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  3. Poetry & Literature

Translate/localize school grades?

Spanish translation: Leave the original

21:59 Jul 31, 2015
German to Spanish translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / High school grades
German term or phrase: Translate/localize school grades?
Hi,

I'm working on a literary translation from German to Spanish (the story takes place in the German Democratic Republic of the 1960s to 1980s), in which one of the characters is an outstanding high school student.
In the text, it is mentioned that his average grade is a 1.1.
My research on the topic reveals that there were 5 grades in Socialist Germany, 5 being the worst and 1 the best grade.
The target readers are Latin Americans (I'm sending this to Mexico, where the high school grading system ranges from 1 to 10, where 10 is the best and 1 the worst grade).

Here's my question:
Should I "translate" the grades so as to make them understandable to the target audience?

I already calculated that a "1.1 out of 5" from Socialist Germany would equal "9.98 out of 10" in Mexico, but I fear that I'll be taking out cultural content by localizing this.

Should I leave it up to the reader to find out that 1.1 is actually great, contrary to his/her own local grading system?

Or would an asterisk leading to a footnote be the solution?
*[Note by translator: Socialist Germany used a grading system ranging from 1 to 5, where 1 was the highest attainable grade.]

I have until 10 p.m. tonight to wrap this up, so quick help is greatly appreciated!

Kind regards,

Marc
Marc Christian
Dominican Republic
Local time: 05:54
Spanish translation:Leave the original
Explanation:
Trataría de explicarlo en el mismo texto. Algo como:

1.1 de 5 (siendo 1 la nota más alta).

Siempre y cuando la explicación no te parezca muy larga, siempre depende del contexto.
Selected response from:

Paula Marrodán Montiel
Spain
Local time: 11:54
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2Leave the original
Paula Marrodán Montiel
4Leave them in the original and make a footnote
Danik 2014


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Leave them in the original and make a footnote


Explanation:
I would leave the original content and explain the system in a short footnote.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schulnote
In short:
1-sehr gut
2-gut
3-befriedigend
4-ausreichend
5-mangelhaft
6-ungenügend
I would not calculate anything. If the readers understand the system, they will understand that 1.1 is a very high note

Danik 2014
Brazil
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in PortuguesePortuguese
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Leave the original


Explanation:
Trataría de explicarlo en el mismo texto. Algo como:

1.1 de 5 (siendo 1 la nota más alta).

Siempre y cuando la explicación no te parezca muy larga, siempre depende del contexto.

Paula Marrodán Montiel
Spain
Local time: 11:54
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sabine Reichert
32 mins
  -> Thanks :)
agree  Susanne Schartz-Laux
17 days
  -> Thanks, Susanne :)
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