How similarity between languages frustrates me
The experience of a Pole learning Czech language
As a Polish speaker I thought it would be much easier for me to learn Czech, because of the similarity between these two languages. At the beginning this similarity actually helped a little, because lots of words and constructions sounded familiar.
It helped to manage with the basics, but when the lessons became more advanced it begun to be a difficulty for me. Even if singular words sound similar, they are spelled differently, so it doesn't help with writing, when you still have to look up every word, you supposedly know. Czech language has some different sounds that Polish language doesn't have, like long vowels or sound [ř].
Struggle
Long vowels are very difficult for me, when I write a text I have to look up every single word in a dictionary. Even if I know them, I am never sure if the vowels, they contain, are long or short. Short ones looks like a usual vowel [a], long one has a diacritic mark [á]. Sometimes lack of a mark is not just spelling mistake, but it changes meaning of the word, for example být means ‘to be’, whereas byt means ‘apartment’.
During conversation I sometimes put into Czech sentence Polish words, that don't exist in Czech language. I also add Polish endings to Czech words, using declension from my own language. This never happens when I speak English, which is not related to my mother tongue.
There is even a bigger problem with the words that I happen to put in Czech sentences, when they actually exist in Czech, but they have an opposite meaning than I intended. They are called translator's false friends, words that in various languages sound the same, but have different meanings. The more languages have in common, the more deceiving words they contain.
Misunderstandings
The main problem is with this one word that in Czech is a curse word meaning sexual act, while in Polish it belongs to everyday vocabulary meaning to ‘look for’. I was really surprised speaking with my Polish friend in Czech Republic how often we talk about looking for something. People in a bus started to look at us with an outrage. Then the shop assistant gave us a confused look, when we made another mistake, calling her big, bright shoe shop a basement. (PL ‘shop’ = sklep = CZ ‘basement’) When I wanted to ask someone on the street about directions, they ended up thinking I wanted to get some drugs. (PL ‘way’ = droga = ‘drug’) Even in a usual conversation, when I intended to inform someone, that I am heading west, other people were convinced that I was just looking for a toilet. (PL ‘west’ = zachod = CZ ‘toilet’)
Of course many Czechs are prepared for such mistakes made by Poles, but when they don’t expect you to be Polish, because you speak Czech, it may lead to many confusing situations and misunderstandings.
Verdict
Similarity helps of course, it is easier to learn language that has similar constructions to your own language. It is easier to understand some grammar issues, because you are familiar to them. And in desperate moments you can always try to look for help in your mother tongue, there may be a lot of traps, but in some situations it can ease communication. It is just sometimes frustrating, because of the sudden mistakes, that would never occur, when speaking foreign language, that is not related to your own.
This article was written by our Polish intern Leila Ghafoori, having an internship at our Ostrava headquarters.
Lucie Vlková
Ředitelka, jednatelka, převážné zaměření na HR činnosti, business rozvoj a business konzultace uvnitř firmy pro pobočky v rámci České republiky, aktivní networking jako součást rozvoje firmy. Studovala v České republice a ve Velké Británii. Před 18 lety s nejlepším kamarádem Petrem Paskem založila jazykovou školu a překladatelskou agenturu Slůně – svět jazyků.
Slůně - svět jazyků
Jazyky, jazyky, jazyky.
1) jazyková škola: profesionální jazyková výuka po celé České republice. Kvalifikovaní lektoři, on-line správa kurzů. Firemní kurzy, skupinový kurzy, individuální kurzy, dětské kurzy, všechny úrovně, všechny jazyky. Blended learning, on-line výuka, jazykové poradenství. Jazykový audit, administrace mezinárodních zkoušek a dotačních programů pro jazykovou výuku.
2) překladatelská agentura: profesionální překladatelé a tlumočníci, 115 jazyků, CAT nástroje na zkvalitnění, zrychlení a zlevnění procesu překladů, soudní ověření, výjezdy do zahraničí, velké překladatelské a tlumočnické projekty.
3) jazykové kurzy v zahraničí: 13 zemí, 7 jazyků, prověřené školy, dlouhodobá zkušenost, možnost kombinace výuky v ČR a zahraničí pro rychlejší zvládnutí jazyka. Manažerské jazykové kurzy, speciálně zaměřené jazykové kurzy, kurzy pro mládež a děti.
Slůně - svět jazyků je na trhu od roku 1998. Působí na celém území České republiky. Pobočky: Ostrava, Brno, Praha, Plzeň.
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