Language Trainers Blog

The traditional Japanese greeting is the bow. The way you bow depends on your status in relation to the person you’re meeting – generally the higher their status, the lower you bow. Foreigners are not expected to know all the subtleties of this system, but not bowing at all would be seen as rude.

Japanese business people always exchange business cards (meishi) when meeting for the first time, so make sure you have a plentiful supply when doing business in Japan or with Japanese people elsewhere. It’s polite to give your business cards to people using both hands, and to examine their cards carefully. Treating business cards with disrespect by stuffing them in your pocket, making notes or doodling on them, or even using them to pick your teeth is a major faux pas.

In Japan people are reluctant to say no or to admit that they don’t know something. Instead they will say things like “That would be difficult” or “We will have to consider that”. The Japanese word hai, which may be translated as “yes” in your phrasebook, actually means “that is correct” so don’t assume that people are agreeing with you by saying hai. It is also used to show that people are listening to you while you’re talking, which can be off-putting if you’re not used to it. They’re not trying to interrupt you.

If you visit a Japanese home or a traditional inn, you should take your shoes off and wear slippers inside. There’s usually a separate pair of slippers for use in the bathroom which should not be worn elsewhere.

You usually have a wash before getting into a Japanese bath, which is a place to relax, and make sure you don’t get soap in the bath water.

When eating out with Japanese people the host usually pays, though other members of the group will try to do so. You pour drinks for other people, not for yourself. If you don’t drink alcohol, you can avoid seeming antisocial by keeping everyone else’s glass filled and saying kyokai (church) when people try to fill yours.

If you meet Japanese people who speak English well, it’s best to speak English with them even if your Japanese is fluent, unless they invite you to speak Japanese.

Germany has quite different names in different languages – the native name in German is Deutschland, in French it’s Allemagne, while in English it’s Germany. Where do these different names come from?

The name Germany comes from the Latin Germania, which Julius Caesar apparently got from a Gallic tribe and used to refer to the area east of the Rhine and north of the Danube. It probably meant “neighbour”. That area has been occupied by many different tribes other the millenia, some of whom lent their names to names of the region or languages spoken there. The modern country of Germany only came into being in 1871.

Deutschland is thought to come from the Old High German diutisc or something similar, which in turn came from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic Þeudiskaz, which is thought to mean “of the people”, “of the folk”. The names for Germany in the other Germanic languages come from the same root: Duitsland in Afrikaans & Dutch, Tyskland in Danish, Norwegian & Swedish, and Þýskaland in Icelandic.

The French name, Allemagne, comes from the Alamanni, an alliance of Germanic tribes who lived along the upper reaches of the River Main and were first mentioned in the 3rd century AD by the Roman Emperor Caracalla. Other languages that use a simliar name for Germany include Basque (Alemania), Catalan (Alemanya), Turkish (Almanya) and Welsh (Yr Almaen).

In many of the Slavic languages, the name for Germany comes from an old Slavic word for ‘mute’ (Nemets), as the Slavs thought the Germanic tribe who were unable to speak Slavic languages to be mute. Or the names might come from the Nemetes or Nemeti, a Germanic tribe that lived along the Danube. These names include Njemačka (Croatian), Německo (Czech), Niemcy (Polish), and Немачка (Nemačka – Serbian).

Being bilingual generally helps you learn other languages, although not in all cases. Many studies of people who grew up speaking two languages have found that they are often better at learning other languages than people how grew up with just one language. This advantage does depend a number of factors though. For example, if one of the languages spoken by bilinguals is a minority language without official status or support,  they tend to perform as well as monolinguals but not better, and if the bilinguals are literate in one of their languages but not the other, they will not have noticeable advantages when learning new languages.

So does this mean that the more languages you learn, the easier it gets? Perhaps – at least some aspects of the process become easier anyway. By learning different languages you become accustomed to different ways of putting sentences together, different ways of marking the relationships between words, different sounds and intonation patterns, and different ways of thinking. These all help when learning new languages. You will probably also develop strategies for learning vocabulary and grammar, and for paraphrasing and generally communicating with whatever words you can remember.

No matter how many languages you know however, it still takes time to acquire vocabulary and to become proficient at using grammar. If you learn languages related to ones you already know, there will probably be plenty familiar words, and the more languages you learn from a particular family, the easier it becomes to recognise such cognates. For example, if you know French and Spanish, you’ll probably be able to understand quite a lot of Portuguese, Italian and other Romance languages.

False friends or false cognates are words that sound and/or look the same in two languages but  different meaning. Dutch and English are quite closely related and have many similar words, but not all familiar sounding words in Dutch mean the same as they do in English.

The following Dutch words sound like English words but have different meanings:

• actueel = topical (actual = eigenlijk)
• bad = bath (bad = slecht)
• bang = afaid (bang = knal)
• kap = hood (cap = pet)
• dier = animal (deer = herten)
• folder = brochure (folder = map)
• grime = make-up (grime = vuil)
• leg = lay (leg = been)
• list = ruse (list = lijst)
• meet = finish (meet = ontmoeten)
• mes = knife (mess = rommel)
• offer = sacrifice (offer = aanbieden)
• pet = cap (pet = huisdier)
• pit = spirit (pit = kuil)
• put = well (put = paatsen)
• ramp = diaster, catastophe (ramp = drempel, oprit)
• rug = back (rug = kleedje)
• stage = work placement (stage = toneel)
• stout = naughty (stout = gezet)
• trap = stairs (trap = val)
• vest = cardigan (vest = hemd)
• wip = see-saw (whip = zweep)

L’esprit de l’escalier is a French expression that refers to clever or witty remarks you wish you’d made during a conversation, but which only come to mind afterwards. In some cases you might think of them shortly after the conversation, in other cases days, weeks or even months might pass before they pop into your head.

