Weekend Question 3: What’s German for ‘Backlash’?

ANSWER: Freetranslation.com says it’s “Rückstoß.” My Mac Widget says it’s “Zahnflankenspiel.” Regardless, Germans are concerned about mediocrity, violence and religious instruction in their education system, and appear to be close to doing something about it.

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From Expatica:

Foreign kids should take German test: Koehler
21 September 2006

BERLIN - President Horst Koehler called Thursday for a reform of Germany’s education system, following a report which showed it had dropped behind those of other leading industrialized nations.

“Whoever saves in the field of education is saving in the wrong place,” the president said in a keynote address at a secondary school in the working class Berlin suburb of Neukoelln.

Another school in the same multi-ethnic district made national headlines six months ago when its teachers made a public appeal for help, saying they could no longer cope with violent pupils.

I don’t know exactly where Koehler stands in the pecking order below Angela Merkel, but I can’t imagine he said these things without notifying her first.

And it gets better, especially the last para:

….. “One needs to be educated to stand up to populists, extremists and religious fanatics,” he said, adding that the education system was a matter that concerned the entire nation.

Koehler also called for more money to be invested in pre-schooling and said children from immigrant families should be given a language test before starting school.

“A good knowledge of German is essential for success at school and during further education,” the president said, urging immigrant parents to learn the language as well and practise it with their children.

He also emphasized the need for religious education at schools even in a pluralist society like Germany.

“The time has come for children of the Muslim faith attending our schools to be offered Islam instruction in German from trained teachers,” Koehler said.

In this case, regardless of the proper translation, “backlash” also means “return to sanity.”