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Lost in Translation

No one said learning a foreign Language was easy, especially when you’re an adult whose head is full of decades of information, memories and trivia. Sometimes it feels like there’s not enough room in my brain to accommodate what’s new, or worse, there is room so everything gets shifted, with the result: I can’t find the words in any language.

Case in point, I was sitting around a table of Dutch speakers and the subject was RSI or repetitive strain syndrome. Already self-conscious about my language skills around more complicated subjects—i.e. anything disconnected to food—I was trying to explain how a friend had such bad RSI she couldn’t zip up her pants.

Or at least I thought that’s what I was saying. But I was only met by wide stares, so I knew something wasn’t right.

“Yes, she had trouble doing up her, uh, caterpillar,” I kept saying, motioning to my Zipper. The Dutch word for zipper is “rits” and caterpillar is “rups”—not a huge difference, all things considered. “She was too weak to do her caterpillar,” I repeated, unconvinced I was using the right word. Finally, someone asked me to say it in English. “Oh zipper? That’s what you meant!” was the chorus.

It’s a good exercise, though, making mistakes because I’ll never forget either word again.



This post first appeared on More Than Cheese, please read the originial post: here

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Lost in Translation

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