When I studied in university, I chose a minor in what can be summarized as “Foreign Languages and Cultures,” which encompassed many courses integrating language studies with cultural studies, presenting me with questions about how culture determines language and how language reflects and shapes culture.
How Are Language and Culture Connected?
How strong is that connection?
If any of you are familiar with another language, you would probably admit to having learned some culture along the way, directly or indirectly. We don’t have to “study” culture outright to find it creeping up on us, infiltrating how we think about our interactions in another language and how we go about them.
We can define “language,” but how do we define “culture”? This is a topic of great controversy, and I’m not here for that argument. The way I learned to think about culture in university and in practice is this:
Culture is a way of life, thought, and expression which determines how we interact and how we solve problems.
When you think of culture’s effects on how we think, express, and interact with one another, it is easy to see how culture would show up in language. And because of this, different languages have adopted expressions based on their own cultural behaviors and those of other groups of people.
Examples of How Language and Culture are Intertwined
I remember hearing a line in a Russian song about a girl, saying she doesn’t “leave like the English do” and wondering what that means. After a bit of research, I discovered that in French and Russian there is the expression “to leave/run off the English way” – in French, filer à l’anglaise, and it basically means “leaving without saying goodbye.” Judging by this, it seems that the English left a cultural impression on the Frenchmen and Russians enough to earn themselves an expression in those languages. Funnily enough, in the UK they call it a “French exit.” In the USA, some people say “Irish exit.” In Germany, some people say “Polish exit.” Do the Polish call it a “German exit”? I need to ask. We can summarize here that the blame train for how we describe sneaking out of a party is still running strong all over the world.
The very famous expression “pura vida” originates in Costa Rica, and it translates literally as just “pure life.” But when someone hears and understands it in Spanish, it evokes feelings of appreciation for (and awareness of) the simplicity of life itself.
In English, we have the term “dirt poor,” and this is rooted culturally in reference to the dirt floors of the masses. The term “doubting Thomas” came from the biblical story of St. Thomas’s doubt of Jesus’s resurrection.
In Spanish, “tener ganas de ___” expresses the wish or desire to do something. There is no good, direct translation into English. We would say “I feel like …(doing something).” That feels much more passive to me, and it’s a matter of some frustration when I’m teaching English from Spanish.
In German, we save “ich liebe dich“ (I love you) for romantic loves or those very, very close to us. “Ich habe dich Lieb” is more appropriate for other, more friendly situations. In English, the word “love” is overused. We say we “love” things, activities, and movies. That makes absolutely no sense in some cultures. In Spanish, you’re more likely to say “me encanta ___” if you “love” doing something. That translates more like “___ enchants me,” expressing strong enjoyment of something. When using it for people, this means that you really, really like someone.
I’m sure you can think of many other examples on your own, especially if you study another language, do business abroad, or enjoy travel.
When I worked in Germany, I was initially very confused by German people culturally. It wasn’t about their willingness to maintain order, follow rules, or be on time. That’s normal in my family. To be honest, I found Germans very hard to read. There’s another expression: “reading someone” in English refers to our ability to assess how the other person feels about us, giving us the descriptor for a person “hard read,” meaning it is difficult to know what they think or feel by interacting with them. In Germany, I felt like it was more challenging to know who was just doing business with you and who was trying to be friendly. This is a huge leap from my experience with Slavic cultures, where directness is a blanket which covers most interactions pretty heavily, and few questions are left unanswered. Despite understanding German, the cultural understanding of Germans themselves needed to be developed in order to have better interactions.
Why Is It Important to Learn Culture and Language Together?
Why should we intentionally learn culture WITH language? It should be more evident now, but here are a few solid reasons:
1. It’s a matter of understanding. It’s easy to be offended by directly-translated statements when interacting with people from another cultural or linguistic background if you don’t know where they come from. I remember my Ukrainian friend writing me “forget it” after I followed up on a question he had. In his language and culture, telling someone to forget it can be courteous and is like saying “oh, nevermind, no big deal.” For me, it stung when I read it. If you say that in English, it’s rude. Of course, eventually I told him this isn’t the best choice of words and explained why. But before I did that, I was able to get un-offended because I knew the backstory.
2. It’s a matter of respect. This is the part where the previous point needs to be approached from BOTH ends. When you understand why and how people say what they say and do what they do, you are able to respond to them appropriately and express your appreciation for them and their culture. This makes people feel seen, respected, and accepted.
3. It’s a matter of worldview and self-development. Learning a new culture along with a new language challenges the way we approach our relationships to people, places, and things, expanding and improving how we see the world around us. The only way to expand yourself and your environment is to question the ways in which you typically conceptualize interactions with others and with life. It’s not only about how we encounter what’s outside of ourselves. If you can see from a new angle via a new language and culture, you expand your own understanding, problem-solving skills, and creativity.
Language and culture go hand in hand. Learn them together, and you will open up a new world for yourself.
Happy learning!
~Lauri
Coffee- & Bookshop in Warsaw, Poland: "Kawka, Kafka" ("Coffee, Kafka")
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