What grade did you get in English class?

[LongDraw]

Just more of a curiosity than anything else, but I figured I'd open this one up.

Almost every single semester of K-12, I had either a D/D+ or an F. Part of that was my refusal to turn in completed homework I had on me.

*edit* Now that I have another moment to add more, based on CAT test scores 8th grade year, the district forced me to take Honors Bio, which I hated with a passion. 10-12 I did take Chemistry, Physics and AP Physics though as well as Mixed Choir in 9, and Concert Choir 10-12.

Senior year, I took the AF ASVAB and scored a perfect 100%, which had to be determined by comparing to the NHS students that missed questions, yet had upper 99% as their recorded score.

 

[lovecraft68]

Mostly C's and I struggled to get that. Any type of test that was memory based "what is a verb" I'd be fine with, but applying any type of grammar was hard for some reason.

On the other hand I was a borderline savant with numbers.

The thing about numbers is there are no 'ifs' 2+2 is always four, but there's 20 different rules for commas. Math has structure, English language is all over the place.

My first stories here are awful grammatically, but over the years I've gotten much better through practice and needing to learn if I want to be any good.

But its not something that comes natural to me.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My state had a scaling up parameter applied across the whole Year 12 cohort in my last year of high school - presumably because the average grade was "unsuitable" across the board. That meant that I and four others in my English class got 153/150, so we got scaled back to 150/150. What can I say, we read a lot.

On the other hand, I was in the bottom 25% of the state for maths, probably because I didn't like trig and log tables and stuff like that.

Also, we had a two week study vacation before the exams - I read my English and History texts over again, took one look at my maths and science texts and figured, if I don't know this shit by now I never will, and spent most of the two weeks stoned. I'd already got early entry into uni based on my mid-year trial exam results and teacher assessments, so the final exams didn't matter. As a consequence, I was pretty relaxed going into them, and did way better than I expected.

 

[TxRad]

Like I said before, the only way I passed High School English was to cut the English teachers grass. Sometimes there was a lawnmower involved.

In college I had an assigned tutor in English. I played football so....

Science and math were a cakewalk. My major in college was electro-chemical engineering.

In the end, I have three equivalency degrees. One in Electrical engineering, one in Petroleum Geology, and one in Computer Science.

 

[lovecraft68]

Like I said before, the only way I passed High School English was to cut the English teachers grass. Sometimes there was a lawnmower involved.

In college I had an assigned tutor in English. I played football so....

Science and math were a cakewalk. My major in college was electro-chemical engineering.

In the end, I have three equivalency degrees. One in Electrical engineering, one in Petroleum Geology, and one in Computer Science.

Seeing back in your day bushes were in vogue, I'm sure you did need a lawnmower

 

[Blind_Justice]

Straight A's.

As a German.

 

[XerXesXu]

Just more of a curiosity than anything else, but I figured I'd open this one up.

Almost every single semester of K-12, I had either a D/D+ or an F. Part of that was my refusal to turn in completed homework I had on me.

In England and Wales we did ‘O’ levels in English Language and English Literature in the Fifth Form, my school also did London School of Speech and Drama Certificate in Spoken English in the Lower Sixth. Language was the structure and grammar of English, comprehension and the ability to express yourself in writing. Literature, well, memorise essays on set texts. For Spoken I did Public Speaking and Debate. I got a 1, 2 and Certificate of Proficiency.

This was before assessment became fashionable. You sat the exam and were marked on that alone.

Some went on to do English Lit at ‘A’ level. I did Physics, Chemistry and Biology. ‘A’ levels were the hardest exams I ever sat, 11 papers in eight days!

 

[Zeb_Carter]

A's up until 5th grade, F in 5th, then once they figured out I needed glasses, I got C's as I never did the homework or I just never turned it in. That was grade School, K-8. In high school 9-12, I got B's in English and I was bored out of my mind. Yet K-8 I always had a hard time with spelling. Thank god for word processors.

Now in science I got straight A's K-12

 

[TxRad]

Seeing back in your day bushes were in vogue, I'm sure you did need a lawnmower

In some cases, a machete was mandatory.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Second decile, i.e. top 11-20%. I was OK in English but it wasn't one of my stronger subjects.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Math and science were an easy 'A'. English and social sciences were 'C' and 'D'.

In math, I could go a whole semester without missing any test questions. In English, it seemed they were looking for more "fluid" answers such as "What was the story about?" My thoughts were "The story was about several pages too long."

 

[Fervid]

Gentleman’s C’s, due to disinterest in homework, Shakespeare, and “meaning,” whatever that means.

But being semi-nerdy I was actually pretty good with the mechanical stuff, like grammar and SAT questions. So I slouched my way into a top Ivy, studied STEM, and relaxed again. I avoided English to the extent they let me.

Then I got into a profession which required actual work and a very specialized, technical writing style. I think that really hurts my fiction prose, but I get a perverse charge out of trying to improve it. Writing is fun!

Wish I could do it all again, of course.

 

[MrPixel]

Wow. I'm really thinking I should keep my f*cking mouth shut on this. But I'm having a frustrating and angering morning so far, so self-effacing modesty and tact are not my strong suits at the moment.

Straight 'A's and 'A+'s, 1-12, 'A's in college. And 800/800 on the verbal half of the SAT.

The irony is I was an engineering major who went into computers as a career. What could have been. OTOH, we computer geeks had a joke about English or Lit majors and their career prospects outside of academia, "Do you want fries with that?"

 

[Omenainen]

English as a language or my native language as literature and writing etc? Doesn't matter, I suppose, because I don't remember my scores in either one. I did well in both, but didn't get perfect scores. I was way too busy with other things when I was school age to get perfect scores in anything.

