I’m probably again just asking a question that has already been asked lots of times before, but regardless.
both of these basically mean the same.
One means girl, young woman, young girl.
The other means girl or woman.
When is it appropriate to use which?
I made a thread about that, and other “girl” words, if you are interested.
Oh, what a helpful thread! Thank you 
Would you be kind enough to add ages on your thread ?
I’m not from the US/UK and have no idea what age kindergarten and stuff cover.
Sure, I can google it, I’ve done it in the past but it doesn’t stick 
Also, I think ガール is used to describe the young girls that are tanned and have polished nails (the kind you see in harajuku or something). Could use confirmation but heard it on -japanese- TV the other day.
Kindergarten is before first grade. So typically 5 or 6 years old. Also, it isn’t only in the US and UK, seeing as the word itself is german.
Well we’re not just 3 countries you know ? 
I didn’t say it is just those three countries, and it isn’t. No point in arguing but I am sure most countries do have kindergarten. It’s interesting that you hadn’t heard of it though…
You sure it wasn’t ギャル?
Some of them already have ages, but I added more to the 女児 one.
I’m not arguing and I’ve heard of it. I’m just saying when you’re not from one of the few countries to use this word (and actually I was referring to all the scholarship related words be it high school or whatever), you don’t necessarily get a clear or instant image of the age span that these words cover.
Thank you !
Oh you’re probably right, I just heard ga-lu but I have no idea how it’s spelled.
My bad then.
Sort of moot at this point but I’d also like to add that the UK doesn’t have kindergarten. The school system is quite different to the US.
Interesting, actually I just assumed it since they mentioned it in their post. But regardless of the name, I think most countries would have a kind of school preparation year? Because thats all kindergarten really is… In the US they not only have kindergarten, but there is also pre-school before it. I believe both are optional, not sure about kindergarten though.
In the UK, the first stage is nursery, and then you move up to reception. I’m not entirely sure what the ages (think it starts at 5) are but I’m fairly certain that they’re both compulsory. And yeah, they seem to serve a similar purpose.
Topic derailment \o/
Anyway in the Netherlands, at ages 4-12, you’re in ‘basic school’, where the first two years are basically kindergarten, the preparation years. from ‘group 3’ on, you start learning things like reading, writing and calculations. Then you go to what we actually call ‘middle school’, which is ages 13-16, 13-17 or 13-18, depending on what sort of middle school you go to. This is determined by how well you performed in basic school. I don’t know if I quite agree with this mentality tbh because it leads to kids who didn’t perform as well in basic school to be seen as dumb by a lot of people, but that’s the way things are in the Netherlands.
After the middle school, you can go to a ‘high school’ or a university. There’s a ‘practical vs theoretical’ divide here.
School systems are interesting ^.^
my school did! That was a while ago though…
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