Anyone who has studied a foreign language knows that dealing with “the real lingo” can be a hurdle to effective communication.

Many English-speakers who travel abroad hoping to make good use of their high school foreign language skills come in for a rude awakening. Foreigners seem to talk awfully fast, and syllables somehow run together, making it difficult to distinguish even the simplest words.

For the few who manage to handle basic restaurant and shop dialogue, holding forth in a social situation can be a real test. Slang and idioms fly at breakneck speed, and the scenario gets worse the more people join in the conversation.

English-speakers are, of course, guilty of the same linguistic behavior. We are in fact somewhat notorious for not knowing how to make ourselves clear to foreigners.

Our great variety of accents doesn’t help, but we also use idiomatic expressions and catchy slang constantly, without even realizing it.

“In English we have the habit of using sport and military metaphors…” pointed out a recent article contributed to Technology News. “We talk about ‘leveling the playing field’ before we ‘charge straight in’ to the ‘front line of operations’.”

Of course all languages possess this type of expression. That’s why when speaking in groups where not everyone shares the same native language, it is important to pronounce clearly, slow down your speech, and also give some thought to the literal meaning of idioms and slang – and make adjustments if necessary.

Betty Carlson

See Also

• Language Translation, Inc.
  A leading language translation and interpretation service provider for more than 20 years