What has been the most important school subject in your adult life?

Math I have loved anything to do with figures all my life since school, carried on and did a 4 1/4 year apprenticeship in book keeping and other office work.

French was not my favourite subject but I was well taught and it introduced me to grammar as there was minimal grammar in our English language curriculum. It is great to be able to use the language to this day - with some updates.

English, German, Latin, history and music.

Art and Latin, although Art lessons were absolutely useless.

Sociology

I was talking about this with my son recently. The subject that has been most useful to me is O level Domestic Science which I took as an add-on. We were taught nutritional values and balanced meal planning as well as basic cookery skills. This has helped me to raise three very healthy sons and wean my Scottish OH off sweet things and introduce him to green vegetables! My mother was an excellent cook but limited in knowledge.

In my career, English was most beneficial as I spent many years teaching it as a foreign language in many countries. My grounding in grammar still is useful in many ways, I even am trying to get my grand daughter to understand our language and its construction, grammar having been pretty absent from her school curriculum.

The obvious one for me is music because it has been my life and career. However, nothing is completely separate from everything else so l would say that English and maths were equally important. History is another important subject because it means that a piece of music can be placed in the context of the time it was written, which helps to bring it to life. Finally, French and German. Although Italian is the lingua franca of music, many composers have written instructions in their own language. Sadly not very often in English although Percy Grainger, the early twentieth century composer of Country Gardens fame, tried it. I love his names for the string instruments. Instead of first and second violins, viola and ‘cello, he called them first fiddle, second fiddle, middle fiddle and bass fiddle.

Biology O Level in 1961.
It gave me so much confidence when I became a SAHM for a few short years in the 1970s It gave me a decent understanding of nutrition, basic anatomy and growth, plants both edible and otherwise.
I was too squeamish to go on with it when it came to dissection, and took the gentle option of French, German and Latin. But I am really only half-educated.

English and Latin

French & English/English Literature

Domestic Science and Needlework. Both provided me with horror stories I’ve repeated throughout my life and taught me how pupils shouldn’t be treated.

Without a doubt English and touch typing course. Forget Binary, Trigonometry and Calculus which I never had any use of at all and I worked in a bank. And never understand them!

English. I've worked in care for the majority of my adult life and I'm able to accurately and with correct spelling, record the peoples care. That matters.

I did have a giggle when I looked at someone's notes and the previous person had written "Mr X was unarousable this morning". Pretty sure she meant unrousable,as we're not meant to arouse our patients!

The one thing I did struggle with was the correct spelling of diarrhoea but I saw a thread on Mumsnet that gave this tip.... Doesn't It Run Really Horribly Over Each Ankle, so I could stop whimping out and writing "Frequent, loose stools". 😂

English language; as a secretary for all my working life it was invaluable. Shorthand and typewriting come a close joint second place as although retired I use both regularly.

Needlework by far and away the most useful followed by English language and Maths.

English and history at secondary school plus arithmetic at junior school.

JaneJudge you were fortunate to go to a good school, there wasn’t hardly anything that has been useful to me. We had to put up with unacceptable behaviour from the pottery teacher (walking about with his penis exposed) domestic science teacher talking of her violent home life, art and history canoodling in each others classes, geography having a ‘thing’ with the head girl!

Were

Snuggy - English but only because I liked it. My daughter is a teacher &when I see the effort she makes for her pupils, I realise that the vast majority of my teachers were lazy bullies with no real interest in teaching. Having attended high school in what now would be considered a socially deprived area, I can see how those "teachers" we're simply doing the minimum to get by.

All of it!

Geography

Spanish because I have loved in South America

English, Art and Biology.

But the biggest lesson learnt in my Grammar school was how stuck up/snobbish certain people are, and how people are assessed by their jobs/income/housing situation. How certain people look up to or down on others because of it [and how they treat/talk to them]....and think what you have counts more than who you are.

That left it's mark on me. I experienced and witnessed some nasty stuff. It dictated how I've lived my life since. I vowed never to be like some of the teachers, pupils and their parents. It taught me how not to be. I also reject the current celebrity/reality tv 'stars' culture for the same reasons. The outside appearance/money is no indicator of the character inside.

[My first school was terrific though].

Definitely French. I loved it from day 1 and it found me the right job at a difficult time in my life.

Oh GG just seen your post about making a roux Our teacher told us never be without a balloon whisk and your sauces will never have lumps. She was right!