My Elementary School

Jack

Sept. 1, 2025

The elementary school I attended was located behind my village, with only a small moat separating them.
The moat surrounded my village, and the only entrance to the village was in the south.
When the children in my village went to school, they would leave through the entrance, then walk along the moat to the north until they reached the school.
The elementary school served children from four surrounding villages, including mine.
It was a shabby, old school, and I don’t know when it was constructed or by whom.
It consisted of several one-story rooms connected together, made of mud, wood, and straw.
The tables and stools were also made of mud and wheat straw, constructed by students under the guidance of our teachers during summer breaks.
The school had about five classes, from grade one to grade five, with each grade having only one class of about thirty students.
There were only three teachers in the school: one state-paid teacher and two part-time teachers who were also farmers. They taught both Chinese and mathematics.
In winter, we liked to take a shortcut by crossing the moat, as the ice was solid enough for us to walk across safely.
I studied at the school from grade one to grade five, a total of five years, before moving on to junior high school in my hometown.
I assume the teachers from the school are no longer around, as they were quite old.
I also don’t know when the school closed.
Everything changes, and I am no exception.

en 5

Correct

Corrections

SoydeMarte

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English does not require you to capitalize all nouns. You do that for proper nouns.

Jack

Sept. 3, 2025

Thank you very much.

SubarashiiSekai

The eElementary sSchool I attended was located behind my village, with only a small moat separating them.

Just touching up the capitalization

The moat surrounded my vVillage, and the only entrance to the vVillage was in the south.

People, Places, and Things are all capitalized

When the cChildren in my vVillage went to sSchool, they would leave through the eEntrance, then walk along the moat to the north until they reached the sSchool.

If another Native with a more scholastic grasp on Punctuation/Grammar Rules and the like could double-check this, I would appreciate it, but I believe that in this case, "Entrance" would, in fact, be capitalized, as it is closer to a proper Noun.

The eElementary sSchool served cChildren from four surrounding vVillages, —including mine.

Boop.

By the way: "Boop" is an onomatopoeia that is used when pressing things—usually with one's finger—be it a Button, or someone's arm; skin, etc. Since the touch is usually a light, playful, or gentle one: Me saying "Boop" here is a shorthand for (Correcting your sentence is easy because there aren't many mistakes)

It was a shabby, old sSchool, —and I don’t know when it was constructed —or by whom.

I have personally not heard "shabby" being used much outside of set-phrases, however it sounds like something that someone in the English-world would use. I also use "unorthodox" words like "ameliorate"—so this could simply pass as a matter of prose for you, however if you wanted some alternatives to consider:

- If the School was run-down, and not in good condition, you could say: "dilapidated"

- If your greatest issue was something intangible—such as the method of teaching, or social atmosphere: you could say: "unsatisfactory"

I also added some em dashes in for literary flare. You do not have to keep this if you do not like them (as some people unfortunately associate them with AI), however they make the sentences sound more fluid and artistic.

There were only three teachers in the school: one state-paid teacher and two part-time teachers who were also farmers.

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Not necessarily related: But this post was truly quite somber to read. In western culture, when we want to commiserate with another person's circumstances, we will say "I'm sorry" as a way to say "I empathize with what you went through, and wish to console you—even if only with these words"

So with that said: I am sorry that you had to experience that.

I would also like to take this opportunity to make a brief comment on your english ability. Reading through your post felt very reminiscent of when I used to read through books as part of class assignments back during my time in Elementary/Middle School. Your English was simultaneously simple, yet concise and impactful to the point where I could actively visualize a certain scene forming in my mind as I was reading through it. Since I have no means of measuring how long it took you to compose this—or how fluent you are in actual conversations, I cannot make a proper statement on your actual capabilities: however, at least as far as prose, framing, and sentence structure is concerned: You make most of the Natives that I have encountered online seem like kindergartners in comparison!

Keep up the good work!

Jack

Sept. 2, 2025

Thank you for your kind words, your corrections, and your explanations. Honestly speaking, my writing is better than my speaking. I can speak English, but I can only speak slowly and don't know many English words. In addition, I sometimes have difficulty expressing myself.

Indeed, I also noticed the phenomenon that native speakers don't do well when they leave comments on social media. I like to read the comments on some social media. Many Chinese people cannot leave comments without any mistakes, which is awful for those who are learning the language. Well, thank you again for your compliment.

