Today in my Spanish 100 class we were taught how to use a bilingual dictionary. You may be thinking that a bilingual dictionary works the same as a regular dictionary, and you would be right. My textbook and professor insulted my intelligence with their assumption that dictionaries are too complicated for me. While my teacher was explaining how to use a dictionary, he brought up figures of speech that are particular to one language, idioms if you will.
The example my teacher used was "kick the bucket." He asked a girl in my class who is not a native English speaker what her first impression of the idiom was and she said that she literally thought it meant someone kicked a bucket. I never really thought about things like this that we say all the time.
Like someone saying "I'm all thumbs" when they mean that they're clumsy. That sounds so normal to a native English speaker, but if you said it to someone else they would probably assume you were crazy.
Or saying "I brought everything but the kitchen sink". That would make you sound completely insane to someone who did not grow up speaking American English (and probably even some native speakers!)
It was really interesting for me to think about the crazy things that we say that are completely normal to us. Who would've thought that learning how to use a dictionary would be such a thought provoking experience?
I never thought about those things we use all the time. But it's true. My grandma is from Argentina and she never understand the expressions my brother and I use on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteIf my teacher was trying to teach me how to use a dictionary, I'd feel completely insulted as well. But at least you got a positive lesson out of it. But it's true, I still can't get my mind to wrap around the concept that people don't speak or know English from childhood. That part of the whole thing is just completely mind boggling. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteWow, so true! I always wondered why some of my foreign friends looked at me weird after I make a statement quoting some famous idiom. Now I know why! Thanks for bringing this up, and it's a great post!
ReplyDeleteAnother wonderful example of why it's challenging to master the nuances of another language. Meaning is deeper than the actual words chosen.
ReplyDeletewow. This opened my eyes, and I have been learning and speaking at least 3 different languages for a while now. I never really thought about that but it is soo true! Thank you for pointing this out!
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