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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animal
2 words of 119
bad
4 words of 119
bag
5 words of 119
bed
6 words of 119
before
7 words of 119
big
8 words of 119
blanket
9 words of 119
boat
10 words of 119
boiled
11 words of 119
bread
12 words of 119
bus
13 words of 119
car
14 words of 119
chicken
15 words of 119
child
16 words of 119
closed
17 words of 119
clothing
18 words of 119
coffee
19 words of 119
cold
20 words of 119
color
21 words of 119
dangerous
22 words of 119
day
23 words of 119
doctor
25 words of 119
documents
26 words of 119
down
27 words of 119
drive
29 words of 119
eat
30 words of 119
egg
31 words of 119
far
32 words of 119
fish
34 words of 119
forward
35 words of 119
fried
36 words of 119
from
38 words of 119
fruit
39 words of 119
give
40 words of 119
go
41 words of 119
good
42 words of 119
goodbye
43 words of 119
hello
44 words of 119
help
45 words of 119
here
46 words of 119
house
49 words of 119
how
50 words of 119
how much
51 words of 119
hurry
52 words of 119
I
53 words of 119
inside
54 words of 119
it
55 words of 119
know
56 words of 119
later
57 words of 119
little
59 words of 119
look for
60 words of 119
meat
62 words of 119
milk
64 words of 119
more
66 words of 119
my
67 words of 119
night
68 words of 119
no
69 words of 119
now
70 words of 119
one
71 words of 119
outside
72 words of 119
pain
73 words of 119
please
76 words of 119
potato
77 words of 119
quickly
78 words of 119
salad
82 words of 119
shoes
83 words of 119
shop
84 words of 119
slowly
85 words of 119
soup
87 words of 119
straight
88 words of 119
street
89 words of 119
sweet
90 words of 119
take
91 words of 119
talk
92 words of 119
tea
93 words of 119
thank you
94 words of 119
there
95 words of 119
ticket
96 words of 119
time
97 words of 119
to
98 words of 119
to the left
99 words of 119
to the right
100 words of 119
together
101 words of 119
toilet
102 words of 119
train
103 words of 119
two
104 words of 119
understand
105 words of 119
vegetables
107 words of 119
wake
109 words of 119
want
110 words of 119
water
111 words of 119
when
112 words of 119
where
113 words of 119
who
114 words of 119
woman
115 words of 119
write
116 words of 119
yes
117 words of 119
you
118 words of 119
your
119 words of 119
and
i
animal
zwierzę
back
z owrotem
bad
zły
bag
torba
bed
łóżko
before
przed
big
wielki
blanket
koc
boat
łódź
boiled
gotowany
bread
chleb
bus
autobus
car
samochód
chicken
kura
child
dziecko
closed
zamknięte
clothing
odzież
coffee
kawa
cold
zimno
color
kolor
dangerous
niebezpiecznie
day
dzień
do
zrobić
doctor
medyczno
documents
dokumenty
down
w dół
drink
napój
drive
przejażdżka
eat
jeść
egg
jajko
far
daleko
fire
ogień
fish
ryba
forward
naprzód
fried
smażony
friend
przyjaciel
from
z
fruit
owoce
give
dać
go
iść
good
dobrze
goodbye
pożegnanie
hello
cześć
help
pomoc
here
te
hot
gorący
hour
godzina
house
dom
how
jak
how much
jak
hurry
śpieszyć się
I
ja
inside
wewnątrz
it
to
know
wiedzieć
later
później
less
mniej
little
mało
look for
wyglądać
man
mężczyzna
meat
mięso
medicine
medycyna
milk
mleko
money
pieniądze
more
więcej
my
mój
night
noc
no
nie
now
teraz
one
jeden
outside
na dworze
pain
ból
pasta
makaron
phone
telefon
please
proszę
potato
ziemniak
quickly
szybko
relax
zrelaksować się
rice
ryż
room
pokój
salad
sałatka
shoes
obuwie
shop
sklep
slowly
powolny
sorry
przepraszam
soup
zupa
straight
prosto
street
ulica
sweet
słodki
take
wziąć
talk
rozmowa
tea
herbata
thank you
dzięki
there
tam
ticket
bilet
time
czas
to
na
to the left
w lewo
to the right
prawo
together
razem
toilet
toaleta
train
pociąg
two
dwa
understand
zrozumieć
up
w górę
vegetables
warzywa
wait
oczekiwać
wake
budzić
want
chcieć
water
woda
when
kiedy
where
gdzie
who
kto
woman
kobieta
write
napisać
yes
tak
you
ty
your
twój

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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.

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