[Mad-ox]

Originally Posted by nyggus

Mad-ox, I totally agree with you. That's why translation between languages is so difficult: it's not just translating the words and sentences; one has to render the meaning also to the culture the translation is aiming at. I know many works in Polish that are practically untranslatable into English though it is possible to "translate" it via translation of the words and sentences. But the meaning: this is what is impossible to understand if one does not understand the Polish culture.

Cheers,
Nyggus

hi,

In conclusion, in order to develope our language skills, it is not enough to learn the grammatical rules of a foreign language but to learn about the customs, habits, culture, schedules, holidays, arts of the country whose language we are studing. In other words we have to read books, newspapers regarding the country whose language we are learning. Fortunately, we have the Internet where we can find a lot of information about most of the countries of the world. One of my teacher always said that we can find even God on the internet.( refering to the many information on it ) Obviously, it would be better to visit and to spend some time in the country whose language we are learning. ( This is more difficult as it involves spending a lot of money, but those who can afford it I guess it worth.)

Madox