Comments on: Speaking & thinking in another language http://www.blackchai.com/2008/07/10/speaking-thinking-in-another-language/ Life defunked over a cup of tea Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:34:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Matthew Clapp http://www.blackchai.com/2008/07/10/speaking-thinking-in-another-language/#comment-37 Matthew Clapp Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:27:33 +0000 http://www.blackchai.com/?p=45#comment-37 This is one of the big debates in linguistics - are some languages better than others at describing the world? Linguists are split about 50/50 on this. Of course, it's obvious that some languages are better suited for certain tasks than others. If I wanted to write a technical manual for building an engine I would use English. English is a very terse and technical language. However, English is a difficult language for poetry compared to a language like Italian. The most transcendental languages like Arabic and Sanskrit are perfect for describing religion because of the esoteric nature inherit in many of the words. Even a word like <em>dharma</em> is almost impossible to translate into English because there is so much packed into this single word. I'm guessing that as time goes by more of the web will move toward localization rather than global English as most of the web is today. Many thought that the web would allow English to take a firm hold as the global language. I'm glad that this trend seems to be declining. Like you, I believe that language is a reflection of culture and history. As more web sites more towards localization, a whole new world of challenges will await those of you in the usability field - with a whole new set of rules and best practices. You've got a long road ahead of you but perhaps this road will lead to a better understanding of your own language and culture. This is one of the big debates in linguistics - are some languages better than others at describing the world? Linguists are split about 50/50 on this. Of course, it’s obvious that some languages are better suited for certain tasks than others.

If I wanted to write a technical manual for building an engine I would use English. English is a very terse and technical language. However, English is a difficult language for poetry compared to a language like Italian. The most transcendental languages like Arabic and Sanskrit are perfect for describing religion because of the esoteric nature inherit in many of the words. Even a word like dharma is almost impossible to translate into English because there is so much packed into this single word.

I’m guessing that as time goes by more of the web will move toward localization rather than global English as most of the web is today. Many thought that the web would allow English to take a firm hold as the global language. I’m glad that this trend seems to be declining. Like you, I believe that language is a reflection of culture and history. As more web sites more towards localization, a whole new world of challenges will await those of you in the usability field - with a whole new set of rules and best practices. You’ve got a long road ahead of you but perhaps this road will lead to a better understanding of your own language and culture.

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