a million ways to say something
Imagine the possibitlies there must be in other languages to say a particular thing in a particular way that you can't even imagine. In English you can speak to your friend in the same way as you would to your grandmother. Spanish however has formal and informal ways to say things. English doesn't deal with gender changes, Spanish does. Now imagine the vastness of the Chinese language and imagine all the ways there must be to say things that we don't even exist in our thoughts. It's like the "se" in Spanish, what the heck is that anyway? I bet Chinese has a million other things that we probably can't even understand...
ahhhhhhhhhhh language
2 Answers
I hope to God that you don't talk to your grandmother the same way you speak with your friends!!! I know for a fact that i don't nor would I ever think of doing it. Just because English doesn't have a formal way to say "you"; doesn't mean we don't have causal and more formal ways to express ourselves.
Te recomiendo que leas "Don't sleep, there are snakes" para leer mas sobre idiomas y culturas (y las relaciones entre los dos). http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0375425020
