Archive for the ‘translation’ tag
Lost in Translation
Yesterday, I started my orientation program at Erasmus University. I met the other people in my program, most of whom are not native English speakers; there are 4 Americans (including me), 3 Czechs, 2 Italians, a girl from France, another girl from Finland, a guy from Slovakia, a girl from Turkey, a girl from Lithuania, a guy from Scotland, and a girl from Portugal. If I’ve left someone out, I apologize. I’ll edit the post later if I have.
I’ve become quite aware that my way of speaking is somewhat unique. My counterparts from other nations use different expressions. Often times, these expressions are literal translations from their native expressions. Similarly, I’ve noticed that I use colloquialisms and expressions in English that do not make sense if you did not grow up in the U.S. I wonder if my expressions will change once I come home. I’m sure they will; I’m just uncertain to what degree.
