TRADUguide - Your Guide to Translators and Translation Agencies

257 months ago

Christine (a guest user) asked this question:

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257 months ago

   wrote:

"Fachhochschule" (FH) entrance diploma

Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

257 months ago

   wrote:

You can't leave it as Fachhochschule and regard it as a translation.

257 months ago

   wrote:

Of course you can, since it is a fixed term and is not to be changed by anyone. But that is a basic rule for translation and I assume you probably just forgot about it. The only possibility is to find an English equivalent which comes close to our Fachhochschlule.

257 months ago

   wrote:

Of course you can't - unless you append a translation in brackets, at the very least. The English equivalent is the one given by Robert below.

257 months ago

Silver Fern Translations   wrote:

A secondary school examination / qualification entitling the holder to attend a German "Fachochschule". See comments below.

My comment:

This examination is set at a slightly lower level than the German "Abitur" and does not qualify the holder to attend a German university. Instead, as stated above, the holder may attend a "Fachhochschule".
The German "Fachhochschule" is usually translated in Germany as a "university of applied sciences", a sort of equivalent to an English polytechnic college, (I prefer the latter translation, as in my view the Fachhochschule is NOT a university, but that's a purely personal opinion). The important point about the Fachhochschule is that, apart from its more practical approach, it is NOT a German "Universität", or a university in the classical sense, which, in Germany, is more theoretical in its approach. Graduates of a "Fachhochschule" are required by law to write (FH) in brackets when referring to their Fachchochschule qualification in writing, e.g. "Dipl. Ing. (FH), for a degree in Engineering.

Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

257 months ago

   wrote:

Quite so. And it's not only your personal opinion of the rendering of "Fachhochschule" as "university of applied sciences", either: that's how Germans tend to translate it, but Germans cannot decide on the correct translation INTO English; 'polytechnic college' IS a far more accurate translation.

257 months ago

   wrote:

I think 'polytechnic college' is really the best term to use for our German Fachhochschule.

257 months ago

Silver Fern Translations   wrote:

John, Thanks for your comment. Appreciate it. Upon re-reading my answer I suspect I may not have have expressed myself sufficiently clearly (a bad habit of mine!). I meant to say that I vastly prefer "polytechnic college" as a translation of "Fachhochschule". Come to think of it, I should have added "degree-granting" as a prefix, as not all polytech's grant degrees. My answer would have been a lot clearer and semantically more accurate. Cheers, Bob Hallo, Sabrina, danke für Deine Bemerkung. Im Nachhinein hätte ich aber besser "degree-granting polytechnic college" sagen sollen, da in England einige solche "colleges" keine "degrees" verleihen. Ein bißchen langatmig, zwar, aber übersetzungstechnisch genauer. Noch viel besser, natürlich, wäre gewesen, "Fachhochschule" beizu- behalten und dann meine Erläuterung in Klammern danach geschrieben zu haben, da eine Fachhochschule ja ein Phänomenon des deutschsprachigen Raums ist. Danke noch mal. Alles Gute, Bob McMurray

257 months ago

Silver Fern Translations   wrote:

Yes, 'degree granting' is good. Mind you, haven't all polytechnics become universities in all but name, by now?

257 months ago

Silver Fern Translations   wrote:

John: I have never lived in the UK, so you may be right (I'm from New Zealand but live in Germany). Upon reflection let's stick with "polytechnics" or "polytechnic colleges" and have done with it.

257 months ago

Silver Fern Translations   wrote:

:-) I can never follow the situation from day to day - they keep changing it and fiddling with it and inventing new initiatives all the time.

The asker rated this answer best

257 months ago

Kim Metzger   wrote:

entrance qualification for secondary vocational school

My references:

http://www.proz.com/kudoz/237193?keyword=Fachoberschul
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/603689?keyword=Fachoberschul
http://dbs.schule.de/glossar.html

Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

257 months ago

Silver Fern Translations   wrote:

This person has already completed a secondary school, so it can't be an 'entrance' qualification.

257 months ago

Kim Metzger   wrote:

What's Hochschulreife?