English speakers are spoiled. We know we are. So many people in the world spend years perfecting our language and most of us have never come close to fluently speaking anything but English. So we are not always known for our cultural sensitivity. English speaking countries have historically been world superpowers, and we have enjoyed the benefits, but they have left of lacking in certain areas.
Nowadays, there is technology that can supposedly translate for us, anything from documents to emails. The only issue is that languages do not translate directly. English and most other languages are full of so many expressions and idioms and figures of speech, that make communicating difficult if one decides to just translate word for word.
We also forget that our humour is unique to us. Yes, it's popular with us, but it is lost on many others, as is their humour on us. In fact our humour could be offensive in certain contexts. So we do struggle often to make a joke that other people can get when we focus much on sarcasm and irony and self-deprecation, where other countries may have a totally different approach to humour.
Those of us who speak English as a first language and have grown up in English speaking households in English speaking countries are certainly at a disadvantage when it comes to learning foreign languages. We put a lot of our time and energy into learning skills, and often struggle on the interpersonal communications front. The best thing we can do is make genuine efforts in our international dealings to really connect with people and be willing to try the new language even if we make a mistake.
It is likely you will have to use a translation service if you work internationally. It is always best to use a real live person who is a native speaker rather than a computer program for all these reasons listed above. It is so much more than simply translating words, it's crossing cultures.
Nowadays, there is technology that can supposedly translate for us, anything from documents to emails. The only issue is that languages do not translate directly. English and most other languages are full of so many expressions and idioms and figures of speech, that make communicating difficult if one decides to just translate word for word.
We also forget that our humour is unique to us. Yes, it's popular with us, but it is lost on many others, as is their humour on us. In fact our humour could be offensive in certain contexts. So we do struggle often to make a joke that other people can get when we focus much on sarcasm and irony and self-deprecation, where other countries may have a totally different approach to humour.
Those of us who speak English as a first language and have grown up in English speaking households in English speaking countries are certainly at a disadvantage when it comes to learning foreign languages. We put a lot of our time and energy into learning skills, and often struggle on the interpersonal communications front. The best thing we can do is make genuine efforts in our international dealings to really connect with people and be willing to try the new language even if we make a mistake.
It is likely you will have to use a translation service if you work internationally. It is always best to use a real live person who is a native speaker rather than a computer program for all these reasons listed above. It is so much more than simply translating words, it's crossing cultures.
About the Author:
Brian Brookes is a widley respected writer who has been writing for 5 over years often writes on translation services London and a wide range of other subjects.
0 comments:
Post a Comment