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Ask for help > Grammar School or Gymnasium?
Grammar School or Gymnasium?
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zvonka.rink
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Grammar School or Gymnasium?
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Dear colleagues, I �m writing to ask your opinion. I teach at The Tolmin Grammar School and I use this name for my school. Some of my colleagues use: The Tolmin Gymnasium. I know that this is the word used in Germany and even we have a similar word of the same origin Gimnazija, however, I wouldn �t use it. I would like the native speakers to tell me if they would use the word Gymnasium and if this word is commonly used in English-speaking countries. Thank you for your answers. |
18 Dec 2014
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redcamarocruiser
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In American English, �gymnasium � is the word for the facility where Physical Education classes and sporting events, such as basketball games, take place. I would not use �gymnasium� in the name of a school, unless it was the official name used in your country. However, it would be useful when addressing envelopes for correspondence to use the official name that the school is known by in the country it is located. In such a case, I would not translate �Gimnazija � to "Grammar school" in order to avoid confusion for mail carriers.
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18 Dec 2014
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douglas
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as RC already said: In the USA "gymnasium" is only used to refer to a sports hall, never a school.
German "Gymnasium" usually refers to "advanced secondary school" (pretty much "high school" in the USA). in the USA "grammar school" is usually what we call elementary school (ages 5-11).
As I understand it, "grammar school" in the UK is also more often referred to as "secondary school" these days --our UK colleagues would have to confirm this though. |
18 Dec 2014
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englishreader
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Hi, A gymnasium is a sports hall, generally refered to as a gym. In the UK there used to be grammar schools and secondary modern schools. At the age of 11 an exam was taken. Those who passed the exam went to a grammar school (so the brighter kids), those who failed went to a secondary modern. These days in the UK we don �t have this system. The few remaining grammar schools are private institutions. All children go to a comprehensive school, where all abilities are catered for. We would never use the word gymnasiun to refer to a school. Hope this helps! |
18 Dec 2014
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Jayho
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Hi Zvonka
Agree with the others. The European definition is not used or even recognised here. A gymnasium can be found in a school. Also, there are many private gymnasiums (gyms) where people go to exercise.
The term Grammar School is quite rare here, and really only used by private schools. We mainly use primary school and secondary (high) school.
Cheers
Jayho |
18 Dec 2014
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donika
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Hi, I teach in Poland and they also have "Gimnazjum" which people mistakenly translate to gymnasium. In English you would call it a �middle school � or �junior high �, as (like the above posts have mentioned) a gymnasium is a sport training area. Merry Xmas :-)
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18 Dec 2014
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zvonka.rink
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Dear all, Thank you for your answers. It is obvous that I need to find a suitable expression myself- on the basis of the fact that our school is a secondary scholl for students from 14 to 18 providing academic knowlege for further education at university. The exams students take at the end are the equivalent of the British GCE A level. maybe somebody from GB could suggest something. Thank you once again and I wish you a nice day . |
20 Dec 2014
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