at the lessons / in the lessons

[englishhobby]

Are both sentences correct and natural? If yes, could you please explain the difference in their meaning and use?

1) What do you usually do at the lessons and after classes?
2) What do you usually do in the lessons and after classes?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

They're both wrong. We don't do anything at or in lessons. We just learn lessons. We either learn them in class or as homework.

 

[teechar]

- Who are you saying that to, and why?
- Consider using "during", although "in" can work.

 

[englishhobby]

They're both wrong. We don't do anything at or in lessons. We just learn lessons. We either learn them in class or as homework.

Can't I use "in the lessons" as a synonym to "in class"?

- What activities do you usually do in your (English) lessons?
- We do a lot of translation work, listening and reading.

If not, could you please rephrase this exchange to sound more natural.

 

[englishhobby]

- Who are you saying that to, and why?
- Consider using "during", although "in" can work.

I want to use "in the lessons" as a synonym to "in class":

- What do you usually do in your (English) lessons?
- We do a lot of translation work, listening and reading.

Is this exchange unnatural? How would you change it to sound more natural?

 

[tedmc]

Lessons are the things learned in class. The contents in school books are sometimes called Lesson 1, Lesson 2, etc.
I think it is not common to call the class session a lesson. It would be okay to say "during a lesson" as in "in the course of a learning process".

 

[teechar]

- What do you usually do in your (English) lessons?

Say perhaps:
What kind of activities do your English lessons involve?
The second line is okay.

 

[GoesStation]

That's OK in BrE.

And in American English.

 

[jutfrank]

Teachers typically call the session during which stuff is taught 'a lesson'. One lesson might last, say 45 minutes.

It makes sense then to use time prepositions to say things like during the lesson and in the lesson. However, at doesn't work.

 

[GoesStation]

However, at doesn't work.

"At my piano lesson" works for me.

 

[jutfrank]

"At my piano lesson" works for me.

In what context? Only when the lesson is seen as a place, right? I didn't think to mention that possibility, since we're talking here about a lesson as a durational event.

 

[GoesStation]

In what context? Only when the lesson is seen as a place, right? I didn't think to mention that possibility, since we're talking here about a lesson as a durational event.

It's both a place and a time. I had a piano lesson every week, so "at my piano lesson" in the singular would refer to a specific lesson; that is, one session at my teacher's studio.

 

[emsr2d2]

Lessons are the things learned in class. The contents in school books are sometimes called Lesson 1, Lesson 2, etc.
I think it is not common to call the class session a lesson. It would be okay to say "during a lesson" as in "in the course of a learning process".

In the UK, a "class session" (which we wouldn't say) is called a "lesson". When I was at school, we had assembly, then two lessons before break, two lessons before lunch, and three more lessons before going home.

 

[englishhobby]

In the UK, a "class session" (which we wouldn't say) is called a "lesson". When I was at school, we had assembly, then two lessons before break, two lessons before lunch, and three more lessons before going home.

And what do you call "lessons" at a university? Are they also "lessons" or is there another word for a "university lesson"?
(I am interested in the activities practiced during a "university lesson".)

 

[englishhobby]

In what context? Only when the lesson is seen as a place, right? I didn't think to mention that possibility, since we're talking here about a lesson as a durational event.

I can't see any difference between "at my English lesson" and "in my English lesson"... In both cases it means "when I was/am studying a subject in the classroom", doesn't it?

 

[englishhobby]

Does the sentence "What do you usually do in your English class?" sound better to an American ear?
(The person asking this question expects to hear the description of the typical learning (academic) activities practiced in the classroom during a "lesson".)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In the UK, a "class session" (which we wouldn't say) is called a "lesson". When I was at school, we had assembly, then two lessons before break, two lessons before lunch, and three more lessons before going home.

I see!

In the US places where I've lived, a single session is called a class, and each bit of study that makes up a class is called a lesson: Today in English class we had lessons in grammar, punctuation, and poetry.

But study outside school does use lesson, not class, as in GoesStation's piano lesson. So you go to your music class at school and your piano lesson after school.

Your assembly is our homeroom. Here, an assembly is a large gathering of many classes, usually in an auditorium. As if.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Does the sentence "What do you usually do in your English class?" sound better to an American ear?

Yes. To my two, anyway!

(The person asking this question expects to hear the description of the typical learning (academic) activities [a.k.a. lessons] practiced in the classroom [STRIKE]during a "lesson"[/STRIKE].)

That's what I know.