Tuesday
Apr172007
Renee’s Musings In Lieu of Actually Learning Anything
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 4:25PM
1. English is not the standard from which all other languages are derived. In other words, the rest of the world didn’t just translate the English language into their own language.
2. This means that not everything has a literal translation. Just because we say “Good-bye� doesn’t mean that Mongolians are saying “Good-bye� in Mongolian when they depart from one another (They are literally saying "With Party" or "With Happy").
3. Therefore, just because I want to translate everything literally, word for word, doesn’t mean I can.
4. This also means that just because I can translate every word in a sentence from Mongolian to English or vice verse, doesn’t mean they are the same thing and that the result will make sense.
5. This language they are speaking is really how they communicate. They didn’t just learn a new language before I did and are now speaking it better. They aren’t English speakers at heart.
Well, these revelations haven’t really made me feel any better about anything. I haven’t necessarily progressed in my Mongolian because of them. But hey, call me enlightened, for what it is worth.
2. This means that not everything has a literal translation. Just because we say “Good-bye� doesn’t mean that Mongolians are saying “Good-bye� in Mongolian when they depart from one another (They are literally saying "With Party" or "With Happy").
3. Therefore, just because I want to translate everything literally, word for word, doesn’t mean I can.
4. This also means that just because I can translate every word in a sentence from Mongolian to English or vice verse, doesn’t mean they are the same thing and that the result will make sense.
5. This language they are speaking is really how they communicate. They didn’t just learn a new language before I did and are now speaking it better. They aren’t English speakers at heart.
Well, these revelations haven’t really made me feel any better about anything. I haven’t necessarily progressed in my Mongolian because of them. But hey, call me enlightened, for what it is worth.
Reader Comments (1)
I think that is quite profound and a useful thought to everyone learning a language.
For that matter, when we say what we now think of as Good-bye, it wouldn't hurt to remember that a long time ago, what we were really saying is
"God be with ye"
See you later in the party with happiness,
Beth :-)