language – The Oracle

‘Culture and language are intertwined inextricably’: Phrases lose cultural meanings, nuance in English translations

Maddie Cheung, Centerfold Editor — Sat, 13 Apr 2024 05:11:09 +0000

The French expression “avoir du pain sur la planche” translates literally to “having bread on a board” and can be equated to the English phrase “to have a lot on one’s plate.” French teacher Laura Lizundia, however, finds that the English analogue doesn’t do the original expression justice.

“There’s something lost in translation of the choices of using the comparison of bread and the board because bread-making is a difficult task,” she said. “You have a larger appreciation for the derivation of the expression if you know the literal meaning as well as what the expression figuratively means.”

Another example of a phrase that loses its richness when translated is the Vietnamese saying “lá lành dùm lá rách,” which translates to “good leaf shelters torn leaf.” The expression has become a resounding message of empathy and solidarity among Vietnamese people, according to Vietnamese Culture Club Vice President sophomore Chilton Chau.

“The actual meaning of this is that good people will support and protect those who are vulnerable or in need,” he said. “The more fortunate people should try to help everybody else out, especially those less fortunate.”

Vietnam’s largely agricultural and rice-dependent culture imbues this saying with additional meaning, since popular rice dishes consumed during holidays like T?t are wrapped in tree leaves and steamed. When torn leaves are reinforced with whole leaves, the rice cakes inside will not crack. This imagery advises people to lend a compassionate helping hand, an aspect those unfamiliar with Vietnamese culture may not catch.

Chau also believes that a reliance on nature most distinguishes Vietnamese sayings from English ones.

“If you see Vietnam, there’s a lot of trees, and it’s tropical and warm,” Chau said. “Because Vietnamese people have always been surrounded by nature and trees, I think that’s where these phrases come from — living as one with the environment.”

Meanings lost in translation also pose an issue when it comes to internationally best-selling novels that have found their way into the Western market, including Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.” Cultural differences can sometimes be muddled in pursuit of a “pure” translation, challenging not only translators of these texts but also their readers.

For instance, when English teacher Diane Ichikawa tried to describe protagonist Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov’s giddy nature to a Russian-speaking friend, she found that a one-word characterization in Russian took at least a sentence or two in English.

“Culture and language are intertwined inextricably,” Ichikawa said. “There’s no way to be able to translate from one very different culture to another different culture with ease and facility.”

That said, Ichikawa believes that technological advancements have weakened, if not removed, the barrier of cultural differences.

“In the 1970s and 80s, there was this explosion of multicultural literature,” she said. “You had people who were trying to write about their cultural experiences in English but they would do this thing where they would say something in, for example, Chinese and then in parentheses next to it, translate it into English. Now, I think the trend is that — especially because we have search engines at the tips of our fingers — if we read something in another language and we don’t quite get it, if we are that invested in it, we have the ability to look it up.”

Language department updates academic standards, practices

Madison Nguyen, Features Editor — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 18:31:32 +0000

The bell rings as language classes begin. Students crowd into the computer lab and begin preparing for their upcoming listening assessment. In other classrooms, they begin class with a writing assessment or simply interact with their fellow language learners.

Since 2016, World Language Instructional Lead Liz Matchett has been working with many other teachers and administrators across the state of California to improve the framework of the California language department standard. If approved, the standards will be published and implemented into all California high schools sometime in 2021.

The California Department of Education (CDE) published the standards in Jan. 2019, but the framework is still in the process of being approved by the state. While the standards outline what students have to learn, such as grammar and vocabulary, the framework also explains how students should learn. According to Matchett, the framework consists of learning languages through interpretive, interpersonal and presentational communication. Grammar and vocabulary will be the base of student learning and used as a tool for communication. “The idea is that if you got dropped into another country, no one is going to run up to you and give you a worksheet that says, ‘Fill out these words’ becsause it’s not a real-world activity,” Matchett said. “The standards and the framework continually say, ‘What are real-world tasks that students will eventually have to do in the language?’ and that is what and how we should be teaching in the language classrooms.”

