. But for some reason, someone else had the same windcheater as //us.//
F1149 //[inhale]// //Mm.//
F1148 //But you know, when you're standing// at the be-, you know, like, at the water, and you're looking up at all the windcheaters, they all look the same and you don't really remember //like whereabout//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 yours was.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 So she went up to the wrong one. And then she couldn't find, and then they, like, you know, brought her brought her to //the baywatch, the coast uh-huh, the coastal watch thing.//
F1149 //She mus- she must have been quite upset when she realised she was lost.//
F1148 And you know obviously she could only speak Luxembourgish at that point, //and they//
F1149 //Aw!//
F1148 spoke Dutch,
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 so she kept just like screaming "I want my mum, I want my mum!" //They couldn't//
F1149 //Oh no! And they couldn't understand her.// //[inhale]//
F1148 //understand her. And then like we we- like we// when we like realised she wasn't [inaudible], //we went down//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 to the sea front and then saw the other like windcheater, we went up there and when we couldn't find her there they told us that they like //took her to to the coastguard, yeah.//
F1149 //Took her to coastguard, [inhale].// //Your mum must have been so worried.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 Did you ever get lost when you were younger?
F1148 Ehm, no I don't think I did. But then I was like much less shy than she was, I used //to talk to everyone.//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 Apparently they took me to erm the Black Forest when I was about one and a half, //okay, and could just walk and just talk.//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 And I would almost like climb up, climb out of the highchair, //[laugh] walk about [?]dressed[/?] and talk to all the people. [laugh]//
F1149 //[laugh]// //[laugh] Aw! [laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]// //[laugh]//
F1149 //[laugh]// //Goodness only knows what you were [laugh] talking about! [laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh] Yeah, who knows?// //Mmhm, mmhm.//
F1149 //I think, I think my brother got lost once ehm in a hospital, like I think my mum was going to take him in to visit someone.// //And he was about three maybe as well and they were in a lift,//
F1148 //Mmhm.// //Uh-huh.//
F1149 //and the lift's doors opened on a floor to stop to let someone out,// and he walked out as well then they closed again really quickly.
F1148 Oh my god.
F1149 Yeah. So like my mum was really worried. //But like she ran, like she just got out at the next flight and ran down the stairs and he was just standing there like [laugh].//
F1148 //Mmhm mmhm. [laugh]//
F1149 I think I got lost in a supermarket once. Like I, I don't know what age I was but I kind of just lost //mum,//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 I had to go down to Customer //Services,//
F1148 //Uh-huh.// //[laugh]//
F1149 //and they had to put a tannoy announcement out for my mum. [laugh]// I was quite traumatised, so she bought me chocolate. //[laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]// //I don't think I ever got lost like that.//
F1149 //[laugh]// //It must be quite scary for your mum and dad.//
F1148 //Yeah. Uh-huh.//
F1149 [throat] So what does your sister, does she know what she wants to do after she finishes //school, has she?//
F1148 //Uh-huh, I think she might do Civil Engineering.// //Uh-huh.//
F1149 //Oh really?//
F1148 Probably going to go either to Switzerland or Germany.
F1149 Okay. Is she excited, or is she [?]really[/?] //[inaudible]? Yeah.//
F1148 //I think she's quite excited about it, yeah.// But it's really hard work.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 And she gets to be really stressed out about exams as well, so
F1149 Mmhm. My brother's girlfriend is in Switzerland //just now.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 Ehm, I can't remember where it is, it's like the German-speaking //part anyway, ehm//
F1148 //Uh-huh.//
F1149 cause she's really really like sort of //fluent in German,//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 and she wants to do primary teaching at //university next year.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 And she got all her qualifications last year //so she decided to get some//
F1148 //Okay.// //Mm.//
F1149 //sort of practical experience.// And they've got friends who stay in Switzerland so she's going to stay with them for two months to work in a school. //Yeah, so.//
F1148 //That's very good.// //Mmhm.//
F1149 //Quite like, she's quite nervous though, she's only// seventeen so that's quite, even though she sort of knows people she's staying //with, it's still//
F1148 //Mmhm.// //That's true, yeah.//
F1149 //quite young to be away from.// But I'm sure she'll have a great time. Apparently the school erm they take all the children out ski-ing and //things like that,//
