Tag: language
Fun with Translation
If you spend long enough in a different language, the two begin to blend and mix in different ways in your head. I sometimes find odd connections that come up when trying to understand a new phrase. Usually if I don’t know a phrase I think about the literal translation in English and often get a laugh. Here are some of my favorites.
Distance
One of the few scenes I remember very clearly from watching Sesame Street is of a monster describing near and far. He would wander into the distance and shout “far” then rush toward the camera and shout “near”; all with music and such in the same vein as the old school Mahna mahna(*). This is the idea of “going far away”, “having a long way to travel” or “living near your loved ones”. Travel seems to be all about this distance.
Language of Friendship
Friendliness is a concept that comes up a lot in travelogues. “I went there and the people were so friendly.” Or sometimes the opposite, mentioning how rude people were in a place. I was in several conversations in the past day or two about how friendly different places seemed to travelers and natives. One of these spontaneous conversations made me think of how language affects how friendly other places are.
Of Language and Beer
Last Saturday a friend of mine and I drove to France, namely Strasbourg, for lunch. I love that we can do that, though still have “go to Paris just for breakfast” on my Bucket List. My inability to say Merci in French made me start thinking about language and beer.
Using Language Schools to Travel Slowly
Hostels? Package Tours? Backpacking? Round-the-World train trips? All wonderful ways to travel, but language schools are an often overlooked resource and can provide a really interesting alternative with a lot of benefits. They often help with housing and visas. Provide a reason to get up in the morning and a large group of friends with [...]
