Reading or having a conversation in a foreign language can be a tricky thing. Mistakes and misunderstandings can happen, and they can take many forms. It may be a simple grammatical error, a funny misunderstanding or create an incident if you mistakenly insult someone.
In its simplest form, you simply use incorrect grammar. In my experience here in Mexico, when I make a grammatical error, the person I am speaking with simply repeats what I said, but they say it correctly, and for that I am grateful. No lectures or condescension, simply a correction of my grammar.
The next problem was what to do if I didn’t know the Spanish word for what I wanted to say. Decades ago, I also spoke German, so initially, when I wanted to say something and didn’t know the word in Spanish, I would automatically say it in German. It was like my brain was telling me, “You need to say this word in a foreign language – not English – so use this German word instead.”
I asked one of my sisters, who was a certified legal translator for the Spanish language, how she dealt with it. She told me to just describe what I want to say. One example was, if I couldn’t remember the word for “dog,” just say “that animal that chases cats.” It still helps me, even though I don’t automatically substitute German words for Spanish anymore. Though – that habit might begin again, as I have decided to start studying German again. I have forgotten a lot of it, but the vocabulary is returning quickly, so I guess the German language is still buried in my brain somewhere.
These are a few examples of holding-your-head-in-your-hands mistakes.
Now, onto gasping, turning red and “i can’t believe I said that – I am so sorry” mistakes.
For many years people have at times assumed that I am angry when my facial muscles are simply relaxed and I’m not thinking of anything in particular. In the U.S. there’s a term for that – “Resting B……. (rhymes with witch) Face. We use it among friends, and everyone understands what it means. No one is insulted.
Well, I wanted to explain to my neighbors why my face apparently shows an emotion that I do not have and looked online for a translation. I sent the explanation them by WhatsApp and used words in Spanish that I found on the Spanishdict.com site. My friends were horrified and wondered why I would say such a thing. Fortunately, I was talking about myself. Apparently, the word I used is an extremely derogatory term for a certain type of woman.
A relative of my friend was in her house when I went to explain. This relative spoke excellent English, had lived in the United States for years, and also explained to her that the term was innocuous there. But – I understood that it was something that I should never use again.
Lesson learned.
So it is important, when translating concepts or common terms from your native language, it might be wise to consult with a native speaker, or use the thousand words to describe what you want to say before depending on automatic translation services, such as Google Translate or Spanishdict.
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