travel

For more than a year, my most consistent, deeply practiced hobby has been learning German. I’m proud to say that in a couple of months, I’m going to finish German Duolingo, which has taken me solidly into B1 proficiency. There is still so much to learn, of course. C1 and C2 are considered to be fluency, but B1 is considered “independent usage,” meaning that I’ve met the minimal requirements to be hired for a job (no plans to do that!) and my travel German is now chef’s kiss.

I was reflecting on one aspect about this this week that feels particularly interesting and satisfying. I’ve felt a shift take place in my brain. When I practice these Duolingo exercises, in my hearing and speaking of the German I know, I’m not doing any internal translating. That is, I’m not hearing German and reminding myself what it means in English in order to respond. Of course, when you’re first learning, you take time to do this, word by word and phrase by phrase. Over time, that process becomes shorter and shorter, but now, most German words I know just have meaning to them, not translation to them.

What I mean is that a given word or phrase simply means what it means. The German word or phrase doesn’t mean the English word or phrase to me. The German word or phrase carries meaning itself in my mind without that step. I can hear, for instance — pulling open Duolingo now for it to give me a random sentence —

Das Handtuch aus Baumwolle ist ganz weich,

and I am picturing a soft, cotton towel. I am not saying internally to myself, “The hand towel made of cotton is very soft,” which is how that translates word for word.

The German carries meaning itself without translation.

And this has me thinking… outside of language learning, can we develop proficiency in other aspects of life so that they naturally begin to carry meaning? For instance, sometimes you know a person well enough to read their body language without speaking a word. That carries meaning without translation. Or perhaps listening to your intuition… those moments when you simply know something, somewhat unexplainably? That’s also an example. Or what else? Having a dream and instantly knowing what it means to you? Or getting into a flow with work or a hobby, and it feels like energy is moving through you rather than words?

What else…? I like this question.

—Renee Roederer