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
back
6 words of 123
bad
7 words of 123
bed
9 words of 123
before
10 words of 123
blanket
12 words of 123
boat
13 words of 123
boiled
14 words of 123
breakfast
16 words of 123
bus
17 words of 123
car
18 words of 123
chicken
19 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
far
36 words of 123
fire
37 words of 123
forward
39 words of 123
fried
40 words of 123
friend
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from
42 words of 123
fruit
43 words of 123
go
45 words of 123
good
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goodbye
47 words of 123
hello
48 words of 123
help
49 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
55 words of 123
hurry
56 words of 123
I
57 words of 123
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
63 words of 123
look for
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man
65 words of 123
meat
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medicine
67 words of 123
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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pasta
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phone
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please
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potato
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quickly
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rice
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room
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salad
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shoes
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slowly
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soup
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straight
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street
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sweet
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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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two
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understand
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vegetables
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wait
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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
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write
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yes
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you
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your
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a lot
daug
after
po
airplane
lėktuvas
and
ir
animal
gyvūnas
back
atgal
bad
blogai
bag
maišas
bed
lova
before
anksčiau
big
didelis
blanket
antklodė
boat
valtis
boiled
virtas
bread
duona
breakfast
pusryčiai
bus
autobusas
car
automobilis
chicken
vištiena
child
vaikas
closed
uždaryta
clothing
drabužiai
coffee
kava
cold
šaltis
color
spalva
dangerous
pavojingai
day
diena
do
padaryti
doctor
gydytojas
documents
dokumentai
down
žemyn
drink
gerti
drive
vairuoti
eat
valgyk
egg
kiaušinis
far
toli
fire
ugnis
fish
žuvis
forward
pirmyn
fried
keptas
friend
draugas
from
fruit
vaisiai
give
duoti
go
eik
good
gerai
goodbye
atsiprasau
hello
sveiki
help
pagalba
here
čia
hot
karštas
hour
valandą
house
namas
how
kaip
how much
kiek
hurry
skubėk
I
inside
viduje
it
tai
know
žinoti
later
vėliau
less
mažiau
little
mažai
look for
ieškokite
man
vyras
meat
mėsa
medicine
vaistas
milk
pienas
money
pinigai
more
daugiau
my
mano
night
naktis
no
ne
now
dabar
one
vienas
outside
lauke
pain
skausmas
pasta
makaronai
phone
telefonas
please
prašau
potato
bulvė
quickly
greitai
relax
atsipalaiduoti
rice
ryžiai
room
kambarys
salad
salotos
shoes
avalynė
shop
parduotuvė
slowly
lėtai
sorry
atsiprašau
soup
sriuba
straight
tiesiai
street
gatvė
sweet
saldus
take
pasiimti
talk
kalbėti
tea
arbata
thank you
ačiū
there
ten
ticket
bilietas
time
laikas
to
į
to the left
į kairę
to the right
į dešinę
together
kartu
toilet
tualetas
train
traukinys
two
du
understand
suprasti
up
aukštyn
vegetables
daržovės
wait
laukti
wake
pabusti
want
nori
water
vanduo
when
kada
where
kur
who
kas
woman
moteris
write
parašyk
yes
taip
you
tu
your
tavo

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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.