F1148 //Mmhm, oh aye.// //[laugh]//
F1149 //cause she's never skied before so,// //I think they'll all be better than her. [laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh] It's really not that hard to pick up. [laugh]//
F1149 I would really like to go ski-ing but I've never done it either.
F1148 You should give it a go.
F1149 Yeah, it- it's snowboarding though that you're more into, //isn't it?//
F1148 //Uh-huh.// //Yeah.//
F1149 //Have you been, when was the last time you went?//
F1148 Erm, didn't go this year so like last ye-, one and a half years ago,
F1149 Mm.
F1148 which is quite a long time, really. //Uh-huh, definitely, yeah.//
F1149 //So you'll be itching to go again. [laugh]// Where do you go when you?
F1148 Ehm, we usually go to like Austria, erm Tyrol.
F1149 Okay.
F1148 So yeah, it's quite good. //[laugh]//
F1149 //[laugh]// Does your sister like it as well or //doesn't really//
F1148 //Uh-huh, she does, yeah.// But I have had quite like some really horrendous trips. When I went like just with a friend, //and we//
F1149 //Okay.//
F1148 like had to carry everything //on the train and like//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 the train didn't come and //I remember the one time we like booked this hotel,//
F1149 //Oh no! [laugh]//
F1148 which was supposed to be like five minutes from sort of the centre of the village,
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 but actually turned out you had to have this like huge really really steep hill that you had to climb up and I was completely like, you know, frozen, //and [laugh] I couldn't even get my bag, so I had to switch bags with my friend cause mine was just too heavy and it kept pulling me down.//
F1149 //Oh no! [laugh] Uh-huh.// //[laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]//
F1149 She must have been stronger than you. [laugh] //[laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh] Yeah.// //Er.//
F1149 //How long did you stay for when you go-//
F1148 Erm, just a week. //Mmhm.//
F1149 //Was it worth the scary journey in the end?// //[laugh]//
F1148 //It was, yeah.//
F1149 Okay. Was that the time, was that the photo you had of, was that from that trip? I'm sure you had a photo, was it on your phone? Of
F1148 Erm.
F1149 or on your computer, it was you with you with all your snowboarding stuff on, //[inaudible]//
F1148 //Oh no, that was erm in Austria with my// //my sister. [laugh]//
F1149 //Ah, alright, okay. [laugh]// Cause I remember seeing it.
F1148 Uh-huh, yeah.
F1149 There's a n- a new erm place opened up over at Braehead, it's called Xscape or something. And it's a sort of
F1148 Oh yeah, I've heard about that. //Uh-huh.//
F1149 //You can do ski-ing and all that sort of stuff there.// //You should go there and you can teach me. [laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]// Actually we could go up to Glencoe if //if there's actually any snow this year.//
F1149 //Oh, [laugh] yeah, we could actually. That would be// //a nice wee winter trip. [laugh]//
F1148 //Uh-huh.//
F1149 Did you like go on holiday in the winter then as well as //did you used to go on holiday in the winter as well as summer when you were younger? Yeah.//
F1148 //Sorry? Uh-huh.//
F1149 Cause we never really went away in winter. //It was always just summer holidays.//
F1148 //Yeah.// I think I I was about eight when we started going away in in winter.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 And then we just loved it so much that like we always wa- like my sister and me would rather go in winter than in summer.
F1149 Yeah?
F1148 Uh-huh. //So,//
F1149 //What kind of weather do you get in the summer anyway?// //Uh-huh.//
F1148 //In Luxembourg?// Erm, well sometimes get like really really hot, //[?]bright[/?], proper summer like//
F1149 //Like a proper summer, yeah.//
F1148 yeah like thirty-five degrees quite a lot //this summer.//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 Erm, you do get like the odd showers and or so, //you know, thundery showers as well.//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 Erm.
F1149 And do you get a lot of snow in winter?
F1148 You do get snow, yeah, it was l- like we had snow for Christmas last year, //[laugh] which was quite good,//
F1149 //Aw. [laugh]//
F1148 in a way quite good but then, you know, you can't really drive places, //people, yeah.//
F1149 //If you want to visit people, yes.//
F1148 So that's not as nice.
F1149 I quite like getting snow at Christmas, cause like, my gr- we just usually see my //grandparents and they stay//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 quite near me so they can walk and the only place they would go would be maybe to church, //and//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 it's like across the road, //so//
F1148 //Oh yeah.// //Mmhm.//
F1149 //doesn't really matter, it's sort of quite nice to be snowed in and that.//
