beautifull image, that of words as door to playgrounds. I love it.
Ricardo.
Anna Strumphler wrote:
>
> At 06:49 PM 3/25/99 -0300, Ricardo wrote:
> I do not know if you feel the same, as a portuguese speaker/reader, on
> expressing ideas and thought in english. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT!
>
> Dear Ricardo,
>
> as a Dutch native speaker I fully agree with you, even when English
> is probably closer to Dutch than to Portugees.
>
> Expressing thoughts in English is fairly difficult, but reading also.
> Analysing words and concepts in one's own language is often quite an
> exercise (to grasp what they _realy_ mean in the context), in a foreign
> language it is often impossible. I try to be content with the idea that
> understanding a text in a foreign language can only be an approximation,
> in which my own interpretation plays a large role.
>
> Words are like doors to playgrounds: they open images, memories, you can
> play with them, connect them, associate them with other words. It is this
> emotional-playfull layer that one misses in a foreign language.
> Add to the fact that certain words and concepts simply does not exist
> in the foreign language one uses, translations are often limited and
> sources of conceptual confusion.
>
> You are probably right that thinking in one language is different from
> thinking in an other, even when we seemingly are talking about the same
> things. This gives me something to reflect upon. Thank you.
>
> Anna.
>
> ===========================================
> Anna Strumphler, orthopedagogue
> Amsteldijk 28,
> 1074 HT Amsterdam,
> The Netherlands
> Tel.: +31 20 6719906
> e-mail: W.deVries who-is-at net.HCC.nl
> ===========================================