Quote Translation

Question

?If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.? ?Nelson Mandela

I was thinking would it be ,"Si hablas con un hombre un idioma que se entiende, el va a su cabeza. Si hablas con el en su idioma mismo, eso va a su corazón"

Answer 1

Si hablas con un hombre en un idioma que entiende, va a su cabeza. Si le hablas en su propio idioma, le llega al corazón.

Spanish Skype is a native teacher and runs the school that my Spanish teacher uses you should accept her answer ! ;) - FELIZ77, Apr 20, 2015

Answer 2

Hello capaz,

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum

You asked us to confirm your attempted translation of the famous saying, below:

If you talk (ie: were to talk: English, subjunctive) to a man in a language he understands, that (it) goes to his head, if you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart! Nelson Mandela.

Very good attempt, capaz, but I think that you should use the subjunctive (mood) here as you are speaking hypothetically. I think you would need to say something like:

¡Si hablara con un hombre en un idioma que entendería, se subiría a la cabeza. Si hablara con un hombre en su lengua materna (o su idioma nativo) le llegaría à su alma!

I am not a native speaker so you may wish to wait for confirmation as I cannot guarantee total (100%) accuracy.

I hope this helps you!

Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor

:) - ian-hill, Apr 20, 2015