Communicating Thoughts and Emotions

When learning a foreign language we must keep in mind that not only are we learning new words and structures but there will also be changes in the dynamics  between that language and our own. For English speakers, Spanish presents some interesting forms of expressing thoughts and emotions that will challenge the way we customarily communicate ideas. Take for example when we ask "What is your name?" The Spanish form literally asks " how are you called" when we say ¿Cómo te llamas? In essence the language dynamic changes from "name" being the subject of the sentence to "you" appearing as the subject in the Spanish version. Notice that the word for "name" which is "nombre" does not appear in the Spanish sentence. I suppose one could ask "¿Cuál es tu nombre?" but that is not the usual expression. Another comparison of interest is found in asking for one's age. While in English we are accustomed to asking how old people are, Spanish does not allow for such an inquiry since it would sound somewhat rude. One rather asks for the number of years that a person has when we say ¿Cuántos años tienes? Another curious variation is in the concept of asking for the time. In English the question directs itself to the time in general while in Spanish when we say ¿Qué hora es? it is the particular hour that one is asking for.

Finally, there is another oddity of ideas that comes across when one expresses the mishap of dropping an object, let's say a glass. We say "I dropped the glass" meaning we own up to the incident while the Spanish speaker will in a manner of speaking shrug responsibility for the mishap by saying "Se me cayó el vaso", the glass fell from me. These are just a few of the distinctive dynamics that characterize the Spanish language.

Hasta la próxima,

Ed