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  3. Education / Pedagogy

Auswahlgymnasium

English translation: Competitive/selective entry grammar school

10:16 Feb 20, 2006
German to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Education / Pedagogy
German term or phrase: Auswahlgymnasium
Auswahlgymnasium

(from a curriculum vitae/resumé)
njbeckett
Germany
Local time: 10:39
English translation:Competitive/selective entry grammar school
Explanation:
This would be what it was called in the UK; a school to which entry was subject to previous school results, or a direct entry examination.

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Note added at 48 mins (2006-02-20 11:05:32 GMT)
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"Selective entry" scores 316 googles, and "competitive entry" 84.
So I would recommend "selective".

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Note added at 2 hrs (2006-02-20 12:25:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

We must remember that M-W is an American English dictionary, and cannot be expected to get all British English nuances right. For that reason, the definition it gives for a grammar school of a "British college preparatory school" is a little misleading. A "preparatory school" in UK usage is generally understood to be a private school for children of 6 or 7 to 13 years of age, usually preparing them for public school - the ENGLISH sort. That "public school" is, again in the UK, if you please, a "secondary school, especially a boarding school run independently of the state, financed by endowments and by pupils' fees". A "College" in UK use (I cannot overstress that I am talking of the UK usage the whole time) is generally an advanced education establishment (i.e., for children/students who have left a secondary school), often attached to one of the universities.
And to me, the nearest equivalent of the German "Gymnasium" in the UK is a grammar school. This is defined as "a secondary school which emphasises the study of academic rather than technical subjects".

QED.

All definitions from Chambers 21st. Century English Dictionary.

So my advice to njb is to ask his client where the CV is to be used; this may make his task easier - and I won't even mind if it's for use in the USA...
Selected response from:

David Moore (X)
Local time: 10:39
Grading comment
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4Competitive/selective entry grammar school
David Moore (X)
3Just for info
IanW (X)
2magnet school
Steven Sidore


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Just for info


Explanation:
David, here's what my Merriam-Webster says:

a : a secondary school emphasizing Latin and Greek in preparation for college b : a British college preparatory school
2 : a school intermediate between primary school and high school
3 : ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

I'm sure you and most British people would understand this as being 1b, but my point is that people outside the UK might not interpret this the same way, and the above definitions range very widely!

IanW (X)
Local time: 10:39
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 43

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  David Moore (X): Ian, the poster is trying to get the best equivalent of the German, and I think my posting was correct, for the UK, as I stated....By the way, what IS "1b"?? The prime definition (to me) is 1a, although "2" (?) could also be so interpreted.
24 mins
  -> 1b is "a British college preparatory school" (or are you asking what it means?)
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44 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Competitive/selective entry grammar school


Explanation:
This would be what it was called in the UK; a school to which entry was subject to previous school results, or a direct entry examination.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 48 mins (2006-02-20 11:05:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Selective entry" scores 316 googles, and "competitive entry" 84.
So I would recommend "selective".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2006-02-20 12:25:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

We must remember that M-W is an American English dictionary, and cannot be expected to get all British English nuances right. For that reason, the definition it gives for a grammar school of a "British college preparatory school" is a little misleading. A "preparatory school" in UK usage is generally understood to be a private school for children of 6 or 7 to 13 years of age, usually preparing them for public school - the ENGLISH sort. That "public school" is, again in the UK, if you please, a "secondary school, especially a boarding school run independently of the state, financed by endowments and by pupils' fees". A "College" in UK use (I cannot overstress that I am talking of the UK usage the whole time) is generally an advanced education establishment (i.e., for children/students who have left a secondary school), often attached to one of the universities.
And to me, the nearest equivalent of the German "Gymnasium" in the UK is a grammar school. This is defined as "a secondary school which emphasises the study of academic rather than technical subjects".

QED.

All definitions from Chambers 21st. Century English Dictionary.

So my advice to njb is to ask his client where the CV is to be used; this may make his task easier - and I won't even mind if it's for use in the USA...

David Moore (X)
Local time: 10:39
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 61

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  IanW (X): Would most people outside the UK know what a grammar school is? / See my answer for further information
11 mins
  -> Hi Ian: take a look at Merriam-Webster; and weight the other comment - I cannot see an "elementary school" teaching Latin and Greek, can you?
neutral  Steven Sidore: I take it back, Ian's actually right. A 'grammar school' in the US is a synonym for a primary school (elementary school), in the UK it's for higher grades.//I'm with Ian. Your term is fine, it's a question of whether it'll be misunderstood internationally
18 mins
  -> See my reply to Ian...
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40 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
magnet school


Explanation:
Given that this is for a CV, I am going to presume that this is meant to impress a potential employer. Hence we are probably talking about what we call a 'magnet school' in the US, which are highly selective public high school to which potential students must apply to gain entrance, and which are considered elite. Bronx Science in NYC is a famous example.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2006-02-20 12:58:56 GMT)
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@David: you put a lot more stock in M-W than I do. When I worked in book publishing, our company used to work with them (we licensed their dictionaries for down-market editions), and I got a good chance to see how their dictionaries get put together. Let's just say that they are very conservative about what makes it in, regardless of whether a phrase has been in actual use, officially or informally, for decades. This was in the early 90's, and if I remember right the debate I lived through was whether to include the word "modem", which were named back in the 70s...

The OED, by contrast, moves a good deal quicker. Here is its entry for "magnet school"

magnet school Educ. (orig. U.S.), a publicly funded school designed to attract pupils from various areas or demographic groups through its superior facilities and courses, esp. one which offers specialist tuition in a particular subject alongside the standard curriculum.

Steven Sidore
Germany
Local time: 10:39
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  David Moore (X): This is an extremely colloquial term, and I'm not at all sure it fits in a CV...//We'll just have to agree to differ, then; my M-W stays silent on the term, so if it IS official, it's new within the last five years....
27 mins
  -> nope, this is actually the official term in the US. Whether it accurately corresponds to an "Auswahlgymnasium" is a different matter.
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