Day 6: Language
Today I recognize just how grateful I am for language. Not just the English language, but all languages. Each language of the human species is unique and as such it expresses the heritage, culture, and mentality of the people who speak it. Learning another person’s language gives great insight into who they are and where they come from.
The formality of a culture can be expressed through their use of pronouns and verb conjugations.
In Japanese people use last names + titles instead of first names to show respect for each other.
Some languages show practicality through their combination of multiple words, rather than making a new word for something.
German: Haustier(pet) = Haus(house) + Tier(animal)
Other languages have words which don’t even translate into other languages. Their meanings are rooted directly in the culture of the people themselves.
There is so much that language can teach us, show us, and expose us to, in addition to being a form of communication. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve decided to learn five more languages on top of the German and English I already speak and I’m grateful that I have the opportunity (and hopefully the capacity) to learn them all.
List of Thanks
Day 1: Family
Day 2: Music
Day 3: Health
Day 4: Coffee
Day 5: Friends
Melanie Noell Bernard 
Compound foreign words are probably my favorite, and “houseanimal” is the perfect word for pet…or for a husband who comes home grumpy from work. Okay, seriously, how awesome and interesting are languages? Nuances of culture as represented in the language…I mean, I can’t even. I’d LOVE to learn German so I can read the work of my favorite poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, in the original language. Here’s another nifty foreign sort-of compound word. In Japanese the word for troublesome is mendokusai which, literally translated, means “the way is rotten.”
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Haha! Languages are super awesome! I can only hope that I’ll have the time to learn all the ones I want to learn.
Really? That’s so cool! I didn’t know you spoke Japanese! I’m actually trying to teach myself some before I head to Japan next spring! Japanese is such a cool language what with the way things translate. ^.^
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You’re going to Japan!?! Wow, you will love it. Yes, I speak Japanese and some Spanish. . . in addition to English most days. 🙂
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Bahaha! I like to pretend I speak English. :p
You’ve been to Japan?! OH! I would love to hear about it! I still have no idea where in Japan I want to go and would love some ideas. (Maybe DM me on Twitter?)
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Hi shared link to your blog on my blog. Hope I did it right. Really new at sharing blog posts. 🙂
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Haha! I wouldn’t know how to do it myself as I’ve never shared anything before, but I see a link to my post on your blog. :p That’s sufficient, yeah? *shrug*
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Ok. I think I can repost as well, once I figure out how. Lol
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