shougakkou chuugakou, koukou and daigaku

[kyou8]

As I was learning vocabulary i studied the words for the schools in jap.

I know the meaning of each word but i always get it wrong between the 2 first words, elementary school and middle school...

so i wanted to ask what's the meaning of the beginning of each word? shou, chuu and kou

 

[undrentide]

小学校 shougakkou 小 shou means small, here it is equivalent to "elementary"
中学校 chuugakkou 中 chuu means "middle"
高校（short for 高等学校）koukou (koutougakkou) 高 kou means "high" as it is to give higher education. (Same as high school.)

By the way, please write Japan/Japanese in full, as many people (including myself) find the word "jap" offensive.

 

[kyou8]

Thanks a lot! and sure i don't mind to write japanese in full but jap is a shortcut i've seen in lots of places like en is a shortcut for english so why do people consider it offensive?

 

[Toritoribe]

Jap - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Use jpn, if you want to type three letters by any means instead of only five or eight letters.