While the lengthy process requires approval by many administrators, the framework was finished on Aug. 2 and is being incorporated at Gunn. While the framework, if passed, will shape how language is taught in California for the next ten years, new standards have already been implemented into Gunn’s world language classrooms since last school year. Thus, there will be a shift in CDE standards, but this won’t have a large im- pact on how language is already taught at Gunn due to the fact that these standards and practices are already being used. Historically, there has been a large emphasis on grammar rules and vocabulary, but the CDE is now shifting the focus to how these rules can be applied to everyday conversations. “Some places in California only teach grammar and vocabulary, and that’s all they test,” she said. “We need to be testing what students can actually do with a language, what kind of communication they can have.”

Because of this, Matchett places an emphasis on how teachers phrase their learning objectives. “Instead of a teacher saying ‘Today, we’re going to learn the subjunctive,’ they should say, ‘Today, we’re going to learn how to get recommenda- tions, here are some contexts to why we would give recommendations to people,’” she said.

An issue world language teachers face is that some students don’t see the importance of language classes. However, Matchett emphasizes that learning a language allows for a better understanding of culture and connection with more people something that will grow and prosper with the new updated standard and framework. “Learning a language isn’t something that is just sitting by itself,” she said. “Sometimes, people think about why you need to know a language. It’s because the world keeps becoming a smaller place the more global we become.”

Use of native language aids in reinforcement of cultural ties

Tejpal Virdi, News Editor — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 18:44:56 +0000

In many communities throughout the country, learning a second language is a privilege enjoyed by few. English is everywhere, and it has left little room for other languages; even when the opportunity to learn a second language presents itself, if you are part of the 20 percent of students in America enrolled in a foreign language class, you will likely be boxed into Spanish, French or German. Given these obstacles, it was inevitable that picking up my mother tongue of Punjabi while perfecting English and Spanish at school was not an easy feat.

My childhood memories are filled with dreaded hour-long drives to Punjabi School every Sunday and endless parental lectures on why it was important to learn the language. From third to eighth grade, I dedicated countless hours memorizing the 35-letter alphabet and practicing the different sounds. And although my 11-year-old self saw little value in the seemingly tedious tasks, I’ve since learned to appreciate the skills I developed. Now, I can read, write and understand Punjabi at a limited working proficiency.

Learning to speak Punjabi fluently, on the other hand, has been a challenge that I’ve made little progress on. Growing up surrounded by English, I lacked the opportunities outside of my family to converse in Punjabi. As much as my parents dislike when I respond to their elegant Punjabi in informal English, no matter how hard I try, I find it nearly impossible to say a single coherent sentence in the language.

Still, my ability to comprehend spoken Punjabi has allowed me to hold on to parts of my culture that are nested deeply in language. From understanding the lyrics of Bhangra music in traditional Punjabi dances to communicating with Indian relatives, I’ve found that my Punjabi skills—as limited as they may be—are an integral part of who I am. Just over two generations ago, my relatives spoke solely in Punjabi; many of their traditions may have been carried on, but they are hidden behind a language barrier. Each step I take in learning my mother tongue brings me closer to decoding the picture of where I truly come from.

I hope national curricula become more inviting of new languages, as there is a lot of value in multilingualism. Language is a core part of any culture, and by focusing solely on English, we are not making use of the unique diversity that makes up our surroundings. By creating an environment that fosters different languages, people will be more inclined to pick up their mother tongue and carry forward their heritage.

Students preserve cultural roots through multilingualism: Shana Ebrahimnejad

Jessica Wang, Editor-in-Chief — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 18:42:28 +0000

For freshman Shana Ebrahimnejad, learning Farsi, German, French and English came from her life in Germany and America, her Persian roots and Duolingo.

As her family moved between countries, Ebrahimnejad acquired languages naturally through immersion. Accordingly, she interprets these languages without thinking. “For German and Farsi, [the language] is something I’ve grown up around,” she said. “I can understand it better, but…it goes in one ear, gets translated and then goes out the other. I can’t recall the words that have the meanings.”

Despite this, Ebrahimnejad’s knowledge improves her communication with others, including her extended family in Iran. “People are a lot more clear and eloquent in their own language,” she said. “So when you’re multilingual, and you’re able to understand a person’s easiest tongue, you can understand the person more easily.”

