OWL's and NEWT's

[girlyswot]

I don't know if there are any German speakers on my flist, or anyone who's given this consideration previously, but please don't anyone feel they need to expend time or energy on this.

I've got a character who's just left Durmstrang with a good academic turnout. What might the equivalent of OWL's and NEWT's be? And what might be the top grade, equivalent to an Outstanding?

Comments

[katieay.livejournal.com]

Someone sent me here LOL Hi :o)

In Germany, they do their Abitur at Newt level and if they are doing their abitur, they're already at Gymnasium and don't do a thing for their OWLs. If the student goes to the school below, the Realschule, they finish at 16 and have a normal "abschluss", rather than something swanky like an Abitur. You can't go to Uni from a Realschule.

The best grade being a 1.0 and the worst is a 6 in German schooling. If you say, got a 2.4 on your three written exams, and a 4.5 on your oral, your overall Abitur grade would be about a 3.4 (which is bad, but passable).

If you have anymore questions, let me know!

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

That's very interesting, thanks. Do you have any fun ideas about what the magical equivalent of the Abitur might be?

[katieay.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, not off the top of my head LOL The only German word I can think of that sounds like Abitur is Abenteuer which is "adventure" in English.

If you give some English equivalents, I could work better from there lol.

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

Not to worry. Thanks for your help.

[katieay.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to write acronyms in Word for you to use... do you have an animal that is particularly German in your head (preferrably one with a short name hehe) that I could turn into something about such as the OWLs or NEWTs (Should maybe end in P, K or E)

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a good idea. How about a Krup?

[katieay.livejournal.com]

Haha! Awesome animal... I've come up with something that has cracked me up (I'm modest like that)

Kolossal u. Richtig Unfaire Prüfungen (KRUP [no s or en])

Translation: Whopping and Really Unfair Exams

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

That's fabulous! Thank you so much.

[katieay.livejournal.com]

No problem! If you need any other help with the language and/or culture, just drop me a line here or at my livejournal.com email addy :o)

[nm-narcissa.livejournal.com]

I sent you, KTA. . . I'm just not logged in as me.

[katieay.livejournal.com]

Ooooh... look at you all posh, swanky blonde.

I thought it might have been you, but only after I commented.

[nm-narcissa.livejournal.com]

So come on YM . . . MSN doesn't work well for me anymore ...

[viverl.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I never took Durmstrang as a German Hogwarts. The descriptions of school, pupils and language never made me think of my country. I always thought it's in Eastern Europe.

Outstanding is Außergewöhnlich in German.

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

But isn't Sturm und Drang a German expression?

[viverl.livejournal.com]

Yes it is, still, the names of the students and of the teachers are not of German origin.
As far as I am concerned there are only two hints for Durmstrang beeing German: this "Sturm und Drang" thing and the fact that Grindelwald attended Durmstrang. But if there is no German Hogwarts German wizards would have to attend foreign schools.
Well, this whole Durmstrang-thing may just not be completely thought-through by JKR. She wanted a connection to Nazi-Germany because of Grindelwald but the students of Harry's generation don't seem very German.
While tipping this the solution dawned on me! Durmstrang may really be of German origin but perhaps it is situated in one of the old parts of Germany, which now belong to other countries like Schlesien, Pommern and Ostpreußen! This would explain why the pupils of Harry's time are more Eastern European than German.
What do you think of this?

[girlyswot.livejournal.com]

I just assumed that the school was in Germany but that it attracted pupils from across Eastern Europe. Maybe it was in the former East Germany.

[viverl.livejournal.com]

As long as you don't mean the former Eastern part which now belongs to our Bundesrepublik, since this part is as German as the Western part, names don't differ between these parts.
;-)