F1148 I re- like, I used to really love snow at home, //before before I came to Uni but then//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 like in the last couple of years I always want- you know, when I got home that was always the first time or the time after summer //and I just//
F1149 //Mmhm.//
F1148 want really wanted to meet up with people and my friend, //like [inaudible] go out to [inaudible]//
F1149 //Uh-huh [inaudible].//
F1148 uh-huh so you, my mum wouldn't allow me to drive to town to meet anyone.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 And buses, you co- you couldn't rely on the buses. //So,//
F1149 //Mmhm.// //Oh no! [laugh] Stranded. [laugh]//
F1148 //it was just a nightmare to get out. [laugh]// //[laugh] Yeah.//
F1149 //[laugh]// Will you go home again before Christmas, or?
F1148 Uh-huh, I'm going home in like during Reading Week, //for a for a bit.//
F1149 //Aw, okay.// That's quite soon. //Couple of weeks. [laugh]//
F1148 //That's quite soon, yeah. [laugh] In two weeks.// //[inaudible]//
F1149 //Yeah. Really. [laugh]// Are you excited or I mean is it just quite soon since you
F1148 Erm, //no I'm quite excited to see Nick again//
F1149 //came back or. Yeah.// //[laugh] Mmhm.//
F1148 //otherwise I wouldn't be too bothered.//
F1149 I think, the wee-, not during Reading Week but the weekends afterwards, I think I might go up to Aberdeen,
F1148 Mmhm. //Uh-huh.//
F1149 //to see [inaudible] for a couple of days.// //so//
F1148 //[laugh]// //[laugh]//
F1149 //there'll probably be snow up there at this time. [laugh]//
F1148 Erm. //[laugh]//
F1149 //[laugh]//
F1148 Yeah, actually I've been thinking of going on on holiday and, you know what would be quite good to go s-, like s- actually snowboarding or somewhere in Scandinavia, I could go up to Sweden or somewhere, //or//
F1149 //Uh-huh.//
F1148 Norway, that would be nice, //you know?//
F1149 //Oh yeah, Norway would be lovely.//
F1148 Cause I never re-, you know, actually really thought about going to Scandinavia before.
F1149 Uh-huh. Would you go back?
F1148 To Copenhagen?
F1149 Yeah.
F1148 Uh-huh, yeah, like definitely to visit.
F1149 Yeah, //I would like to as well.//
F1148 //Probably not to live there though.//
F1149 Mm. //You should go back for a weekend or something. [laugh]//
F1148 //Definitely go back and visit. Uh-huh.// //Yeah, maybe yeah. Mmhm.//
F1149 //See all the old faces. [laugh]// [exhale] //Yeah, I'd quite like to see more of Scandinavia [inaudible].//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 Cause like Stockholm was really //really n-. Yeah, I really like Stockholm.//
F1148 //Good. Did you like it?// //Mmhm.//
F1149 //It was quite different from Copenhagen.// Not really [?]best or worst[/?] //just//
F1148 //Mmhm, just different?//
F1149 yeah, there's a lot of water cause it's all, it's like fourteen islands //or something it's made up of.//
F1148 //Oh, yeah.// //Mmhm.//
F1149 //But it was nice.// Some really nice bridges and stuff. //Ehm, yeah Norway [inaudible], like Alan went to Norway and he really liked it,//
F1148 //Mmhm. Mmhm.//
F1149 so. Iceland as well actually, //I used to have a//
F1148 //Uh-huh.//
F1149 like back at s- school, I used to have a Physics teacher at school who used to like be a bit obsessed with Iceland, //and [laugh] used to go there all the time,//
F1148 //[laugh]//
F1149 sort of drive around, [laugh] //tell us stories about it.//
F1148 //I see.// My cousin's first boyfriend was erm Icelandic. //I I don't think h- I don't think he ever took her there,//
F1149 //Oh really! [laugh]// //Mmhm.//
F1148 //which is a bit of a shame cause// //I'm sure that [inaudible], yeah, uh-huh.//
F1149 //Be a good opportunity! [laugh]// //[laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]//
F1149 Has Nick ever been to Scandinavia?
F1148 Yeah I think he has been quite a lot.
F1149 Oh really? To Denmark or?
F1148 Erm they've been to Denmark, they probably went to Sweden as well, //because his dad doesn't fly any more.//
F1149 //Okay.// //Oh right, okay. Uh-huh.//
F1148 //So they would always just like drive places.//
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 So yeah.
F1149 How old were you when you first flew?
F1148 Oh, erm, I was about eleven, yeah, I was eleven. //Ten, eleven, yeah.//
F1149 //So was I.// //I went to London. [laugh]//
F1148 //[laugh]// No, we went to San Francisco. [laugh] //[laugh]//
F1149 //Oh right, okay, [laugh] Slightly more exotic.// //I think actually I went to Spain when I was about two, but//
F1148 //[laugh]// Uh-huh.
F1149 Obviously I can't remember it, //so I always think of the first time as like.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 Is that to see y-, have you got family in
F1148 Yeah, my dad had an aunt there. //So we went to vi- we went to see them.//
F1149 //And that's where your your cousin//
F1148 Yeah.
F1149 Yeah, okay.
F1148 [inaudible] where he come from. Erm, yeah, so we flew there and apparently erm [laugh] my parents had like missed one of the confirmation desk, you know, so we didn't actually, so we, like I think we were sort of meant to like confirm the booking with like I think my mum sort of confirmed with the agency that we were actually flying, but they only confirmed the flight from Luxembourg to London. But then they didn't confirm the flight from //you know with, from//