 

[oggbashan]

I took the Australian Matriculation Certificate (i.e University Entrance)


In English Expression (a compulsory subject for everyone) a solid pass. That included logic and rhetoric.


In English Literature a second class honours (= A in UK A Level terms - First Honours would have been A+)


Later I took a UK Civil Service Post Graduate examination. I scored in the top 10% for English including Literature.

Edited for PS:

Much later I was working for local government when my post was abolished. They insisted I had to take four tests for middle managers before each interview. They hadn't read my Cv which included the fact that for a decade I had been assessing similar tests for suitability for my previous employer.

The four tests were:

1. Use of English

2. Mathematics including finance e.g Statements of annual accounts etc.

3. Non verbal reasoning

4. Psychological Profile.

At my first attempt my scores were:

1. 99%
2: 99%
3. 100%

They used exactly the same tests for five subsequent interviews and I had 100% for all three. Why not? The questions were identical.



In each case, I was interviewed by three managers. But later I was told that their combined scores added together had been lower than mine i.e they had scored about 30% each.


The Psychological Profile?

Consistent. Paraphrased: A difficult man to manage because he would challenge any decision he felt was flawed. His attention to detail and possible consequences was exemplary, and worst of all, in almost every case he would be right.

I didn't get any of the posts. The interviewers were terrified of me.

 

[SimonDoom]

English and history were always my best subjects. I loved English. I was a nerd who enjoyed diagramming sentences. Mostly As. I went on to study it in college as well.

 

[shakna]

Well, it's a while ago... But from what I recall, I failed English in Prep/Kinder because I didn't actually speak the language (Spanish). But I got 100% on all four of my English exams for the end of high school.

Oh, and toss in another year of complete failure for Year 8 - I stopped speaking altogether for that year, which seriously irked the teachers and had them trying to intimidate me into speaking rather than understanding why I didn't want to.

Maybe there's a thing with computing and decent English though - I went into IT, like MrPixel.

 

[NC_Coastal]

English major.

 

[LongDraw]

20 year IT vet here with a BS in Business Administration. I programmed in 15 different languages, but only retained English fluency.

 

[Demiurging]

D at best.

My attitude until college was "teach me what you want me to learn during the time you have", couldn't be bothered with homework. After that, just being in a place where the students wanted to be there did wonders for my outlook and I mostly got Bs and As.

 

[karaline]

Just more of a curiosity than anything else, but I figured I'd open this one up.

Almost every single semester of K-12, I had either a D/D+ or an F. Part of that was my refusal to turn in completed homework I had on me.

*edit* Now that I have another moment to add more, based on CAT test scores 8th grade year, the district forced me to take Honors Bio, which I hated with a passion. 10-12 I did take Chemistry, Physics and AP Physics though as well as Mixed Choir in 9, and Concert Choir 10-12.

Senior year, I took the AF ASVAB and scored a perfect 100%, which had to be determined by comparing to the NHS students that missed questions, yet had upper 99% as their recorded score.

I failed all my GCSEs (UK) on leaving school.

As an adult i resat maths and english, when about a decade ago, it became necessary that employers ask for a literacy and numeracy qualification for all potential employees. I got an A* in english, it was the highest grade in the college that year. In the week following results day, I failed a routine literacy test that was sprung on me to see if I was a suitable candidate for a work related training course. Comme ci, comme ça.

 

[DarkWhispers2U]

I got fairly high grades all through school just to find out when I went to college that my teachers hadn't been challenging us at all. I wasn't nearly ready for college-level work.

Did have my English professor ask if I'd consider switching majors to English, though. That was nice.

 

[LongDraw]

I failed all my GCSEs (UK) on leaving school.

As an adult i resat maths and english, when about a decade ago, it became necessary that employers ask for a literacy and numeracy qualification for all potential employees. I got an A* in english, it was the highest grade in the college that year. In the week following results day, I failed a routine literacy test that was sprung on me to see if I was a suitable candidate for a work related training course. Comme ci, comme ça.

That's harsh!

 

[Wifetheif]

My grades in English were always good. But I went to a very bad public school system so "good" is relative. I was always an A or B student except for my senior year. My teacher that year was a pedophile who undressed all the boys with his eyes and made all of us uncomfortable. We complained to the principal who claimed we were lying and trying to besmirch an "excellent" teacher. I refused to do any work for the pervert and for the only time in my life got a C in English.
The kicker? About 15 years after I graduated this "excellent" teacher got busted by a cop when he was spied propositioning a teenage boy outside an adult book store! You have to wonder how many boys he creeped out in that time.

 

[Comshaw]

Grade school was a pass/fail grading system for me. I don't remember failing any classes, so I must have done tolerable in English. As an aside, my 1st to 6th grade class numbered no more (and sometimes less) than 9 kids. To be truthful, that was 50-60 years ago so it is a bit fuzzy. Middle school (called Jr. High school when I went) and high school I passed all my classes, even English. If my fuzzy memory serves me correctly, I carried a 3.9 up until I was in grade 11. That year the universe decided I needed to learn a thing or two, my life fell apart and I dropped out.

In the early '90s (I was in my 40's) I decided to go back to school. I went to my local community college and talked to a counselor. Because the GED I had received when I went into the army had been transmuted to a high school diploma, I was accepted.

They gave me a battery of placement tests, which determined that I didn't need any refresher classes. Off I went: English 111 a 3.8, English 112 a 3.8, Technical writing a 3.9.

All my classes were evening classes because I was also working full time. Eventually, they offered an evening Creative Writing class. I scored a 4.0 for that one.


Comshaw