The Precision of the Written Word

words_TackkI love the precision of the written word. Writing allows you to express yourself so much more accurately than you can in conversation. Not the first time around, of course. The editing phase, however, allows you to craft your words so that they reflect the exact nuance of what you’re trying to say.

Well, almost always.

Have you ever had the feeling that there’s no one word that exactly pinpoints your thought? That may have nothing to do with any potential lack of vocabulary. Some concepts just haven’t been identified in English. But they have in other languages.

I learned about how certain thoughts and emotions can be better expressed in a language other than English when I took a bilingual creative writing class as a junior at the University of California, Santa Cruz. (Yes, that means I’m a Banana Slug for all you who care about mascots.) Since I spoke French and Spanish, I wrote in three languages. And I discovered that each language afforded me opportunities for expression that the others didn’t. I still remember the experience of trying to translate into one of the other two languages I speak what I’d originally written in Spanish, English or French, and getting close but never exactly spot on.

So I was thrilled when  Jessica Kane, a professional blogger who writes for Bureau Translations—a leading company that provides translation services for businesses—offered to write an article for my blog about this very idea. That will be my next post, so make sure to check back next Friday.

 

 

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