Terry writes with a lot of common sense, IMO.
At 12:29 PM 3 March 2002 +0000, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>I am a great believer in trying to understand cultures not by simply
>noticing linguistic differences but also by noticing deeper things. You
>can't easily discover these things in a short space of time (e.g. a few
>days holiday).
>
>I have only recently noticed that about whether something is American or
>not seems to be very important in the US. Patriotism is similarly
>mentioned a lot and foreign is often used as a criticism. The US flag
>seems to be everywhere (and not just in the last 6 months). I was told
>that it is in schools and that a national oath is often used. The
>Superman film mentioned the 'American way' which completely confused me
>because I was thinking 'The way of what? The way of using a knife and
>fork? The way of driving on the right? The way of making tea with cream
>rather than milk?'. It seemed that this non-specific statement was
>intended merely as 'I think America is good'.
>
>Even inversion makes an issue important. For example I have noticed that
>some American women go to great lengths to buy European clothes and let
>everybody know that they do. Inverting an issue or taking an opposing
>view is still making the issue important.
>
>I have not really seen much evidence of the equivalent issue in Europe.
>Although I would be happy to be corrected. Patriotism, flags, and oaths
>all do exist but not in so much cultural prevalence. It does not mean
>that Europeans have no pride, in fact I have noticed that some Europeans
>can be quite arrogant and adopt a superior attitude. Some of the press
>on both sides of the Atlantic seem to be pitting pro-US against
>pro-Europe which is a shame.
>
>Translation is rarely a one-to-one process and cultural translation is
>no different. There are English and German words for bread but there is
>no English word for schadenfreud. A beginner learning language always
>wants to back-translate and cannot succeed until this habit is
>abandoned. You have to be able to think in local terms. Similarly for
>imperial to metric translation - 454g seems such a silly unit, but 1kg
>clearly isn't.
>
>I remember showing a Polish American friend a 10 UK pound note. She
>asked what it is worth and I said 'about 16 dollars'. She thought this
>was further evidence of how silly things were in the UK i.e. that they
>would make a 16 dollar note. Cultural translation is the same as
>linguistic translation in this respect. To learn about culture you
>sometimes need a local translator who understands several cultures.
>
>I have noticed that in some cultures whether something is 'right to do'
>is important. In other cultures, art is more important and something can
>be a 'beautiful idea'.
>
>Just some thoughts.
>--
>Terry Simpson
>Human Factors Consultant
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>www.connected-systems.com
>Phone: +44 7850 511794
>
