Leila Alabed Week 14: Lost in Translation
A familiar example is when we might say a phrase such as, “I dropped my phone.” In English, this implies that the person was responsible for this action. Alternatively, in another language, like Korean, the phrase translates more literally into “my phone fell,” which removes the direct blame from the subject—thus subtly shifting the perspective. This represents how people who speak different languages pay attention to different aspects of conversation. People who speak English will most likely remember that it was someone who dropped the phone, while Korean speakers are less likely to recall who specifically dropped the phone or if it was an accident.
This means that while two people may have witnessed the exact same event, they will end up recalling the details of that event very differently due to linguistic differences.
Another fascinating point that the article discusses in terms of language impacting our perception of things, was that it can contribute to differences in how we perceive the color spectrum. Some languages have very descriptive words and categories for different shades of colors, while other languages are more general.
The example that the article provides is that in English, we tend to let all shades of blue fall under the blue category, while in Russian, each of those shades has its own separate name. This allows Russian speakers to quickly categorize the different shades while English speakers simply see just plain blue as a whole and are unable to identify the differences in color as easily.
I thought that this article was extremely interesting and thought-provoking, as it taught me that based on our experiences and linguistic differences, we each perceive the world through a completely unique lens.
Hi Leila! Your blog revealed a lot of interesting insights regarding language influencing people as a whole to me. I have always found the way that different languages interpret and translate statements to be quite interesting, but I have never thought of this from the perspective of memories being shaped by language. It truly goes to show that different languages and cultures can observe many different variations of the same event, and that keeping these factors in mind is important to understanding why varied perspectives are necessary in anything from scientific research to the creation of policy.
ReplyDeleteHi Leila! As someone who primarily speaks English and also cannot differentiate between shades of blue, I think your reflection that language shapes how we view the same world differently is definitely true. From my experience, the words and connotations within a language can share a detailed insight into the culture of the land where it originates from. I think your use of examples from your own research makes your argument far stronger and more complete. As a bilingual person myself, the things I speak about and associate with each language are distinct, and reading this blog has pushed me to consider how these differences actually display real differences in the societies. I would love to hear more about your experiences with different languages and how they portray everyday life differently!
ReplyDeleteHello, Leila! I found the topic that your blog covers this week to be truly fascinating. I never could have imagined how different grammar structures across languages could change the way we interpret the same event. Even more interesting to me was just how these different interpretations could in turn change how each person can store memories. Likely, by that logic, each one of us most likely remembers the same occurrence in our own unique way. Your blog also drives me to wonder how learning to speak another language, as a result, could affect our memory. Would we continue to store memories based on the grammatical structures and vocabulary given to us by our primary languages, or would learning another language, such as Russian for example, enable us to store memories with more colorful descriptions? Your blog was truly intriguing!
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