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German to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - Education / Pedagogy
German term or phrase:Schulbüro
Many German universities have a Schulbüro. They communicate with high schools and high school students, presumably to attract prospective students to enrol at a specific university. They also organize on-campus events for school children. Googling reveals that these are mostly translated as "School Office", but this might be confusing for English speakers, as "school" also can mean university department or even Fakultät. Am toying with the idea of "high school liason office" (contracter wants US English). TIA for your help.
There are indeed High Schools in the UK, but they are invariably the top fee-paying secondary schools in large cities. The message that you potentially send out by including 'high' is that the university is only interested in candidates from such establishments. Your client presumably wishes to avoid any suspicion of elitism? Schools Liaison Office is quite adequate in this context, i.e. the inclusion of 'high' adds no value.
I would be surprised if there were a single English-speaking person in the UK who does not know what a "high school" is. This even holds true for Germany, where the term "high school" is heard daily in badly translated US TV series, in addition to "mein Dad" "meine Mom" und "die Kids". Never underestimate the power of Hollywood. My job is not to be politically correct and educate the unwashed on the differences between UK and US terminology. The reality is that Brits, Aussies etc. understand nearly all yank lingo through TV, but not the other way round. For me it is logical to go with the lowest common denominator.
... doesn't quite strike the right tone for me. More suitable for 'socially disadvantaged' target groups, e.g. drug users. Teachers at secondary schools would find it patronising.
One of his first acts on arriving at Imperial in 1989 was leading the establishment of the Schools Liaison Office, now known as Imperial Outreach, which over the years has grown into a highly successful team which organises over 85 outreach activities each year. https://workspace.imperial.ac.uk/communications/public/Comme...
The term Schools Liaison Office (as suggested by you and Andrew in combination) still appears to be the most common one in the UK. The presumably wider or all-inclusive concept of outreach (also reaching out to the wider community) is now being added, although terms such as outreach activities, outreach team or simply outreach are still more common than outreach office.
The GMIT Schools Liaison Office manages communications with over 500 schools and PLC colleges across Ireland. We also develop and coordinate a range of outreach projects with secondary schools across many disciplines. http://www.gmit.ie/general/secondary-schools
Looking around I am finding Schulbüros of the very simple sort - at various Kolleges (Colleges) and Universities - where the simple administrative duties are taken care of, for everything from reporting an accident on the way to school to class assignments. Is there a reason for not simply saying School Office (or School Offices)....what exactly is the context in the German text???
I think this adjective is best avoided in conjunction with secondary schools. 'Higher education' means university level in the UK, and of course, so does Hochschule in German.
@Andrew: typo on my part, no UK-US difference here
15:10 Nov 19, 2013
Most clients don't know what they want. In this specific case, a German university is 'requiring' "US-Englisch". This same university has switched between UK and US several times already, invariably when a new president is appointed. My own philosophy is to arrive at a kind of Mid-Atlantic English that is not overly idiomatic either way and that can be understood in Rochdale, Rawalpindi or Looneyville Texas...
Does this mean the client wants it to sound like something from a Hollywood movie? Perhaps the client doesn't understand the implications of restricting readership in this way.
My only minor quibble with "liason office" is that "liason officers" *at* American high schools are often, but not always, in charge of criminal investigations at the high school - drugs, theft, etc. It's basically a cop assigned to the HS. For example: http://il-rockisland.civicplus.com/index.aspx?NID=781 "Resource officer" is another odd euphemism for this position. This is only something you would know if you went to school in the US :) It is probably clear from your context (university) but I might tend to avoid it because of this association.
Problem solved by using the plural form? Even better, though, your suggestion of incorporating 'liaison'.
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Answers
8 mins confidence:
Departmental Office
Explanation: In terms of EN UK, we would use "Departmental Office" I would think. I am not sure how EN US would render this, but the University Department shown below (Illinois) has a "Main Office" and an "Office Manager" so I would think it would be OK to use the same term.
Example sentence(s):
The Departmental Office on C-floor is normally staffed Monday-Friday 09:00 – 17:00.
Explanation: There are outreach offices at many Universities that have connections with the school in the area to help prepare and advise high school students etc.
The Term above is term used by University of Toledo. I believe it could be used for Schuloffice (one could leave the word "Initiative" out perhaps).
Example sentence(s):
The University of Toledo High School Outreach Initiatives Office works in collaboration with area high schools to improve the academic preparation and “college readiness” of students.
