People hear the world differently
...Sams has also studied how Finnish brains are honed to detect sounds in Finnish speech that foreigners may not be able to discern. Listening and hearing are closely tied to environment. That said, foreigners hear the Finnish language in a different way than native Finns do.
People learning Finnish may find it impossible to hear or detect certain sounds or sound combinations. Only Finns can hear or properly repeat the word "hääyöaie", a compound of hääyö (“wedding night”) + aie (“intention”). This word is chock full of Finnish phonetic sounds, says Sams.
“These findings are of course baffling to an extent because we are under the illusion that we all hear our surroundings in the same way," adds Sams.
And this, another fun Google Translate try from the Finnish:
"Stones can throw those who did not make himself never any kind of errors."
As I rode to class today, I sent a text to Gerald that puzzled him - which is fun. I spelled the train stop Kera in three different phonetic ways (Kay-rah/Care-a/KehRa??), as whenever we say it, the conductors ask us to repeat it, then they say it with ever so slightly a different intonation. We're talking a four letter word here. So, I've just returned to studying Spanish! It's much easier than Finnish and I no longer feel so dreadfully inadequate. I hope to use it when we return to the US in the ESL field, plus I just love the language. My teacher is a young Polish woman, here to study Spanish and also Finnish, and teaching me with English too - how's that for diversity? Gerald and I have a quick trip to Barcelona next week, since there was a very cheap fare offer and he needs some sun, so I should get some practice. We'll have some pictures to share soon. Asi, amigos, hasta luego.
