In a Manner of Speaking How Understanding Culture Impacts Your Language Studies

In a Manner of Speaking How Understanding Culture Impacts Your Language Studies In a Manner of Speaking: How Understanding Culture Impacts Your Language Studies Learning a language without comprehending the culture is like going to the vibrant Mexican marketplace pictured above  and only eating hamburgers from McDonalds.Will your food be okay? Sure.But youre kind of missing the point. Youre not getting the full experience.The same goes with language and culture. To fully appreciate a language, you need to understand the culture of the people who speak itâ€"theyre intrinsically connected.Learning about different cultures helps us approach languages with new insight. It allows us to delve deeper into the meaning of  words and expressions  and helps us feel more connected to each other.Okay, I might be romanticizing  just a bit.Still, you cant deny that language is a huge part of culture, so much that it actually affects culture in the same way that a culture affects the language.Thats what were going to be exploring here, so read on and, hopefully, when youre done youll have a new appreciation for the language (or languages)  youre currently s tudying as well as the culture it stems from, or maybe even your own culture. Like I said, its all connected. In a Manner of Speaking: How Understanding Culture Impacts Your Language StudiesWhat Does Language Have to Do with Culture?To answer that question, lets think about the purpose of language.Simply put, language allows us to express our thoughts and feelings, it allows us to communicate and share knowledge with one another.You wont fully master a language unless you understand the culture, just like youll never fully understand a culture until youve immersed yourself in a study of their language.This is because language is constantly in flux and largely dependent on the ever-evolving views, values and customs of its speakers.Lets look at just how connected they really are.Language reflects the values and beliefs of a cultureThe differences between two cultures are reflected perfectly in their languages. Mastering the nuances of a language means really being able to understan d people who (more than likely) grew up with an entirely different set of values and beliefs. You have to open yourself up to these differences.Those contrasting values and beliefs can manifest in a variety of ways. Taking a look at common expressions and idioms gives you a glimpse into what a society deems important.For example, just looking at all the  Chinese idioms dealing with family  demonstrates the value they place on this relationship and tells us a little about the family construct and potential dynamics.Or if you were learning English, you can find lots of examples of the historical and cultural values reflected in typical English expressions and idioms by just listening to an episode of NPRs radio program  A Way with Words.Have you ever heard the phrase A Whistle in the Dark or noticed any of the other words and expressions for the word courage? Such observations would lead an English learner to believe that bravery is an attribute thats highly coveted in English-speakin g societies.But thats not the only connection between language and culture.Language reflects our perception of the worldLanguage affects the way we perceive the world and therefore, it affects how we choose to interact with it.There have been several studies on this.Ask a linguist about language and perception and theyll probably point you to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which states that the limits and structure of language determines their users thoughts and actions. Its a hypothesis supported by professor Lera Boroditsky who wrote a whole paper on the topic of linguistic relativity.A great example explored by those who study linguistic relativity is the concept of time and space between languages. Boroditsky conducted an experiment in which she found that while English speakers view time horizontally (i.e., the past is behind us or to the left and the future is ahead or to the right), Mandarin speakers are more likely to view time vertically (i.e. the order of events is viewed fro m top to bottom).Others have studied the connection between  bilingualism and personality, finding that when people switch languages they also seem to switch their personality to fit the language. That is, they seem to shift their way of thinking to reflect that of the people who speak the respective language. Its fascinating!Language reflects perception, but it also reflects the history of a culture and explains why certain ideas and beliefs are so prominent and profound.Historical Perspective: The Link Between the History of a Culture and Its LanguageTake terms that have lasted from ancient times to modernity to heartWhen you look at any culture, you cannot rightly ignore its history. Understanding its history allows you to form some idea of how and why certain words came to mean what they do. For example, in Mandarin, ?  (Xin)  is often directly translated to heart in English. However, the word also refers to the mind and ones emotions.The meaning of the word is an important conc ept in Daoist teachings and makes those teachings much more accessible to Mandarin speakers (which may explain why it has thrived since ancient times).The effects of these ancient beliefs on modern Chinese values and culture  are still present today. Clearly, the deep-rooted meaning of the term  Xin  is something a Mandarin learner would want to take to heart if they truly wanted to understand the implications behind the word.The history of a culture explains the power a term or idea can carry in a language, but it also explains the existence of certain (sometimes seemingly random) linguistic elements.To really understand, you also have to ask yourself about the influence of other cultures on a language.Watch out for footprints left by other cultures on a languageThe English language is a perfect example of mixing cultures and language. The Germanic Anglo-Normans and Latin-based French essentially planted the seed for English as we know it to grow.Learning all about  that history co uld certainly help you understand the meaning behind certain words and phrases with Latin roots, as well as other words of foreign language descent.English isnt the only example of a language with rich history. If youre studying one of the Romance languages, it helps immeasurably to learn about European history and the spread of Latin.Maybe youre learning Spanish and wondering why there are so many words that start with  al? Spanish has many words of Arabic origin due to the  Islamic conquest of Spain. Clearly, the influence of that culture has left its mark.Knowing the history of a culture is not only a way to get clarification, it also shows how words have evolved to reflect the current cultural climate.Keep track of the ever-evolving meaning of wordsYou often hear people say, back in my day, that word used to mean something else.Words change. A lot.Take a brief look into the world of etymology (the study of word origins and development) and youll find that many words once meant o ne thing but now mean something else entirely.Before the internet, it was next to impossible to pinpoint the redefining moments for these words. The broadening or dissolution of their original meanings tended to just happen slowly over time with usage. Thanks to the internet, we can study this much more closely.Words can evolve in various ways. Sometimes they can start out as harmless phrases but evolve to be quite rude, like the word bimbo which has its roots in the Italian word  bambino (little child). In English, this was a term originally referring to an unintelligent man, but over time it came to be quite a derogatory term for an attractive, but not very bright, woman.Then lets take a look at the word  awesome, which nowadays is used to describe the best things ever (like this trivia filled article)! The root of the word is awe which used to be synonymous with dread. The word maintained that connotation until around the late 1970s when people started using it to describe great things.Our ever-developing culture forces language to develop alongside it. We usually dont notice the strange ways in which these words change until we either look it up or have a non-native speaker point it out.But what does that mean on a day-to-day basis?Now that weve discussed the fluidity of language and culture over time, lets take a look at what this has to do with you and your language-learning journey.How This Understanding Affects Your Language Learning JourneyMore than anything else, your learning will help you choose your words more carefully.Understanding the culture behind a language can help immeasurably in understanding the connotations of a word, especially when theres no equivalency in your own language. Not doing so can cause some embarrassing or offensive situations.Take a language like Japanese that feature words that are closely tied to the culture. The Japanese dont just have formal and informal forms, but honorific and humble forms as well. This is referred to as keigo.No doubt you already have your impressions of each culture and perhaps even for certain languages based on your own experience (and cultures history). When trying to master another language, its best to go in without any expectations or pre-conceived notions.Learn with what you know, keep an open-mind and respect the differences you find.Now that you know why its all so importantSo what have we learned today? Hopefully you can look back at your learning experience with more awareness about what to change about your learning methods or your mindset. Weve discussed how closely related language and culture is and by association, the importance of learning the etymology of a language.It doesnt have to be in-depth but maybe just enough to form a deeper understanding and appreciation for the quirks and rules of the language(s) youre trying to learn.How deep is your understanding of the foreign words you learned? Have you just memorized their definitions or translations, or do you understand what they mean and what they imply when spoken?When you take that understanding and apply it as you learn the language, single words suddenly carry new weight and words you once found just quirky and strange start to make a lot more sense.