F1149 //[inhale] London to//
F1148 London to San Francisco. So erm but because it wasn't our fault we got new seats. But like a- cause our seats in the like the normal like travel class, whatever they're called, //erm were actually//
F1149 //Like economy?//
F1148 they were actually given away already, //so we got like free//
F1149 //Uh-huh. [inhale]//
F1148 we got seats in business //class, it was [?]embarrassing[/?].//
F1149 //Oh nice! [laugh]// //So it worked out not too bad! [laugh]//
F1148 //That was really good. [laugh] Uh-huh. [laugh]//
F1149 What was it like in business class?
F1148 It was really nice. [laugh] Really [?]spacious[/?] and you get your own TV screen in front of, //of the seats, yeah.//
F1149 //On the back of the seats? Yeah.// Was the food any better?
F1148 I can't really //remember. [laugh] But yeah, that was quite good.//
F1149 //[laugh]// Cool.
F1148 Then I I remember on the way back, you had to wait for for a bit, like actually I think when we went there we had, like, quite a long stay in London, so my mum decided to go to, actually drive drive from Heathrow to get to the Underground to get to London but we only had like two hours in London in the end.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 So we, she just like ran around with, //I think we got all of the [inaudible]//
F1149 //[laugh] Uh-huh.// //Uh-huh.//
F1148 //[laugh]// like run round to er like Buckingham Palace and back again.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 And that was just the the //no that//
F1149 //[laugh]//
F1148 was actually, no that was the second time we went. Uh-huh, cause that's when I decided to come [laugh] come and do like study English, I never actually had English in school before, I liked it so much that I decided //I had to do English cause I wanted to go back to London. [laugh]//
F1149 //Really? That's [inaudible] [laugh] Would you still want to go back down to London to like//
F1148 Erm.
F1149 like could you live there, do you think?
F1148 I, see I wouldn't mind living there but erm not completely by myself, no.
F1149 Yeah.
F1148 Like I'm actually quite happy now sort of to to go back and like I r- see I really like going like new places and meeting people but it's just too much of a hassle if you have like friends in too many places, //and you have to//
F1149 //Uh-huh.//
F1148 it's just hard to stay in touch with them and like //make new friends//
F1149 //Yeah.//
F1148 again and I think just easier like the way it is now.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 Between, because it's quite easy to like go back and forth between Luxembourg and Glasgow, //so that's still easy//
F1149 //Yeah.//
F1148 to like stay in touch with your //friends but if you//
F1149 //With everyone, yeah.//
F1148 go like to too many places it's just too hard to stay in touch with everyone.
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 So, yeah. But yeah I could could sort of imagine //living there.//
F1149 //Cause that's, is that, that's where Nick studied, isn't it?// //In London.//
F1148 //Uh-huh, yeah.//
F1149 Did he like it, or?
F1148 Yeah, I think he really liked it. So maybe I can get him to take me. //[laugh]//
F1149 //[laugh]// //My cousin, like, she went to Uni, like in Cambridge, and she lives in London now,//
F1148 //[laugh]// Uh-huh.
F1149 and like she keeps saying that she doesn't want to stay there //forever, like she//
F1148 //Uh-huh.//
F1149 couldn't really settle there, but I think she's kind of got quite addicted to it. But I think there's always so much going on around //her, like where she//
F1148 //Yeah.//
F1149 stays, she stays in Kentish Town, like //near Camden and I think//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 she just really loves sort of the lifestyle and
F1148 Mmhm, see that's what would attract me, //to//
F1149 //Yeah.//
F1148 to London, to live there. But not so much. Cause I like I actually went there on, like, you know, one of thos- these city trips with my parents when I was about fourteen,
F1149 Mmhm.
F1148 and I really liked it then and I had this sort of idea of this beautiful town. But when I went back like last year just for the day to like //to visit Fraser, uh-huh,//
F1149 //To er Sandhurst?//
F1148 ehm you know, sort of walking about and I thought yeah, it's quite nice but nothing too special like, you know, //it's nothing//
F1149 //Yeah.//
F1148 that makes it any more special than Glasgow in any way //and it's just, like, it's nice,//
F1149 //Yeah. [laugh]//
F1148 but not as over-the-top nice as I had //like [inaudible], uh-huh.//
F1149 //As you thought it was.// Like sometimes if you go somewhere and you you really like it, and you don't go back //for ages, you can//
F1148 //Mmhm.//
F1149 build up a
F1148 Yeah.
F1149 like build it up in your //head to be sort of better than it might have been.//
F1148 //Mmhm.//

