Language-Mix

There are around 6,5000 spoken languages in the world. Every one of them is different and creates a different reality. Language determines our perception, it helps create the world around us. Here are my examples illustrating this phenomenon.

I believe that the more languages we know, the better we can express ourselves and maybe also notice more details in life. This is due to the fact that there are many words which cannot be translated accurately into other languages and even if you get as close as possible, the meaning will be ever so slightly different.

I speak 4 languages and I definitely can see the differences in expression and the meanings of certain words. At home we (me and my parents) know Polish, German and English and we speak a mix of all the three, as sometimes we feel like one language is not enough and cannot describe what we want to say accurately.

The result is a mix of all the three languages. Sometimes the words that we use are a combination of two or three languages, for instance a German or English word, but with a Polish ending.

Example:
'Glocać' which came from German 'glotzen', where 'tz' is read as 'c' and 'ać' is the standard ending for a verb in the 3rd person in Polish. This word means watching TV, but very mindlessly and usually for a long time. In the Polish language there is no such word with the exact meaning of 'glotzen' We don't use any other words for watching TV ;-)

I often think about how incredible it is how all the existing languages and dialects evolved and looking at the case study of my family I guess this is how. Language is dynamic, it changes, merges with other languages and invents itself all the time.

Right now there is a big influence of the English language on European languages. I can see this trait especially in Germany where words like 'sorry' 'meeting' 'business' and many more have been adopted into the language and are used on a daily basis as well as in the media.

I find it sometimes limiting having to express myself in only one language and I definitely agree with the statement that language helps shape who we are and how we see the world, as each word in different languages has a slightly different meaning.