8 Comments
Aug 16, 2020Liked by Polina Pompliano

This is an awesome post. I came to the USA at 24 and I still have moments when I think in Bulgarian and translate it in English.

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Apr 28, 2023Liked by Polina Pompliano

Great post, thanks! I loved the Arrival, wasn’t aware it’s based on a written story 🙈 will check it out now. Recently I read Babel from R.F. Kuang, where languages and “(un)translatability” also play a key role. Also in general an extremely powerful story about colonialism and finding one’s own voice.

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Feb 20, 2021Liked by Polina Pompliano

What a great post! I had a similar experience growing up with Croatian as my mother tongue and then German in Austria... I do also remember working with a Bulgarian school for a project and school exchange and the moment I realised I could understand a fair bit due to my Croatian was really special. I think having that was the reason that some of those students are still friends of mine today... It made such a difference to actually try understanding and talking their language rather than sticking to English, especially in the short time we had.

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Excellent. Thank you.

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Several years ago, The Wall Street Journal had also published an article about how language can affect how we think about math - https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-language-for-math-1410304008 - Until I read this article, I had not thought about how each language processes numbers differently - in English, you have to learn a new word for each number, whereas in Korean, the numbers build upon themselves as unit after 1-10.

Language probably also affects how we view compliance, gifts, and corruption.

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Great read! That makes sense English is communicated more emotionally! I actually know of one bulgarian gal and her fam came to the US and lived for 6 years then recently moved back. She said the culture here was so work work work, not much else. I dabble in learning Spanish and some phrases here and there in some other languages. It is extremely fascinating how it does open your mind up to different perspectives, history, and brings appreciation to aspects of other cultures and those people. Translating is also a challenge but it brings new depths and perspectives. Here because of The Best Business Show lol

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Bulgarian is a beautiful and a bit rough language, but often when I speak it its beauty and simplicity helps me to crystallize my thoughts :) translation is obligatory especially when I have to speak in French or English :)

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This is one of many observations that show that we seem to be exceeding our biology

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