Random Musings on Language

Last week, a surreal scene unfolded during President Trump’s Q&A with Indian Prime Minister Modi, a journalist asked a question in English, and Trump needed a translator to translate English to English.

I’ve never seen that before.

We can all relate to Trump a little bit, whether it’s on a call with customer support, getting unsolicited phone calls or working with international colleagues. Indian English can be challenging to understand sometimes.

Someone like Trump probably hasn’t been exposed to it much and it leads to events like this.

It’s more than just the accent. Indian English isn’t “wrong”, it’s just filtered through Hindi’s linguistic blueprint. This is an important point:

People speak their primary language inside their second language

A person’s primary language acts as a filter. In the case of many Hindi speakers, that filter carries over pronunciation habits, intonation, and even direct translations from Hindi, making Indian English distinct enough to sometimes cause comprehension issues.

When Hindi speakers use English, they're working with two different systems of sound and rhythm. Hindi gives each syllable roughly equal weight. Another key difference is how the languages use pitch. Hindi uses changes in pitch to help convey meaning.

You can see how speaking one language inside the other is real. Even Artificial Intelligence can pick this up.

French, German, Japanese and Spanish

When French speakers use English, Americans often perceive them as more intellectual. Many attribute this to cultural associations: the French accent brings to mind aristocratic traditions and centuries of art and philosophy. But there's something deeper at work.

French is a language that often times zooms into abstraction and theory. More than English. When French speakers use English, they bring this framework with them. They naturally frame ideas through theoretical lenses and build arguments through layers of nuance, not because they're trying to sound sophisticated, but because that's how French structures thought.

German speakers often bring their culture's directness and precision into English. Where an American might say "We should probably start around 9," a German speaker might say "To ensure optimal efficiency, accounting for morning traffic patterns and typical employee arrival times, we must begin precisely at 9."

The comedian Flula Borg plays with this tendency, his exaggerated thoroughness highlights how German precision shapes English expression.

Japanese speakers, meanwhile, carry over their language's contextual and indirect communication style. They often circle topics carefully, expecting listeners to "read the air" and understand unspoken implications.

Spanish brings its own character to English, a comfort with emotion and flowing expression that shapes how ideas connect.

All of this applies to Americans who learn a second language as well. American English tends to be more direct and to-the-point compared to many other languages and cultures. An American speaker learning, say, Japanese or French, might inadvertently come across as blunt if they translate their English manner of speech too literally.

In This Newsletter

1) The Joy of Traveling as an American: A Few Travel Tips to Make your Life Better

2) Language Changes Your Face: You can sometimes spot what language someone grew up speaking just by looking at their face. It’s not genetics or ethnicity, it's about how our primary language physically shapes our face.

3) Dead Languages Have Value: Why Should Anyone Study Latin or Ancient Greek or any other language that is not currently spoken? It turns out. there is a reason.

The Joy of Traveling as an American

When I travel around the world today I am amazed how deeply American English has become the global language.

At a small café in Paris last week, I watched this play out: a Czech family ordering pastries, an Italian couple asking about the wine list, and two Danish friends catching up over coffee, all speaking English with their French waiter. None were speaking to native English speakers, yet English was their natural bridge for everything from menu items to personal stories.

Most Americans don't realize how powerful this advantage can be. The entire world wants to speak your language.

Here's how to make the most of this unique moment in history, where English has become the world's common language:

Travel Tip #1: If you get into a conversation with someone abroad, tell them they speak great English. They will really appreciate it and it goes far.

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