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  3. Education / Pedagogy

écrasé par les copies dans un collège ultrasensible

English translation: overwhelmed by the amount of marking to do in a difficult school

13:52 Sep 5, 2006
French to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Education / Pedagogy
French term or phrase: écrasé par les copies dans un collège ultrasensible
I have a reference to "un professeur de français écrasé par les copies dans un collège ultrasensible".
I'm not sure how to translate ecrase or ultrasensible. Thank you for your suggestions
Amelie-san
English translation:overwhelmed by the amount of marking to do in a difficult school
Explanation:
"Copies" refers to tests or exam papers (subtext: corriger des copies) or more generally marking.

As for the term "difficult school" see web reference below.

J'espere vous avoir rendu service!
Selected response from:

Ian Davies
Australia
Local time: 12:04
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2overwhelmed by the amount of marking to do in a difficult school
Ian Davies
4 +1overwhelmed/staggering under the burden of work/papers to correct at an ultrasensitive high school
Anna Maria Augustine (X)
4submerged by the number of copies to be corrected in a difficult school environment
Drmanu49
4 -1swamped under the essays to score in a disadvantaged high school
Piotr Burzykowski
3weighed down by the marking in a highly sensitive secondary school environment
suezen
3struggling to keep up with (his/her) marking in a highly-charged school environment
Sandra Petch
3 -1worn down by the sheer volume of the marking in a downmarket comprehensive
CMJ_Trans (X)


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
submerged by the number of copies to be corrected in a difficult school environment


Explanation:
In this case this refers to a very French system which grades junior high schools according to the socio-economical settings and to recorded "violence".

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Note added at 11 mins (2006-09-05 14:03:17 GMT)
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This suggests that the students are difficult with a low level of acquired skills in French.

Drmanu49
France
Local time: 04:04
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 316
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23 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
swamped under the essays to score in a disadvantaged high school


Explanation:
more idiomatic

Piotr Burzykowski
Poland
Local time: 04:04
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in PolishPolish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Ian Davies: Sorry, Piotr, but "scoring essays" doesn't sound idiomatic to me. They are not necessarily essays either. I think "marking" would be a more idiomatic term. No hard feelings!
10 mins
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27 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
overwhelmed by the amount of marking to do in a difficult school


Explanation:
"Copies" refers to tests or exam papers (subtext: corriger des copies) or more generally marking.

As for the term "difficult school" see web reference below.

J'espere vous avoir rendu service!

Example sentence(s):
  • what it is like to be a teacher in a difficult school faced with defiance, aggression and verbal and physical abuse.

    Reference: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0415185238?v=glance
Ian Davies
Australia
Local time: 12:04
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sandra Petch: (in response to Anna Maria's comment) - what about "problem school" or possibly "inner-city school" depending on the context?
33 mins
neutral  Anna Maria Augustine (X): We don't really use the term difficult school in English, however...:)
36 mins
agree  Aisha Maniar: you could say "challenging school" - certainly more PC
1 hr
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25 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
overwhelmed/staggering under the burden of work/papers to correct at an ultrasensitive high school


Explanation:
*

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Note added at 32 mins (2006-09-05 14:24:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Overwhelmed by....at a high poverty secondary school.

Why Do High-Poverty Schools Have Difficulty Staffing Their ...
The data indicate that school staffing problems are not primarily due to ... The data show that high-poverty public schools, especially those in urban ...
www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=252682 - 28k - Cached - Similar pages

Anna Maria Augustine (X)
France
Local time: 04:04
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  chaplin: coucou!
3 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
weighed down by the marking in a highly sensitive secondary school environment


Explanation:
I'm just wondering if it does actually mean numbers or whether they're talking about the poor standard and the teacher is struggling to cope with poor performance. As it's not certain from the phrase, it may be better to avoid talking about quantity ...

suezen
Local time: 04:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 234
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
struggling to keep up with (his/her) marking in a highly-charged school environment


Explanation:
Just another suggestion - the more options you have the more you can mix and match!

For me, "ultrasensible" suggests a bomb ticking away which gave me the idea for "highly charged."

Sandra Petch
Local time: 04:04
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 14
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33 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
worn down by the sheer volume of the marking in a downmarket comprehensive


Explanation:
Waterloo Road

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Note added at 4 hrs (2006-09-05 18:04:33 GMT)
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worn down by the task of marking in one of the tougher comprehensive schools - that more PC for you?

CMJ_Trans (X)
Local time: 04:04
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 51

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Sandra Petch: I don't agree with "downmarket" for "ultrasensible" / Nothing to do with being PC. IMO "downmarket" suggests shabby whereas "ultrasensible" implies poor results, lack of resources, bullying...
29 mins
  -> I admit it may not be the best term but it is calling a spade a spade - doubtless not PC enough for your generation!
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