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Is the test question correct?


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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
look at it what happened | "Despite" or "Although"
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Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 14:31 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
Maybe it was supposed to read "schedule the meeting" or "schedule the briefing"? By the way, this is a test provided by T-Online. Unlike T-Mobile, T-Online doesn't exist in the US. As a matter of fact, it's a just portal operated by the largest telecommunications company in Germany. I think it's a very strange English test because the explanations and tasks are in German.
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Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 14:39 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
Jamie (K) wrote:
Here is one part that I think is really bad:

Quote:
Sie wollen ein Unternehmen als Kunden gewinnen und erz?hlen von dem erfolgreichen Unternehmer, der Ihre Firma gegr?ndet hat. Wie ?bersetzen Sie das Wort Unternehmer?

The test claims that "Unternehmer" should be translated as "player", but it's a completely inappropriate choice. It would mean that the founder of your company was a gambler who wasn't serious about what he was doing. The correct word would be "entrepreneur".

And this is their explanation:

Im amerikanischen Business English sind oft Anlehnungen aus dem Sport zu finden. Tats?chlich wird das Wort "player" in Bezug auf Wirtschaftsunternehmen als "Unternehmer" verstanden.
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Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 15:03 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
Torsten wrote:
Jamie (K) wrote:
Here is one part that I think is really bad:

Quote:
Sie wollen ein Unternehmen als Kunden gewinnen und erz?hlen von dem erfolgreichen Unternehmer, der Ihre Firma gegr?ndet hat. Wie ?bersetzen Sie das Wort Unternehmer?

The test claims that "Unternehmer" should be translated as "player", but it's a completely inappropriate choice. It would mean that the founder of your company was a gambler who wasn't serious about what he was doing. The correct word would be "entrepreneur".

And this is their explanation:

Im amerikanischen Business English sind oft Anlehnungen aus dem Sport zu finden. Tats?chlich wird das Wort "player" in Bezug auf Wirtschaftsunternehmen als "Unternehmer" verstanden.

Yes, that's true, but we don't use it as a general term. There can be various "players" in a business deal -- when we're speaking informally -- but when one person founds a company, he's definitely not a "player", but an entrepreneur.
Jamie (K)
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Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4213
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 15:11 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
I think the entire test is just a T-Online joke intended to show that the Germans do have their own sense of humor.
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Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 17:43 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
Hi Jamie and Torsten

T-Mobile is one of the things that was "new" to me when I returned to the US. It's a subsidiary of the German telephone company (Deutsche Telekom) and it first started doing business in the US only after I moved to Germany. When Telekom advertises on German TV and radio, they always use a certain 5-note tune (three notes at the same pitch, the fourth one at a higher pitch, and the final fifth note the same as the first three). This jingle is apparently the default ringtone on T-Mobile cell phones too. So, after I left Germany, it was almost eerie to hear what I had previously known only as a German advertising jingle emanating from cell phones here in the US. Shocked Laughing
.
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.
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Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


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Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 17:50 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
Yankee wrote:
T-Mobile is one of the things that was "new" to me when I returned to the US. It's a subsidiary of the German telephone company (Deutsche Telekom) and it first started doing business in the US only after I moved to Germany. When Telekom advertises on German TV and radio, they always use a certain 5-note tune (three notes at the same pitch, the fourth one at a higher pitch, and the final fifth note the same as the first three). This jingle is apparently the default ringtone on T-Mobile cell phones too. So, after I left Germany, it was almost eerie to hear what I previously known only as German advertising jingle emanating from cell phones here in the US. Shocked Laughing

Weirder for me was seeing Mentos ads on American TV. The company makes only one set of ads for the whole world. They looked normal to me when I was in Europe, but when seen on American soil, the ads became eerie and surrealistic. Americans had a vague feeling something was wrong in them, but they didn't know what.
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4213
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 17:55 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
lost_soul wrote:
Yankee wrote:
Jamie(K) wrote:
Here is the URL:
http://www.t-online-business.de/c/12/02/51/66/12025166.html

Hi Jamie
I couldn't help but chuckle at this one:
"You tell Mr. Smith that you would like to schedule the cooperation."
Very Happy
.

Hi, Amy

I dont quite follow you... why were you chuckling at this sentence ?

Thanks Smile

Hi LS

I lived and worked in Germany for a very long time. I couldn't help but chuckle at that sentence because it sounds so very German to me -- even though all the words are in English. This is a good example of how a sentence can end up sounding unnatural, weird, or even humorous only because the translation is too direct.
.
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Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
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Location: Northeast US
Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 18:03 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
Torsten wrote:
And this is their explanation:

Im amerikanischen Business English sind oft Anlehnungen aus dem Sport zu finden. Tats?chlich wird das Wort "player" in Bezug auf Wirtschaftsunternehmen als "Unternehmer" verstanden.

Hi Torsten

I agree that the word 'player' is used in the business world, but I think the meaning is much closer to 'participant' (Teilnehmer) than to 'entrepreneur'.
On the other hand, I imagine that the word 'Teilnehmer' would sound pretty unsatisfactory in the German sentence.
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 7443
Location: Northeast US
Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 18:04 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
As a matter of fact, I don't think the English verb "to schedule" has a German equivalent. In German you would need a noun before the verb.
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Torsten
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Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 18:17 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
.
That's a good point, Torsten. So I guess what the people in that test sentence want to do is 'discuss the timing and coordination' of the work that the various members of the team are responsible for doing.
.
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Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 7443
Location: Northeast US
Is the test question correct? Thu Aug 16, 2007 18:44 pm  Is the test question correct?		  
That's right, Amy. They want to discuss a project so the verb "schedule" should be replaced with "discuss" and the noun "cooperation" with "project".
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
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Torsten
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Torsten Daerr

Joined: 25 Sep 2003
Posts: 6686
Location: EU
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