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Conversation 38: Two female students discussing school in the UK and Luxembourg and travel. 2024. In The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1575.

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"Conversation 38: Two female students discussing school in the UK and Luxembourg and travel." The Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2024. Web. 16 April 2024. http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/document/?documentid=1575.

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Information about Document 1575

Conversation 38: Two female students discussing school in the UK and Luxembourg and travel

Audio

Audio audience

Adults (18+)
For gender Mixed
Audience size 2

Audio awareness & spontaneity

Speaker awareness Aware
Degree of spontaneity Spontaneous

Audio footage information

Year of recording 2006
Recording person id 718
Size (min) 32
Size (mb) 182

Audio setting

Education
Recording venue University seminar room
Geographic location of speech Glasgow

Audio relationship between recorder/interviewer and speakers

Professional relationship
Speakers knew each other Yes

Audio speaker relationships

Friend
Members of the same group e.g. schoolmates

Audio transcription information

Transcriber id 718
Year of transcription 2006
Year material recorded 2006
Word count 6492

Audio type

Conversation

Participant

Participant details

Participant id 1148
Gender Female
Decade of birth 1980
Educational attainment Highers/A-levels
Age left school 19
Upbringing/religious beliefs Catholicism, although not very religious
Occupation Student
Place of birth Esch
Country of birth Luxembourg
Place of residence Glasgow
Region of residence Glasgow
Residence CSD dialect area Gsw
Country of residence Scotland
Father's place of birth Pétange
Father's country of birth Luxembourg
Mother's place of birth Pétange
Mother's country of birth Luxembourg

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes At university with friends
French Yes Yes Yes Yes At work, in shops, on holiday
German Yes Yes Yes Yes At work, in shops, on holiday
Luxembourgish; Letzeburgesch Yes Yes Yes Yes At home, at work
Spanish; Castilian Yes Yes Yes Yes On holiday

Participant

Participant details

Participant id 1149
Gender Female
Decade of birth 1980
Educational attainment Highers/A-levels
Age left school 17
Upbringing/religious beliefs Protestantism
Occupation Student
Place of birth Glasgow
Region of birth Glasgow
Birthplace CSD dialect area Gsw
Country of birth Scotland
Place of residence Glasgow
Region of residence Glasgow
Residence CSD dialect area Gsw
Country of residence Scotland
Father's occupation Economist
Father's place of birth Glasgow
Father's region of birth Glasgow
Father's birthplace CSD dialect area Gsw
Father's country of birth Scotland
Mother's occupation Housewife
Mother's place of birth Glasgow
Mother's region of birth Glasgow
Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area Gsw
Mother's country of birth Scotland

Languages

Language Speak Read Write Understand Circumstances
English Yes Yes Yes Yes

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