Poll: Do you sometimes find your second (or third) language more expressive than your native language?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Oct 26, 2018

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you sometimes find your second (or third) language more expressive than your native language?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 07:23
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other (no?) Oct 26, 2018

More expressive in what way? Portuguese is an extremely rich language, nourished with an extensive vocabulary, so I don’t think I’ve ever found my second, third or fourth languages richer than my own, but it depends on the subject matter: English is probably richer in technical vocabulary when compared to any other language… After 30 years in Belgium, sometimes a French word comes faster to my brain than a Portuguese word, but that’s most likely an age thing…

 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:23
French to English
+ ...
In memoriam
French cuisine Oct 26, 2018

English is a rich and highly flexible language but in some cases, particularly concerning the exquisiteness of French cuisine (yes, a French word), French seems to me more expressive. How to translate "haute cuisine" into English? Posh cooking? I think not ...

 
Anton Konashenok
Anton Konashenok  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:23
French to English
+ ...
Depends on the purpose Oct 26, 2018

Different languages have different expressive power for different purposes. For example, I consider English to have a clear edge over Russian or French in public speaking, but not in correspondence.

Debora d'Amato (X)
 
Debora d'Amato (X)
Debora d'Amato (X)  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 08:23
English to Italian
+ ...
Yes Oct 26, 2018

I was thinking about this right few days ago and actually, I realized that's true.
I mean, I see many words from English that perfectly express what I want to say. And despite the fact Italian is a very expressive language, maybe one of the most expressive, sometimes I really can't find expressions representing the right meaning I want to say.


 
Ricki Farn
Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 08:23
English to German
Yes Oct 26, 2018

Every language has some expressions that are juuuust right.

I have a sideline business: import/export of words and phrases between languages. Examples:

"Kabelsalat" (unintended tangle of too many cables) should totally exist in English as "cable salad".

"Lézarder" (to lie in the sun doing nothing) should be exported into every language as "to lizard" or equivalent.

And translating "bite off more than you can chew" literally into German gets
... See more
Every language has some expressions that are juuuust right.

I have a sideline business: import/export of words and phrases between languages. Examples:

"Kabelsalat" (unintended tangle of too many cables) should totally exist in English as "cable salad".

"Lézarder" (to lie in the sun doing nothing) should be exported into every language as "to lizard" or equivalent.

And translating "bite off more than you can chew" literally into German gets great results from Germans who don't realize it's just stolen English.

Oops, maybe it's not so much a sideline as a crime?
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Yetta Jensen Bogarde
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 04:23
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Always Oct 26, 2018

"Expressive" has two meanings.
English is a lot more expressive than Portuguese in both.

1. English is a lot less wordy and more objective than Portuguese. Using 20%-40% less words, we are able to express the ideas a lot better, with a lot more objectivity. In addition to being too wordy, PT writers tend to ornament and use pedantic language to show intellectuality, whereas EN focuses in expressing ideas clearly and in an understandable, way.

2. English is also a
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"Expressive" has two meanings.
English is a lot more expressive than Portuguese in both.

1. English is a lot less wordy and more objective than Portuguese. Using 20%-40% less words, we are able to express the ideas a lot better, with a lot more objectivity. In addition to being too wordy, PT writers tend to ornament and use pedantic language to show intellectuality, whereas EN focuses in expressing ideas clearly and in an understandable, way.

2. English is also a lot more expressive in the sense that it is a lot more important globally, spoken in every continent, and the doubtless world language currently. PT is only spoken in a few countries, therefore a lot less expressive in this second "meaning".

Anyway, I'm motivating all my children and I will strongly motivate all my grandchildren to learn English with all possible dedication, possibly with more focus than Portuguese, even. I think Portuguese and other languages with verb conjugation, gender and number variations for nouns, adjectives and verbs, graphic accents, and other aberrations, are all condemned to join Latin in language heaven sooner than we may think. With the practicity and the globalization that is taking over, and the advancement of the internet and communications in general, there is no chance for the "horse" languages to compete with the "Ferrari" languages anymore. English is slowly taking over in the western world, but this "slowly" has been accelerated by at least ten times in the past ten years.
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Amir Arzani
Joe Ly Sien
neilmac
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 08:23
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Oct 26, 2018

I do like Spanish swearing. Apart from that, I think English and Spanish are both equally expressive, but in different ways.

Ventnai
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 08:23
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
It goes both ways Oct 26, 2018

In fact I find expressions in all my languages that are just perfect, and I can't think of anything quite so apt in the two I use most.

Often it is in the sound of the words - there may be an earthy Nordic expression where the usual English is Latin-based and more clinical.
Since I have started dabbling in Italian, however, some of the Latin words have come to life again!

But Danish cannot compete when it comes to herbs, spices and seasonings - Danish has one word
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In fact I find expressions in all my languages that are just perfect, and I can't think of anything quite so apt in the two I use most.

Often it is in the sound of the words - there may be an earthy Nordic expression where the usual English is Latin-based and more clinical.
Since I have started dabbling in Italian, however, some of the Latin words have come to life again!

But Danish cannot compete when it comes to herbs, spices and seasonings - Danish has one word for all three, and occasionally I have to guess what they mean, or ask if possible, when trying to translate a menu. Recipes are easier - I can see what has been used.
A well-seasoned stew is very different from a spicy curry, and herbs are a different category again.
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Carol OConnor (X)
Carol OConnor (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 08:23
French to English
+ ...
Definitely Oct 26, 2018

Both me and my sister are fluent in French and English and we tend to use a strange kind of frenglish language when we speak to each other. Certain things are easier to express in French and others in English for instance I tell my children off in French but tell them stories in English.

Ricki Farn
 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 00:23
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Oct 27, 2018

I find Portuguese more expressive in many ways, especially when it comes to expressing emotions. When my husband died, I received so many beautiful letters in Portuguese that I knew could never be translated into English. I have also tried to translate his writings, and I realize that much of what he wrote is untranslatable, at least with not the same nuances and intensity.

On the other hand, English, my target language, also has many "capsules" that boil down what would be longer a
... See more
I find Portuguese more expressive in many ways, especially when it comes to expressing emotions. When my husband died, I received so many beautiful letters in Portuguese that I knew could never be translated into English. I have also tried to translate his writings, and I realize that much of what he wrote is untranslatable, at least with not the same nuances and intensity.

On the other hand, English, my target language, also has many "capsules" that boil down what would be longer and more descriptive phrases in my source languages.
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Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 08:23
French to English
Interesting poll! Oct 27, 2018

I've always said my love affair with the French language has been my longest ever.
The phrases and terms that give me the most grief when translating are precisely those that say what they mean so very well that it's impossible to do them justice in English. Words like "convivial", we need both warm and friendly to even start to convey that, and even then, it doesn't always go far enough.

Then again, the satisfaction at being able to write a sentence of just six words as the
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I've always said my love affair with the French language has been my longest ever.
The phrases and terms that give me the most grief when translating are precisely those that say what they mean so very well that it's impossible to do them justice in English. Words like "convivial", we need both warm and friendly to even start to convey that, and even then, it doesn't always go far enough.

Then again, the satisfaction at being able to write a sentence of just six words as the translation of a three-liner in French, simply because we have a word that sums the whole concept up (like "empowerment"), goes some way to compensate for this frustration.
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Poll: Do you sometimes find your second (or third) language more expressive than your native language?






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