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three R's

three R's

Date: Jun 08 2005

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“Public education was never meant to only teach the three R’s, history and science.”

Donald Trump, talking about the weakness in some public elementary
schools.

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

readin’, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic’ (reading, writing and arithmetic); it’s a silly way to talk about what we learn in school

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

When kids are in school, their parents may talk about the three R’s, but without explaining what it means, how would a kid ever guess?

It’s actually a little bit of a joke that even after learning the three R’s, we still can’t spell, since only one of the R’s actually starts with an R: reading. The other two, writing and arithmetic, contain R’s.

We use this phrase, the three R’s, in a way to make fun of ourselves when talking about school.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

“Are you learning a lot in school? Are your teachers teaching you the three R’s?”

“Are you learning a lot in school? Are your teachers teaching you the three R’s?”

“When I was a kid, all we learned was the three R’s. There wasn’t anything else interesting that the teachers did.”

“We should really be teaching our kids more than the three R’s in school. Art and music are also very important.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

Three R’s means what you learn @ elementary school. Readin’, Writin’, and ‘Rithmetic which are the main subjects.
Even nowadays, Three R’s are switching to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
by ADIEL (BOGOTA, COLOMBIA)
When it comes to education, the 3Rs might refer to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.
by Katia (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
the basic things that children have to learn
by iman (Ahwaz, Iran)
reading,writing and arithmetic
by amir (mashhad, iran)
Three R’s consists of arithmetic, reading and writing.
by Matilda (Taipei, ROC)
Reading, Riting(writing), and aRithmetic, considered as the fundamentals of elementary education.
by Lilian (Taipei, Taiwan , R.O.C)
three R’s means read, write and arithmetic,here I think it means the very very fundamental factors of elementary education.
by michael (shanghai, china)

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