I
read an article this morning on the Spanish newspaper. What the
article was about is not important; I just want to jot down the first
sentence to show you how it began: "A primeros de siglo, apenas 4 días ..." which in English says: 'In the beginning of the century, hardly four days ago ... '
I
might have mentioned this particular characteristic of the Spanish
language before, that they use the number 4 to denote anything small as
in quantity, little as in size, short as in stature, insignificant as
in importance, etc. So ...
You only live 4 days - Life is short
There had been only 4 drops of rain - a light drizzle, hardly any rain
Man of 4 words - a quiet man, man of few words
Even bearing that in mind, to describe the beginning of the century as not just 4 days but HARDLY 4 days ago still amuses me.
English
has a lot of peculiarities too, as in many other languages I am sure.
When I was teaching English in an adult school, even with students
being older than I was, smarter too some of them being astute
businessmen, yet there were to them very illogical ways of expression in
English which made absolutely no sense to them, and most difficult for
me, or for any teacher, to explain satisfactorily. One of the most
typical example is the common greeting: 'How do you do?'
Or
the echo to a statement somebody made by saying 'You don't say!', to
express incredulity or amazement. My students would retort: 'But
somebody DID say!'
My
students were mainly Chinese. Smart as they were, they simply couldn't
understand why this question should be translated as, sort of Hello,
How are you? Pleased to meet you. They would turn and ask me instead
'How do you do WHAT?' Of course they were right. But how do you tell
them the English expression is not wrong? Why does it have to be said
that way and not straight forward saying Pleased to meet you, see you,
hello, etc.?
The
Chinese often start up a conversation asking if you have eaten,
whatever the time of day. And, they DO expect an answer! Or they would
say something pretty obvious like meeting you in a cinema with the
question 'Going to see a movie, are you?' Of course you are, why else
would you be standing at the queue in front of the ticket box? Pretty
ridiculous, isn't it? They wouldn't be surprised either if you turn
around and ask them the exact question!
The
Spanish meeting you in the street would say ' Bye!' instead of
'Hello', if it's a casual meeting without either party wishing to stop
for a chat. And they would look at your new baby and exclaim what a
monkey you got there! Don't get upset or angry, it's a compliment
meaning a beautiful baby.
I
adore learning different languages, diverse culture, customs and
traditions. They make life so much richer, more colourful and so very
interesting.
Tags:Languages,Characteristics