PS. I wrote this message in about twenty minutes.

lingxiong

My Elementary School

The elementary school I attended was located behind my village, with only a small moat separating them.

The moat surrounded my village, and the only entrance to the village was in the south.

When the children in my village went to school, they would leave through the entrance, then walk along the moat to the north until they reached the school.

The elementary school served children from four surrounding villages, including mine.

It was a shabby, old school, and I don’t know when it was constructed or by whom.

Your sentence is correct, but to a native speaker we use the word "old" often with another adjective for emphasis. I don't think this was your intention here, but it might be interesting for you to look into and use in a future entry, since it's quite natural in this context to use it this way. For more info, look at #24 of this page https://www.dictionary.com/browse/old .

It consisted of several one-story rooms connected together, made of mud, wood, and straw.

The tables and stools were also made of mud and wheat straw, constructed by students under the guidance of our teachers during summer breaks.

The school had about five classes, from grades one to ~~grade~~ five, with each grade having only one class of about thirty students.

Same as another commentor...more natural but yours is still correct.

There were only three teachers in the school: one state-paid teacher and two part-time teachers who were also farmers.

They taught both Chinese and mathematics.

In winter, we liked to take a shortcut by crossing the moat, as the ice was solid enough for us to walk across safely.

I studied at the school from grade one to grade five, a total of five years, before moving on to the junior high school in my hometown.

Assuming there is only one junior high school. Otherwise, "one of the junior high schools...". The reason you need to specify is because you specifically say "in my hometown", so we assume you are talking about a specific school.

I assume the teachers from the school are no longer around, as they were quite old.

I also don’t know when the school closed.

Everything changes, and I am no exception.

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Nice story :)

Jack

Sept. 2, 2025

Thank you very much.

Fifi_Dubois

The elementary school I attended was located behind my village, with only a small moat separating them.

The moat surrounded my village, and the only entrance to the village was in the south.

When the children in my village went to school, they would leave through the entrance, then walk along the moat to the north until they reached the school.

The elementary school served children from four surrounding villages, including mine.

It consisted of several one-story rooms connected together, and made of mud, wood, and straw.

The tables and stools were also made of mud and wheat straw, and constructed by students under the guidance of outheir teachers during summer breaks.

The school had about five classes, from grades one to ~~grade~~ five, with each grade having only one class of about thirty students.

What you wrote is correct. What I wrote is less repetitive.

There were only three teachers in the school: one state-paid teacher and two part-time teachers who were also farmers.

In winter, we liked to take a shortcut by crossing the moat, as the ice was solid enough for us to walk across safely.

For better organization I would put this sentence near the beginning, after the sentence, “ When the children in my village went to school, they would leave through the entrance, then walk along the moat to the north until they reached the school.”

I studied at the school from grades one to ~~grade~~ five, a total of five years, before moving on to junior high school in my hometown.

What you wrote is correct. What I wrote is less repetitive.

I assume the teachers from the school are no longer around, as they were quite old.

I also don’t know when the school closed.

Everything changes, and I am no exception.

Feedback

Why are you writing single sentences instead of 2-3 paragraphs?

saintiago

My Elementary School

The elementary school I attended was located behind my village, with only a small moat separating them.

The moat surrounded my village, and the only entrance to the village was in the south.

When the children in my village went to school, they would leave through the entrance, then walk along the moat to the north until they reached the school.

The elementary school served children from four surrounding villages, including mine.

It was a shabby, old school, and I don’t know when it was constructed or by whom.

It consisted of several one-story rooms connected together, made of mud, wood, and straw.

The tables and stools were also made of mud and wheat straw, constructed by students under the guidance of our teachers during summer breaks.

The school had about five classes, from grade one to grade five, with each grade having only one class of about thirty students.

There were only three teachers in the school: one state-paid teacher and two part-time teachers who were also farmers.

They taught both Chinese and mathematics.

In winter, we liked to take a shortcut by crossing the moat, as the ice was solid enough for us to walk across safely.

I studied at the school from grade one to grade five, a total of five years, before moving on to junior high school in my hometown.

I assume the teachers from the school are no longer around, as they were quite old.

I also don’t know when the school closed.

Everything changes, and I am no exception.

Jack

Sept. 2, 2025

Thank you very much.

It consisted of several one-story rooms connected together, made of mud, wood, and straw.