tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jul 10 20:14:08 2002
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Re: Translating vs. Thinking
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: Re: Translating vs. Thinking
- Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 21:12:21 EDT
In a message dated 6/18/2002 7:13:15 AM Mountain Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
> Good advice. I would go even one step further.
>
> It's important to understand that there is a difference between translating
>
> words and translating ideas. It's easy to translate words because it's very
>
> mechanical, and that is (in my experience) what most people think of doing.
>
> But ultimately that doesn't help you learn the language, because language
> is
> about expressing ideas.
>
Besides, tlhIngan Hol is different from English (and Chinese and Spanish,
etc.) enough that merely translating will lead to errors. One must learn
tlhIngan Hol for the sake of tlhIngan Hol. While this is basically true of
learning any "foreign" language, it appears especially true for
English-speakers learning tlhIngan Hol.
Personally, I separate each language. Each is unique. I try to think in it.
Of course, I cannot think only in a non-native language except for my
bi-lingualism in Chinese after having lived there for nearly a decade. If I
just had the opportunity to live on Qo'noS for that long!!!!!!! Sigh.
peHruS