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Language Issues

2009 July 9
by Laura

Recently, we realized that we were using the word “durch” (which means “through”) when we should be using the word “während” (which also means “through” or more specifically “during”).  This little mistake made me realize how imperfect it is to learn another language through the context of your first language.  While these two words seemingly mean the same thing to us in English, they mean two totally different things in German and cannot be interchanged.  Germans have been able to understand what we mean when we use “durch” instead of “während”, but to them, they don’t quite understand why we keep switching these words if they do not know English.

I first came to realize this problem when I was trying to remember the word “gemütlich” which means “comfortable” (and can only be used when referring to a home, a country, etc).  I was in the middle of the sentence and I asked “what’s the another word that means the same thing as “bequem” (which also means “comfortable”, but can only be used when referring to a sofa, shoes, clothing, etc).  I got a very puzzled look and no answer.  Finally, I figured it out and we moved on in the conversation.  But that left me with the very distinct impression that the German people do not associate the word “gemütlich” with the word “bequem” like I do because they have very different meanings to them.  To me, they both mean “comfortable”.  It’s only through hearing the word in context that we’re able to gain a complete understanding of how to use that word properly.

Perhaps this is the most frustrating part of learning a language.  You may study notecards with the English word on one side and the German word on the other, but you won’t really understand it’s proper usage until you hear it many times within the context it was meant to be used.  That’s why, we truly believe, the only way to really learn a language is to study in the country that speaks it (if at all possible).

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