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Spanish to English translations [PRO] Science - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. / Neutral (non-offensive) terms for people
Spanish term or phrase:personas sin estudios
SPAIN. Looking for the current "politicially correct" term for this. It appears in an article about meat consumption.
"Aquellos consumidores que tienen una imagen más positiva de la carne son personas sin estudios o con estudios primarios, localizados en la zona española Central, North-Central, East and Barcelona..."
Explanation: Perhaps a polite way of saying "uneducated"
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2018-01-22 18:05:57 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Bearing in mind that we seem to be dealing with a general press article on the meat-eating habits of the population, and not a treatise on education levels, I reckon that Muriel's suggested "little or no formal education" would fit your bill perfectly.
I'm just thinking of the source text and different people's opinion of meat. The women I've met who left school at the age of 14 were taught how to cook and clean by their mothers. They prefer home-cooked food and eat meat practically every day - I know people who eat meat at lunch time and fish in the evening because that is what they learnt at home.
People with a higher level of education are well aware that eating too much meat isn't good for anybody and they try to eat more fruit and vegetables. In my experience, people with limited formal education find it difficult to change their eating habits.
objective touch. I probably "overreacted" to the "political correctness" issue. That is probably what I don't totally get. The idea I get is that people ignorant of the side effects of meat have a more positive attitude towards it... As far as "illiteracy" goes, this below would be close to my viewpoint, http://www.vivirdiario.com/3/2/consecuencias-de-una-persona-... From the above link, Entonces qué pasa cuando una persona no estudia, primero que nada se debe definir una persona sin estudios, en pocas palabras, es aquella persona que en toda su vida ha recibido una educación y muy probablemente no sepa leer ni escribir, no obstante también una persona sin estudios se refiera a aquella que no recibió una educación universitaria.
I don't think political correctness is an issue here. The context suggests that this term is being used in a purely factual statistical sense. The translation simply needs to be accurate, which of course means establishing exactly what "sin estudios" means in this context. I am now virtually sure it must mean no schooling here, not even primary. After all, the source I've just quoted has "estudios primarios incompletos" as a separate (and much larger) category. If it said "analfabetos", as such texts sometimes do, we should put "illiterate", but it doesn't, and they are not synonyms. People who have never been to school do sometimes learn to read, and occasionally people who do go to school fail to learn to read. "No education" would not be accurate, in my view, because education is not in principle confined to schooling. So "formal education" seems to me simply accurate, not PC.
I imagine you're probably right in terms of Spain at least. I think my vision is skewed by living in Mexico, where there are still a surprisingly high number of people with "little or no formal education" as Muriel puts it. My wife works at an "escuela pública secundaria para trabajadores" here and although she receives fewer adult students each year (and more problem teenagers having another stab at "la secu"), this is to be expected in the capital. A shameful lack of investment in infrastructure and a shortfall of teachers willing to fill rural vacancies (with good reason, unfortunately, given the dangers of living in these areas) means schooling is still fairly problematic in the countryside.
On the other hand, the term "sin estudios" is used here informally and sometimes pejoratively to mean "uneducated", people or those who have only gone through primary school or who perhaps never finished secondary school or "prepa".
I've deleted my previous posts because having looked a bit at how the EPA (Encuesta de Población Activa) and the SPEE (Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal) use this term it does after all seem to mean without any formal education. It's a very small group but it does exist. Here's an example in the unemployment figures in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in March 2012:
80 out of a total of 52,468 is a tiny proportion, about 0.15%, but it's not zero, and in that list there's really nothing else it can mean. Not all those people are necessarily illiterate, though presumably some are. And it's true, as I've said already, that nationally 1.75% of adult Spaniards are illiterate. So sorry for sounding off before without doing the necessary research. As has been said, in other contexts "sin estudios" doesn't usually mean this.
I'm still trying to get my head round calling everyone in the acting profession - both male and female - "an actor". It just doesn't feel right to me, even if that is what they actually prefer and is perfectly logical!
... do tend to be rather PC nowadays, especially in Education and Sociology texts. I'm personally fed up seeing nonsense like "alumnos y alumnas", but at least in English its just "pupils". I'm glad I posted this now, as it's brought to light some fine differences and definitions. Thanks to everyone for contributing :-)
I'm convinced that 'sin estudios' in modern-day Spain means without formal qualifications, whether it is a university degree, hairdressing or a shop assistant course.
People used to say that my mother-in-law, who would now be nearly 100, 'tenía estudios'. She spent a year in Barcelona, 200 km from her home, studying to be a seamstress (modista). That must have been in the 1940s.
The people I know 'sin estudios' all went to school; they can run a home and drive, but would rather spend their free time reading a magazine or watching TV, instead of browsing the Internet or reading a book.
... by accidentally posting a Disagree on Helena's Reference instead of one of the Answers. All this was done on a tiny screen, and I had been wondering what on earth had happened to my entry! A case of finger trouble and perhaps the need for a new pair of specs :(
but "sin estudios" in the sentence, followed by "o con estudios primarios", seems to indicate to me that the person did not go to school. In the example of this blog, of course "sin estudios" does not mean "illiterate", and generally may not mean that. http://ustedestaenserendip.blogspot.com/2007/11/gente-sin-es... Probably I am missing the reason to be "politically correct" here, it's maybe because we live in this "polis" or this "Politically Correct Global Hamlet"... ;-)
I think I would translate it as 'people without formal qualifications or who did not progress beyond basic education', though the second part doesn't convince me because it sounds like a translation!
What I'm trying to get across is that people 'without studies' went to school until leaving age but they don't have a degree or any other qualifications, such as vocational training. My next-door neighbour says she doesn't have 'estudios' but she told me she went to school and finished E.G.B. In fact I know a number of people in their 60s who all went to school but they couldn't afford to continue studying.
I live in Catalonia and a person 'sin estudios' is someone who left school at the minimum leaving age, which used to be 14 (after Educación General Básica) and then it was changed to 16 (after Educación Secundaria Obligatoria).
A person 'sin estudios' is someone who went to school but has no formal qualifications.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
4 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +4
individuals with no formal education
Explanation: My take on it
Darius Saczuk United States Local time: 10:00 Works in field Native speaker of: Polish, English PRO pts in category: 16
Notes to answerer
Asker: This answer is fine by me. In the end I gave the kudoz to the one with the most "agrees". Tx for posting :)
peer agreement (net): +4
