[Vocabulary] lesson, class, period

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englishhobby

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In Longman Dictionary period=lesson (BrE)
In the following sentence:
What class do you have first period? see http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/period_1
can we substitute the word period with the word lesson?
Can we substitute the underlined words with one of the other two (class with lesson or period, period with lesson or class)?
What are the possible variants of this particular sentence?
 

MikeNewYork

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In my opinion, the original is the best. It is possible to substitute "lesson" for "class", but that is all.
 

englishhobby

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What synonym could you give for period in this particular context? (What class do you have first period?)

If period is not lesson in this context, then what? In this forum I was told they say "first/second thing" instead of "the first/second period". Is there another synonym?
Period, thing...? The word (or words) may not necessarily be suitable for this particular sentence. I just want to know the meaning of period in it.

In my language we just say: "What is our second lesson today?" or "The second lesson we have today is maths". We can't use two synonymic words (like period and class) in one sentence. It would sound like "The second lesson today is an English lesson".
 
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MikeNewYork

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In my dialect, a period is a time during which something happens.
 

Matthew Wai

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'What class do you have first session?'
Does it make sense?
 

Barb_D

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This is one of those times when American English will have one way to say it, British English another, and no doubt Australian, Indian, and Canadian English their own way as well.

These work in the American school system:
What class you do you have first period?
What do you have first period?

We don't have "lessons" (those are individual things you learn in class - our lesson today is on the post-Civil-War period, or outside of school, like a piano lesson) and we don't call our periods "sessions."

If you are speaking to an American about the American school system, don't change it.

We need British (and other speakers) to explain how to say it where they live.
 
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