The expression was apparently coined by the French author Denis Diderot in the late 18th century and published in Paradoxe sur le Comédien. He originally meant it to refer to an infuriating situation when you leave a drawing room (usually on an upper floor at that time) and are halfway down the stairs before you suddenly think of the incredibly witty comment you could have made. Hence the reference to l’escalier (the staircase).

This phrase is used in English, as well as in French, and there are a number of possible translations, including ‘staircase wit’, ‘the wit of the stair’, ‘comebacks’ and ‘being wise after the event’. In German the equivalent is ‘Treppenwitz‘ – a literal translation.

Something similar happens to me after conversations in foreign languages when I often think of better ways of saying things, realise that I made grammatical mistakes and/or remember words that refused to come to mind during the conversations. Or I think of things I should have said during the conversation, but only after it’s moved on and it would be too late to say them.  The next time I need the words I might remember them, or I might suffer L’esprit de l’escalier again.

Are there equivalents of this phrase in other languages?

Chinese people often greet foreigners by hand shaking hands, though they tend to avoid eye contact when doing so. In fact it’s considered rude to stare into someone’s eyes, unless you know them really well. It’s best to address people with their surname and title unless they invite you to do otherwise. If you’re not sure which part of their name is the surname, just ask – it’s usually the first syllable of the name.

When giving things to Chinese people make sure you hold them in both hands as to use one hand is considered disrespectful. At weddings and Lunar New Year the usual gift is a red envelope of money. At other times food is a good choice. Make sure you don’t give people four of anything, which is an unlucky number, or scissors or knives (which signify the severing of a relationship), or clocks, handkerchiefs, flowers or straw sandals (which are used at/associated with funerals).

When given gifts Chinese people will usually refuse them twice before accepting them with a show of reluctance the third time. If you accept a gift, an offer of help or an invitation the first time, you’re thought of as rude. If you are genuinely unable to accept an invitation, make sure you explain clearly why in order to avoid slighting the person inviting you.

It’s rare to be invited to a Chinese home as Chinese people prefer to entertain in public. It’s normal for the host to order the food and to pay for the meal. When eating with a group you usually have a number of dishes which you share, rather than having individual meals. The host will ply you with the choicest bits of food and it’s rude to refuse them. If you have particular dietary requirements, make sure you discuss them with your host in advance. It’s usual to hold your rice bowl close to your mouth when eating, and to put bones on the table or in a bowl provided for that purpose. Make sure you don’t stick your chopsticks in you bowl, which is associated with death, but rather place them across your bowl or on a chopstick stand. Slurping your noodles and soup is a sign of enjoyment, as is belching, so don’t be surprised if your fellow diners do so.

Among the younger generation, tipping is becoming more common; older people find it insulting.

When learning a language you may wonder when you’ll stop being a learner and become a speaker. This depends a lot on your own attitudes and ambitions, as well as those of native speakers of the language you’re learning.

If you’re aiming for a high level of proficiency in the language then you could claim to be a speaker rather than a learner when native speakers no longer comment on your linguistic abilities and treat you as if you were a native as well. Although this won’t happen if you’re learning a language such as Chinese and don’t look Chinese, except on the phone.

If you just want to use it to get by when visiting other countries or talking to foreigners, you could think of yourself as a speaker even with a basic knowledge of the language.

There are some learners, however, who aim to improve their knowledge of languages constantly, and may always describe themselves as students of particular languages rather than speakers. There’s always more vocabulary and different styles of language to learn, as well as more to learn about the culture, history, music and other things associated with their languages.

For some people, the idea that you may never finish learning a language is not a welcome one. Others see language learning as an endlessly fascinating adventure.

False friends or false cognates are words that sound and/or look the same in two languages but  different meaning. Not all familiar sounding words in Spanish mean the same as they do in English.

Many words that end in -tion in English end in -ción in Spanish and many of them have the same or similar meanings. For example action is acción, description is descripción, invitation is invitación and civilization is civilización. However there are some exceptions (excepciónes): decepción means disappointment, not deception, which is engaño; and insulation is not insulación, which doesn’t exist in Spanish, but aislamiento.

Other false friends in Spanish include:

• Actual = current, at the present time (actual = real / verdadero)
• Argumento = scheme, arrangement (argument = discución)
• Asistir = to attend, to be present, e.g. Asisto a la oficina cada día, I go to the office every day. (to assist/help = ayudar)
• Constipación = a cold, e.g. estoy constipado = I have a cold / my nose is blocked up. (I am constipated = estoy estreñido)
• Contestar = to answer (to contest something = contender)
• Disgusto = displeasure or misfortune. (disgust = asco / repugnancia)
• Efectivo = cash (effective = eficaz)
• Embarazada = to be pregnant (to be embarrassed = tiene vergüenza / se siente avergonzado)
• Grapa = staple (grape = uva)
• Lectura = reading (lecture = conferencia)
• Librería = bookshop (library = biblioteca)
• Noticia = a piece of news (notice = aviso)
• Particular = private (particular = especial)
• Policia = police (policy = politica)
• Pretender = to intend, try, seek (to pretend = fingir)
• Realizer = to become real (to realize = darse cuenta)
• Suburbio = slum (suburb = Barrio residencial)
• Suceso = event (success = éxito)