Language Trainers Blog

When you’re very hungry, you might say that you could eat a horse, at least in English. If you translated this or other idioms literally into other languages, people might not know what you were talking about.

Spanish speakers also talk about horses when they’re really hungry – Estoy tan hambriento que podría tragarme un caballo (I’m so hungry I could eat a bull), although in Argentina they say – Tengo tanto hambre que me comería una vaca entera (I’m so hungry I could eat a whole cow).

In French it’s a bull rather than a horse that people claim to be able to eat when they’re famished – Je mangerais un boeuf. Or you might have the hunger of a wolf – J’ai un faim de loup. In Canadian French they do talk about horses when hungry though: J’ai tellement faim que je pourrais manger un cheval avec ses fers (I’m so hungry I could eat a horse with its horseshoes on), or even elephants: J’ai tellement faim que je pourrais manger un éléphant.

In Italian the equivalent expression is: ho una fame che mi mangerei un bue (I’m so hungry I would eat an ox).

Portuguese speakers talk about eating horses or oxen: Tenho tanta fome que comeria um cavalo (I’m so hungry I could eat a horse), or Tenho tanta fome que comeria um boi com guampa e tudo (I’m so hungry that I”d eat an ox with horn and everything). They also say, Estou com uma fome de leão (I’m hungry as a lion).

In German hunger, bears and wolves go together: Ich bin so hungrig wie ein Wolf (I am as hungry as a wolf) or Ich habe einen Bärenhunger (I have the hunger of a bear.

Czech speakers get so hungry that they could eat nails: Mám hlad, že bych hřebíky polykal(a)! (I’m as hungry that I should swallow/gobble even nails!).

An American university professor has been teaching dogs, cats and horses to understand and use sign language for the past 10 years, according to this report.

She has had most success with dogs and teaches them one symbol at a time. At first she teaches them signs for commands associated with things they like such as food and toys, then trys to teach them more complex commands. She has managed to teach dogs to let their owners know when the phone’s ringing, and to indicate what their symptoms are when they’re ill.

One area in which sign language trained dogs would be especially useful, she thinks, is in search and rescue. She hopes to be able to teach the dogs to communicate such things as whether people are injured, their sex and how many of them there are. She is also trying to teach dogs signs meaning alive and dead.

There is also a simple form of sign language for deaf dogs, and there are suggestions for signs you could use with them for commands and to communicate other things on this page. This article describes how a deaf puppy learned signed commands, and this one gives more details of how to teach deaf dogs sign language.

One good reason to learn foreign languages is to get access to information.

If you’re doing research into a topic there may information about it only available in another language, and if you don’t know that language you probably won’t be aware of that information exists. If you do know the language though, you will be able to find and use the information.

Knowing other lanuages will also give you the ability to discuss your research with people from other countries, and maybe even to write and speak about your work in other languages. You could also undertake research projects using a foreign language or language, which is there handy if you’re researching other languages.

The same advantages apply not just to research but to any information you might want to find.

Today’s word, servicio, is a Spanish word with quite a few different meanings. The basic meaning is service, but it also means order (in a restaurant), toilet, serve (in tennis), (military) service, service charge, and (police) case.

Here are a few examples of how this word is used:

• ¿su servicio, señor? – your order, sir?
• estar al servicio del gobierno – to be on government service
• estar de servicio – to be serviciable / in service
• servicio militar - military service
• entrar de servicio – to go on duty
• servicio de megafonía – public address system
• servicio de café / de mesa – coffee / dinner set
• romper el servicio de uno – to break someone’s service

Related words include servible – serviceable, usable; servicial – helpful, obliging; servicialidad – helpfulness, obliging nature; servidor – servant; and servir – to serve, do a favour to, oblige.

The Spanish equivalent of yours truly is un servidor (a servant), while yours faithfully is su seguro servidor (your trustworthy servant) or atento y seguro servidor (attentive and trustworthy servant).

When you go looking around the shops but don’t buy anything or even go inside them, you would say that you’re “window shopping” in English, even though you’re probably not shopping for windows,

In French you go “window licking” (faire du leche-vitrine).

In German you can go on a “shop window ramble” (Schaufensterbummel), while in Swedish the phrase means the same as in English – fönstershoppa (window shopping).

In Italian, Spanish and Portuguese you “go to the shop windows” (andare a vedere le vetrine / ir de escaparates / ir ver vitrines)

In Chinese the equivalent of this phrase is 逛街 (guàng jiē) or “street wandering/strolling” – this expression also means  to take a walk and to stroll down the street.

The equivalent phrase in Japanese is a transliteration of the English phrase -  ウィンドーショッピング (windōshoppingu).

If you learn a language from a standard textbook, the kind of language you learn will probably be quite formal. If you try speaking to native speakers you’ll probably find that they don’t speak like your textbook, except perhaps in formal situations. This is way it’s a good idea to try to pick some more colloquial language and slang if you want to understand the locals and to communicate smoothly with them.

