By Ken Scherpelz, Vice President of Sales and Business Development
I recently read an article about how our own language can make a difference in how we understand things around us. The article referred to the research of Lera Boroditsky, a psychologist at Stanford University. She believes that the language we speak determines the way we perceive the world. When the Viaduct de Millau opened in the south of France in 2004, it was the tallest bridge in the world. The French referred to it as an “immense, concrete giant”, while the Germans described how it “floated above the clouds” with “elegance and lightness.” Why the differing descriptions? In French, the word for bridge, pont, is masculine, while the German equivalent, Brücke, is feminine. Boroditsky contends that a “small fluke of grammar”—like the gender of nouns—“can have an effect on how people think about things in the world.”
As an English major and former teacher, I know the strength and impact words can have. This is especially important in a global marketplace, where just the right word can result in prefect understanding between people of different languages and cultures, while the wrong word can lead to misunderstandings with grave results.
To read more about how our language can shape our thoughts, click on http://www.newsweek.com/id/205985.
PSG can help you make sure your products say exactly what you want them to say—no matter what language you use. Contact us about our complete translation services.
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