Ebrahimnejad also derives personal satisfaction from being multilingual. “I really like the history behind words, and it’s really interesting to see how words differ from place to place,” she said. “There’ll be some words that’ll be the same [between languages], and I’ll be like, ‘Oh my god!’ That’s always fun.”

As further motivation, Ebrahimnejad’s multilingual family supports her proficiency in all four languages. “My dad encourages both my sister and me to write texts in the morning, but in German,” she said. “He also sometimes sends us articles in German and generally speaks to us in Germ-glish, [a combination of German and English].”

For aspiring language learners, Ebrahimnejad acknowledges that becoming fluent takes hard work. “If there’s anyone out there who is trying to become multilingual, it honestly takes a while, and you just need to practice,” she said. “You need exposure to the language.”

Overall, Ebrahimnejad believes that being multilingual is worth the effort. “When you know a language, you see the culture of a place and interact with it, which enriches your experience and your view,” she said.

Staffer learns to embrace interest in foreign culture

sawngbird — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 15:46:07 +0000

Written by Collin Jaeger

My relationship with Asian culture began about four years ago when I heard Japanese metal music for the first time. To my musically-surfeited ears, Japanese metal was a fresh gift of chaos and wonder, but not too long after, the broader Japanese culture would also captivate me. While becoming familiar with the sound of Japanese lyrics, I decided to start studying the language and got a great insight into the culture. It was the first foreign culture I had ever found interesting, and learning about it would become a fairly important investment of my life in the coming years.

At school, I find it very easy to talk about my new interests with others, and my fascination with Japanese culture at the time was no exception. Despite this, it wasn’t long before the absurd consequences of being a non-Japanese American and openly liking this culture hit me pretty hard. Barely anyone took my goal to be fluent in Japanese seriously, and many threw around the term “weeaboo” as an insult. I eventually figured out that weeaboo was a strangely specific word, and it seemed like most people didn’t actually know what it meant. But after years of listening to many interpretations, I can best describe a weeaboo as someone who garners superficial knowledge of Japanese culture through its entertainment and believes that it’s superior to all other cultures. It’s a word that can certainly describe some—even people who I’ve met in my life—but has never described me.

It’s not the misuse of the word that has bothered me, though: it’s what people mean by it. There’s a strong implication that non-Japanese people can’t know anything about or be allowed to enjoy Japanese culture, which is especially discouraging for someone who spends genuine time and effort studying it.

The racial element of being branded a weeaboo has always irritated me the most. Whenever a piece of Japanese culture or a Japanese person enters my life, people always assume it has to do with some naive wish of mine to be Japanese. For example, someone once attacked me for having dated a Japanese girl, claiming it was only because of her race that we dated. Never before did I think people would use race like that to denigrate other people’s relationships, but it just goes to show how toxic the stigma around this culture is.

Throughout my life, I’ve never thought of race and culture as having any authentic connection. Because of that, I have a very open mind about what cultures different people can adopt. It was due to music that Japanese culture appealed to me, and since then, I’ve gotten into various other cultures the same way. When I finish learning Japanese, perhaps I’ll try learning Finnish, Norwegian, Chinese or Russian because of all the music I listen to in those languages as well. It just so happens that Japanese was the first to catch my attention.

Ultimately, I see no boundaries for what languages or cultures I can study, and there are so many facets to each that to say I absolutely love any of them would be silly. There are plenty of things I enjoy about Japanese culture, but through studying it, I’ve actually found things I detest about it as well. More importantly, however, I’ve learned that there is so much more to Japan than what colorful anime and cute J-pop idols show the rest of the world. There are daily lifestyles, traditions and universal values that are important to observe too.

When it comes to people who shame others for liking this culture, I can understand where their sentiment comes from. There’s a huge bandwagon for “Japanophiles” on the internet, yet many of them don’t even care to understand what Japanese culture is really like, and it makes them look awfully contemptible. Bearing that in mind, I’ve never been one to fit in with this crowd. Any time I’ve been associated with it, it’s always been the result of prejudgement. The one thing we do have in common is that at the end of the day, we explore Japanese culture to find what we enjoy about it, just as people do with any other culture. Connecting with cultures that are trendy or more susceptible to judgement never stopped me from pursuing what I enjoy.