To be concerned about education when

[careeristbitchnigel]

The 18 year old i'm working with (english)

• could not tell me the name of the Queen
• did not know that the UK was an island
• did mot know that London is our capital city

My colleague and i were literally

Britain consists of a number of islands and a small part of another one. The term The British Isles is incorrect as the Republic of Ireland has no relation to Britain whatsoever. Partition occurred in 1922.

I work with a 25 year old who starts all her emails with "I hope your well" She signs off with her name and BSc MSc. Education ain't what it used to be.

Yes, London is the capital of the UK as a whole. But it's slightly more complicated than "London is the UK's capital", isn't it?

I thought Kim Kardashian was the queen

It is education though, and something we learned during primary school. Yes our parents had the news on tv and we heard about general knowledge here, but mainly it was school.

are you K K suburbian

I've just asked my 11 and 7 year olds those questions and they got them right apart from the 7 year old who didn't know what a continent was when I asked if GB was a continent or an island. My 11 year old has ASD and his home educated. I am obviously doing something right!

Strictly speaking, the name of the queen is 'lizard woman', the UK is an underwater archipelago and the capital is Atlantis.

The big island is Great Britain.

The British Isles includes GB, The island of Irelend, and all the smaller islands.

The United Kingdom is GB and Northern Ireland (and also the independent Isle of Man (part of the British Isles) and Channel Islands (not part), who don't get a mention in the formal name of the country).

London is the capital of England and UK.

The United Kingdom is GB and Northern Ireland (and also the independent Isle of Man (part of the British Isles) and Channel Islands (not part), who don't get a mention in the formal name of the country).

I might have misunderstood what you meant, but the Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom. They are part of the British Islands.

Apparently the queen is called Elizabeth Alexandra Mary.

I didn't know that!

The Isle of Man isn't part of the UK (or the EU) either. It is a crown dependancy, also 'British Islands'.

I wish, mrsjay, though I might pass on the arse

Teacher: Today we will learn about the name of the queen
Student: Why? Can't we learn something useful?
Teacher: NO! There are people out there who are concerned about your education.
Student: Couldn't I just ask my mum? She had a proper education according to the papers

that back side looks mega comfy though suburbian

So you and a colleague are firing/asking questions at an 18 yr old. we have no context, nor do we have any reason for you doing this.

Do you do this to other colleagues or just 18 yr. olds?
Why is the 18 yr. old not a colleague?
TBH honest without any context, it sounds like you are belittling the 18 yr. old, you may even be bullying them.

I have to say Boney I don't think this has ever come up as a topic of conversation at work. The only time we got close was when HR wanted a copy of a valid UK or EU passport and I wasn't sure if I had one as mine says British Islands and the CI aren't or weren't technically part of the EU. Turns out they didn't actually mean UK, they meant British. They 18 year old and the OP aren't the only people to get the political and geographical terms mixed up. Most of the time it's not really important though.

Rafa

I am just curious as to whether the OP and her colleagues have these conversations all the time or are having fun at the expense of the younger age groups.

I thought there was an important comma
The United Kingdom of Great Britain, and Norther Ireland.

I met a 23 year old doctor trainee who had no idea who/what tutankhamun was, I was shocked to say the least!

Whilst the British Isles is a phrase which understandably pisses a lot of Irish people off, it is a handy phrase to express what subject a child who thinks that Dublin is the capital of Northern Ireland needs to revise.

Would a comma there not imply that NI isn't part of the UK?

OP. What gives you the right to judge? Perhaps we should judge your punctuation and other glaring errors.

Not surprised at all, I work with a 21 year old who astounds us with her lack of knowledge and observations, she is the sweetest girl you could hope to meet but totally blinkered to the world beyond her immediate surroundings. She is at university!
it does keep us amused though

I suspect part of it came up in conversation and then she was grilled.

I'm not totally sure what it has to do with the education system either. There's probably loads of stuff I learnt at school that I've forgotten and others have remembered and vice versa. It's not necessarily a reflection on the school or the system of education. If I'm honest I'm not sure all that time I spent in yr 3 colouring in maps of the Channel Islands and the UK was time well spent.