ENEB Master Thread

[xianbd]

Having lived in China for a few years, I know it is common in foreign countries for classic English misspellings or poor interpretations like this in marketing material. Ironically, this often comes from uneducated Americans or part-time comedians charged with translations. For example, East China Normal University is one of China's most prestigious teaching universities. This isn't a misspelling; however, I am confident the school's President had a higher interest than 'Normal' when trying to promote the university to the Western World. Locals get a kick out of it.

No, who is going to take those EXAMNS?

FYI, in English, a "Normal School" is an old-fashioned term for a teaching college. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_school Arizona State University started life as a "Normal School". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of...University It sounds weird to modern ears, but it's not wrong.  

Thanks for the share. I had heard some connections there, and also, by the numbers think the university in China came first and could still be inspired by Western influence.

Agree with how it lands as the first time; I got a kick out of it, as the person sharing the story did as well.

Other than that, Chinese people expect teachers to educate with high social and moral standards. The founders of these teachers' colleges find that the word "normal" from Ecole Normale perfectly fits with the traditional ideas of education in China.

In fact, the name 
"华      东          师                       范                                    大学"  can be interpreted literally word by word as:
"China Eastern  (Teacher/Teach)   (Model/Example/Standard)   University"