Recently, Ayako Egawa wrote to us from Japan about how teachers in different countries use different symbols to mark right and wrong answers in school. She wrote:

"I enjoy my teaching job and I found an interesting cultural difference between Japan and other countries. It’s about how to mark correct and incorrect answers.

In Japan, ○ (a circle, ‘maru’ in Japanese) means correct. × (a cross, ‘batsu’ in Japanese) means incorrect. It’s our custom.

Recently, I found out where I work that the meanings of a circle and cross are different in other countries. Teachers from the Philippines and England say ○  means incorrect and × means correct."

In the USA, "x" means an answer is wrong and a check mark ✓ or not marking it at all means it’s correct.

I asked Monique Palomares what symbols they use in France. She replied:

"We put an ‘x’ or a check mark ✓ when it’s right and a ‘0’ when it’s wrong."

Ayako wrote about symbols for marking attendance:

"At my work (an English school), teachers write marks on the attendance sheet. Japanese people mark ○ for  present  and × for absent on the space next to each student’s name. But some foreign teachers mark × for present. It’s confusing remembering what ○ means for foreign teachers in Japan. Teachers from England mark P for present instead of ○ (circle). I found it interesting the difference between Japan and other countries."

Monique wrote from France:

"To mark the attendance sheet, at least in primary school, only absences are marked: a horizontal line means ‘absent in the morning’, a vertical line means ‘absent in the afternoon’, which means that if a pupil misses a whole day, there is a + in the day’s box."

Feel free to share with us how you mark correct or incorrect answers and/or how you mark attendance in your country in the comments below.

Thanks to Ayako and Monique for sharing with us!

Mama Lisa