There are various books that teach slang and informal language, for example Street French, and similar titles. The main trouble I find with them is that they don’t necessarily tell you how common the expressions are, or when to use them. They rarely come with recordings of the phrases either.

You can pick up plenty of colloquial language from soap operas, novels, dramas and chat shows. The advantage of doing so is that you hear the expressions being used in context, which might help you remember them and gives you an idea when and how use them.

One problem with learning colloquial language and slang is that it changes all the time. So you might find yourself using words or expressions which have fallen out of use, unless you keep up-to-date with the latest ways of saying things.

When learning a language it can be helpful to measure how well you are progressing every so often. There are various ways you could this, including taking language proficiency exams, asking your teacher or tutor to assess your progress, or setting yourself various language-related tasks and seeing how well you can do them.

There are international recognise language proficiency exams for a variety of languages. For French, for example, there are DILF, DELF and DALF exams at various levels which test your reading, writing, listening and speaking. These exams can be taken at test centres in 150 countries, and many language schools offer preparation courses for them. Similar exams are available for German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and various other languages. Having a certificate that these exams provide is very useful if you plan to study or work abroad, or to use your foreign language in a professional setting in your own country.

Some of the language proficiency exams are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which divides language proficieny into six levels from A1 (Breakthrough) to C2 (Mastery). If you prefer not to take the exams, you still use the framework to get an idea of your level.

If you set yourself language-related challenges, you can get an idea of your proficiency. The challenges might involve understanding particular texts, such as newspaper reports, magazine articles, comics, poems, novels, textbooks or academic articles. You could see how much you understand of a TV or radio programme, a play, film or lecture; try to have conversations on various topics, or give speeches or presentations; or try writing various kinds of texts. You might find that you can use the language well in some situations, but not so well in others. You could also try any of these challenges several times over a certain period of time to how much progress you’re making.

If you think something is very unlikely to happen you might make references to flying pigs to signal your disbelief. Or you might talk about plummeting temperatures in hell. That will happen when pigs fly / when pigs have wings / when hell freezes over, you might say.

Flying pigs are also thought highly unlikely in Norwegian – når griser flyr (when pigs fly),  Swedish – när grisar flyger (when pigs fly), German – wenn Schweine fliegen können (when pigs can fly) or wenn Schweine Flügel hätten, wäre alles möglich (if pigs had wings, everything would be possible), and Welsh – pan fydd moch yn hedfan (when pigs fly).

The possibility of cows flying is considered unlikely in Finnish – sitten kun lehmät lentävät (when cows fly) or jos lehmällä olisi siivet, se lentäisi (if cow had wings, it would fly), and also in Catalan – quan les vaques volin (when cows fly).

In Spanish flying cows are also rare – cuando las vacas vuelen (when cows fly), as are hairy frogs – cuando las ranas crien pelo (when frogs grow hair).

Flying donkeys are what you have to watch out for in Italy – quando voleranno gli asini (when donkeys will fly).

The idea of hens growing teeth is thought to be unlikely in French – quand les poules auront des dents (when hens have teeth), as is the idea of cows with wings – quand les vaches auront des ailes (when cows have wings).

In Russian the most unlikely event is thought to be whistling crayfish – Когда рак на горе свистнет (When the crayfish on the hill whistles).

Studies have found that there are connections between language and music. If you are musical you will probably also have a better ear for the sounds of language, which could help you learn to pronounce foreign languages. You might also be more in tune for the rhythms, intonation and stress patterns of language, which will certainly help when learning foreign languages. Being familiar with the structure of music may also help you to learn some grammatical aspects of language as well. The opposite might to be true as well – those with a talent for languages might be able to learn music better than others.

This report, for example, talks about an experiment that found that language learners were better at finding the boundaries between words when each syllable was given a different pitch as if they were being sung. It also mentions that the same areas of the brain are activated when listening to or making music and when speaking or listening to language.

Another report found that speakers of tonal languages such as Chinese or Thai are much more likely to have perfect pitch than speakers of non-tonal languages like English and French. Perfect pitch is the ability tp identify and produce individual notes accurately and is present in about 1 in 10,000 in the USA and Europe, but much more common in China and other countries where tonal languages are spoken. If you learn a tonal language it might help you to develop perfect pitch as well, especially if you start learning it before the age of 5.

If you have the opportunity, it is well worth your while to spend some time in a country where its spoken. You could take a course in an language school, take individual lessons, or combine your studies with other activities such as sports, cooking, dancing or wine tasting.

While it is possible to find opportunites to use your foreign language in your own country, it’s probably not possible to immerse yourself completely in it. When you study abroad you can hear and see the language all the time, taste the food and drink, watch the way the people interact, and experience other aspects of life. You will also have plenty of opportunities  to practise speaking the language with native speakers, and to practise reading signs, deciphering menus, and understanding announcements. When you frequently see and hear things in context, it’s usually easier to guess or work out what they mean.

The longer you spend in a foreign country, the more proficient you’ll become in the foreign language, as long as you study and practise use it as much as possible. Even spending a week or two is beneficial.