Re: I am a teacher of Spanish but not a Spanish teacher

R H Draney wrote:

Emil Jannings's character in the movie "Der blaue Engel" was a
German man who taught English to German boys...I would
hesitate only slightly before describing him as "an English
teacher"...(more troublesome is translation of the sort
of school in which he taught; if I say "high school"
Americans will understand the age range of the students,
but German cognate "Hochschule" means whatAmericans
would call "college", and the German dialogue calls it a
"Gymnasium", which suggests an entirely different image)....r

Emil Jannings's character in the movie didn't teach English. His
subject was German, at a level where the main emphasis was on
composition. You'll recall the pupils in the movie writing
essays in his class. That word "Gymnasium," in my opinion, is a
like grain of
sand in an oyster in English: it rubs and rubs and rubs. Some
people in the US who have occasion to refer to it try to get
around it by using "academic high school." As far as the
children's ages are concerned, it's hard to guess what Americans
think if a German boy of 11 says he's attending a German "high
school." At that age, a child can be in the beginning grade of a
German gymnasium. If all goes well, he'll be 19 when he
graduates. If, however, he's like Lohmann in "Der blaue
Engel"who failed twice along the way, he'll be 21 when he
finishes the last, 13th grade.

A funny aside to this: unlike the situation in the Weimar
Republic, when "Der Blaue Engel" was made, German youngsters now
reach legal maturity at the age of 18, although some are still
in school. That means they can vote in the country's elections,
and their parents may no longer sign their report cards or write
an excuse for illness. They have to do that themselves.

"Hochschule" is a general word in German designating an
"institution of higher learning," including all kinds of
colleges, academies etc. It's used for a teacher's college, a
college of advanced technology and a number of others. A typical
example is the internationally well-known "Hochschule für Musik
und Theater" in Munich, where a student can even pursue a course
of study leading to a doctorate. They themselves translate their
name into English as "University of Music and Performing Arts
Munich." Take a look:

http://www.musikhochschule-muenchen.mhn.de/mainFrame.htm

Regards, WB.

.

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