The effect
of languages on nature
There is no doubt that learning languages is very interesting and essential
in our everyday life. As a language lover myself, I have always been interested in the connection between
nature, language and culture as well. Can you imagine that my friend, who is
Japanese, and I could be listening to the same exact thing, but hearing it
differently? What is the reason of this? Let me explain it to you by giving you
an example - from the nature around us- and then maybe things will be clear and
understandable to you.
If I asked you now, "What sound does a
cat make?" what would you say? I mean, if a cat "meowed" in
front of you, you clearly hear the cat saying "meow meow", right? Now,
can you imagine that Japanese people do not hear the cat saying "meow meow";
instead they hear cats saying "nya nya にゃーにゃー". Is this not crazy? The exact
same thing happens with the sound that dogs make. An American person will hear
the dog saying "wuff wuff" or "ruff ruff", while on the
other hand, a Japanese person will hear "wan wanワンワン". As an Arab person
myself, I will hear something completely different. I hear the dog saying
"haw haw" or "how' how' "!
I found out that our mother tongue effects
the way we hear things including the sounds of animals. When I started studying
the English language, my English was not good back then. I could not understand
how the sound of dogs is "wuff wuff". This dog in front of me is
clearly saying "haw haw". How come my American friends say that it is
"wuff wuff"? It made no sense to me, and I totally forgot about it for
a while. I then started getting interested in Japanese language, and after years
of learning Japanese, I noticed something interesting. I noticed that I
actually can hear both sounds of the cat! I can hear the cat saying "nya
nya にゃーにゃー" and "meow meow" as well which I found so interesting. Then
I realized by familiarizing myself with the culture of the country, me learning their languages made it easier to see how people of other cultures can hear things differently.
I also noticed that languages does not only
affect how people hear the sound animals, but also affect their nature as human
beings. What is the meaning of this? I mean that the nature and the
characteristics of Japanese people, for examples, are totally different than
American people in many different ways. Japanese people who only speak Japanese
language tend to be very polite and some people would consider them to be shy,
while American people tend to be considered more courageous and out spoken. I
noticed this about myself as well.
Whenever I speak Japanese, I notice that I tend to be very polite and
respectful to the person I am talking to. I even smile more than normal when I am talking
in Japanese language. On the other hand, when I am talking in English, I
actually feel more confident of myself and will always speak out my mind with no
fear or hesitation. Is this not kind of unbelievable? My characteristics and
nature change a lot when I am speaking different languages, so I would
understand how someone raised on a certain country with certain culture and
tradition would see and hear things differently.
Learning languages is a great thing. It opens doors to us as humans, and makes us understand each other and accept our differences and even appreciate them. I think if I have never learned any languages other than my mother tongue, Arabic, I would not be the person I am nowadays or understand why people of other culture do things differently.
Learning languages is a great thing. It opens doors to us as humans, and makes us understand each other and accept our differences and even appreciate them. I think if I have never learned any languages other than my mother tongue, Arabic, I would not be the person I am nowadays or understand why people of other culture do things differently.
Peace, Shouq