The foreign national takes centre stage

English translation: the foreign national is the priority

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:The foreign national takes centre stage
Selected answer:the foreign national is the priority
Entered by: Lydia De Jorge

17:43 May 7, 2020
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Law (general) / Immigration, Application
English term or phrase: The foreign national takes centre stage
Personal and meticulous
The foreign national takes center stage

There is no more context. Those are simple sentences in an immigration application form.

Does "The foreign national takes center stage" mean that it is passed to the next stage? Or level?
Lilit Khiat
Armenia
Local time: 18:33
the foreign national is the priority
Explanation:
.
Selected response from:

Lydia De Jorge
United States
Local time: 09:33
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3the foreign national is the centre of attention
awilliams
4 +2the foreign national is the priority
Lydia De Jorge
3 +2the foreign national plays an important role
Mark Robertson
5The foreign national is most important/highlighted
Saro Nova


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
the foreign national takes centre stage
the foreign national plays an important role


Explanation:
IMBO

Mark Robertson
Local time: 14:33
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 56

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Charlotte Fleming: "Centre stage" is the same as "the centre of attention". It has nothing to do with the stages of an application, but refers to the stage of a theatre. Someone standing "centre stage" is the focus of the audience's attention.
3 mins

agree  EirTranslations
37 mins

agree  Paula Marques
47 mins

disagree  Saro Nova: Not just important, most important
17 hrs
  -> More than one person (actor) can be centre stage and in that case they cannot all be most important.
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
the foreign national takes centre stage
the foreign national is the priority


Explanation:
.

Lydia De Jorge
United States
Local time: 09:33
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Saro Nova: Yes, also good.
17 hrs
  -> Thanks. This topic is fresh in my mind as I recently translated some documents for the local Medicaid program.

agree  AllegroTrans: This ios the most apt meaning that I can distill out of this, but with no real context maybe the asker needs to ask her client to explain further
18 hrs
  -> Thank you.
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24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
the foreign national takes centre stage
the foreign national is the centre of attention


Explanation:
Taking centre stage comes from the theatre. An actor who "takes centre stage" commands the attention of the audience the most.

In a group setting, taking centre stage means you are the centre of attention, the focus.

It can also have a slightly negative overtone.

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Note added at 26 mins (2020-05-07 18:10:13 GMT)
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It seems a bit strange in an application form - does it have anything to do with personality questionnaires, or group exercises?

In any case, it's nothing to do with passing to the next level or next stage.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 30 mins (2020-05-07 18:14:03 GMT)
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"focus of attention" may work, or something along Mark's lines of "plays a central role".

"Plays a central role" or "key role" keeps the theatrical reference. It would depend on the surrounding context, though.


awilliams
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:33
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 3
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you for sharing your insight, and experience. The problem is that I don't have the complete document to know if it is a part of a questionnaire, answers, an interview. But, it looks like it is part of a voiceover conversation. Because each sentence is separated and described as Scene under voiceover.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Anthony OSullivan
1 hr

agree  Yvonne Gallagher: This is quite simply what centre stage means. However, there should be some context given
2 hrs
  -> agreed, Yvonne

agree  Saro Nova: Yes.
16 hrs
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17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
The foreign national is most important/highlighted


Explanation:
To take centre stage means that it is more capital or most important than the other variables/aspects; not just "important"

Saro Nova
Canada
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
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