Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
ce n\'est pas rien
English translation:
that\'s quite something
French term
More than 21 years of experience...
Native in: French 
Works in: English to French, Dutch to French, French to English, and 1 more.
ce n'est pas rien
Voici le contexte :
Le ministre se trouve ainsi en contradiction avec les textes européens qui engagent théoriquement les gouvernements. On se contentera donc de la diversification dans les textes, puisque comme chacun le sait, c'est 8 langues que l'école française est censée proposer à l'école élémentaire. Ce n'est pas rien. Un record d'Europe absolu.
Merci
Mar 11, 2012 19:57: Françoise Vogel changed "Language pair" from "English to French" to "French to English"
Mar 12, 2012 09:21: Susanna Garcia changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): cc in nyc, Rob Grayson, Susanna Garcia
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Proposed translations
France
Traduction / Formation
Native in: English (Variants: British, Australian, New Zealand, US, French) , French (Variants: Standard-France, African, Swiss, Belgian)
Works in: French to English, English to French
no less
to be fit in to your translation
| agree |
Sheila Wilson
3 mins
|
|
Thank you sheila
|
|
| agree |
Dominique Stiver
: seems fine to me in this context.
11 mins
|
|
Thank you Dominique
|
|
| agree |
EirTranslations
22 mins
|
|
Thank you Beatriz
|
|
| agree |
Martin Cassell
35 mins
|
|
Thank you Martin
|
|
| agree |
AllegroTrans
1 hr
|
|
Thank you
|
|
| agree |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
: Or even starting this part of the sentence with : "...French primary schools are meant to offer no fewer than eight languages."
1 hr
|
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Thank you Nikki
|
|
| agree |
Rasha Ali Hassan
: agree
1 hr
|
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Thank you Rasha
|
|
| neutral |
writeaway
: imo it will be quite a workaround for non-native Anglo, epecially given the other usual meaning(s) of no less.
12 hrs
|
| neutral |
rkillings
: No fewer than 8 languages, no less!
13 hrs
|
|
disagree
|
it's not nothing
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: too casual sounding
1 hr
|
|
De gustibus …
|
|
| neutral |
writeaway
: I prefer 'that ain't just whistlin Dixie'..........
12 hrs
|
Canada
English to Canadian French translator
Native in: French (Variant: Canadian)
Works in: English to French
it's quite a feat
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Note added at 14 mins (2012-03-11 20:08:29 GMT)
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ou
a considerable number
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: is it really a feat? or just a simple fact that people speak different lnaguages?
1 hr
|
Belize
Near Native Proficiency in Source langua
Native in: English
Works in: Portuguese to English, Dutch to English, French to English
nothing to be sneezed at
that is not a trivial task
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Note added at 4 hrs (2012-03-12 00:20:39 GMT)
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Or: That is not a trivial matter
Psychologist, Court-certified legal
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English
no fewer than
The problem with the correct idomatic suggestion is that in practical terms it might actually be a little unclear, particularly to non-native speakers of English, if the structure of the origininal is retained. Indeed, it may even lose the sense of the idom, which is a shame.
Further in view of the confusion between "less" and "few", the idom may be lost anyway, or indeed a source of confusion.
Accepting a trade-off, it is possible to use something similar, ordinary and retain the sense. Here's my suggestion, as posted above in a comment :
"French primary schools are meant to offer no fewer than eight languages".
it is no small thing
Tout dépend du ton que l'on veut rendre.
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