Thursday 27 September 2012

Translating gives me a headache


Psy, the Korean singer who has captivated the world with Gangnam Style, recently visited the US.  When asked about his trip, he said, "Nostalgia (feeling homesick) is the biggest thing and another thing is having to use English all the time.  Translating the interviews from Korean to English and vice versa in my head gave me a bad headache."

Even the world-famous singer struggles with learning a language and translation issues.  haha

The fact is: as long as you are still a learner of the language, constantly having to translate back and forth is going to give you a headache.  BUT, the good news is, as long as you keep at it, you will start thinking in the new language very soon, without having to translate the sentences in your head first.  

Those who have studied linguistics tell me that if you start dreaming of random words in the new language, you are well on your way to learning it well.  I admit it can cause nightmares and sleepless nights, but those won't last too long.  Very soon, you will find yourself communicating in simple sentences and pretty soon, you'll be fluent!

Hard work does pay off when learning any language.  Just keep at it.  

So after this "bad headache" that Psy has experienced, he now wants to write songs in a mixture of Korean and English, just to reach a wider audience.  Very soon, the headache will be gone - and so will yours.

And you may well find yourself translating for other people who don't understand the language.  It will happen.  And then you will feel a sense of achievement and satisfaction.

Learning a language is all about communication.  When you can speak the new language, you will be the bridge of communication between two cultures.

Enjoy your learning process!

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