What is a foreign language?

Don’t confuse a foreign language with one which we do not know sufficiently well.  There are times when we cannot understand someone who speaks our native language.  We know all of the words, but we still cannot understand what the person is saying.

A foreign language is basically the same kind of language as the one which we speak.  The only difference is that we do not understand any of the words that we hear.  A true foreign language differs from a language that we simply do not speak in one very elementary way.

When we listen to people who are speaking in a foreign language, it seems that the conversation is an uninterrupted flow of incomprehensible sounds.  It is an insurmountable river of funny noises, and you cannot see its beginning or its end.

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a lot
1 words of 123
after
2 words of 123
airplane
3 words of 123
and
4 words of 123
animal
5 words of 123
back
6 words of 123
bad
7 words of 123
bag
8 words of 123
bed
9 words of 123
before
10 words of 123
big
11 words of 123
blanket
12 words of 123
boat
13 words of 123
boiled
14 words of 123
bread
15 words of 123
breakfast
16 words of 123
bus
17 words of 123
car
18 words of 123
chicken
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child
20 words of 123
closed
21 words of 123
clothing
22 words of 123
coffee
23 words of 123
cold
24 words of 123
color
25 words of 123
dangerous
26 words of 123
day
27 words of 123
doctor
29 words of 123
documents
30 words of 123
down
31 words of 123
drink
32 words of 123
drive
33 words of 123
eat
34 words of 123
egg
35 words of 123
far
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fire
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fish
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forward
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friend
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from
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fruit
43 words of 123
good
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goodbye
47 words of 123
hello
48 words of 123
here
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hour
52 words of 123
house
53 words of 123
how
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how much
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hurry
56 words of 123
I
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inside
58 words of 123
it
59 words of 123
know
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later
61 words of 123
less
62 words of 123
little
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look for
64 words of 123
man
65 words of 123
meat
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medicine
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milk
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money
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more
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my
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night
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no
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now
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one
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outside
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pain
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pasta
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phone
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please
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potato
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quickly
82 words of 123
relax
83 words of 123
rice
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room
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salad
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shoes
87 words of 123
shop
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slowly
89 words of 123
sorry
90 words of 123
soup
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straight
92 words of 123
street
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sweet
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take
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talk
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tea
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thank you
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there
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ticket
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time
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to
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to the left
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to the right
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together
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toilet
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train
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understand
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up
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vegetables
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wait
112 words of 123
wake
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want
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water
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when
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where
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who
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woman
119 words of 123
write
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yes
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you
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your
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a lot
çok
after
ardinoan
airplane
uçak
and
ve
animal
hayvan
back
geri
bad
kötü
bag
çanta
bed
yatak
before
önce
big
büyük
blanket
battaniye
boat
tekne
boiled
haşlanmış
bread
ekmek
breakfast
kahvalti
bus
otobüs
car
araba
chicken
tavuk
child
çocuk
closed
kapali
clothing
giyisi
coffee
kahve
cold
soğuk
color
renk
dangerous
tehlikeli
day
gün
do
yap
doctor
doktor
documents
evraklar
down
asağı
drink
içki
drive
binmek
eat
yemek
egg
yumurta
far
uzak
fire
ateş
fish
balik
forward
ileri
fried
kizarmış
friend
arkadaş
from
itibaren
fruit
meyve
give
vermek
go
gitmek
good
iyi
goodbye
güle güle
hello
selam
help
yardım
here
işte
hot
sıcak
hour
saat
house
ev
how
nasil
how much
kaç para
hurry
acele
I
ben
inside
iğeide
it
o
know
bilmek
later
daha sonra
less
daha az
little
küçük
look for
bakmak
man
adam
meat
et
medicine
tıp
milk
süt
money
para
more
daha
my
benim
night
gece
no
nayır
now
simdi
one
bir
outside
dışında
pain
agrı
pasta
makarna
phone
telefon
please
lütfen
potato
patates
quickly
hızla
relax
dinfenmek
rice
pirinç
room
oda
salad
salata
shoes
ayakkabı
shop
dükkan
slowly
yavas
sorry
afedersiniz
soup
çorba
straight
düz
street
sokak
sweet
tatli
take
çekmek
talk
konuşmak
tea
çay
thank you
teşekkürler
there
orada
ticket
bilet
time
zeman
to
üzerinde
to the left
sola
to the right
sağa
together
birlikte
toilet
tuvalet
train
tren
two
iki
understand
anlamak
up
yukarı
vegetables
sebzeler
wait
beklemek
wake
uyanmak
want
istemek
water
su
when
ne zeman
where
nerede
who
kim
woman
kadin
write
yazmak
yes
evet
you
sen
your
sizin

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A completely foreign language turns into one which we do not understand sufficiently well if we hear a few words in the flow of sound which we understand. 

We understand those words and can understand the topic – food, travel, sports, shopping, prices, the weather, etc.  That is all, however.  We cannot move beyond the overall topic that is being discussed.  Don’t fear, though – if you understand the general topic of discussion, then that means that you can identify the language that is being spoken – Spanish, French, Italian, etc.  This means that this is not a completely foreign language to you.  You simply do not understand it sufficiently well.

The next thing is this:  A language will turn from an incomprehensible into an understandable one only when you not only recognise the words that are spoken, but also understand the point to what is being said.

Sadly, some people who want to communicate in a foreign language in a comprehensible way must first learn to do so in their own language.  You have to remember a few things here.  If people talk to one another they only use words which the others will understand, and they use those words so that everyone understands the point to what is being said.