learning a foreign language

The other day, a friend told me that in the future, people wouldn't have to study foreign languages anymore because there would be translator robots.

I felt sad when I thought about that kind of future.  I think you can never say you know a culture without learning its language.  When you learn a language, you learn a new culture; you learn to look at the world in a different light - you find another side of yourself.

One of my favorite Japanese words is お疲れ様(otsukaresama).  疲れ(tsukare) means exhausation/tiredness; お(o) and 様(sama) are used to show respect.  So the literal translation might be "I respect your exhaustion" which translates to "I respect your hard work".

We use it in various situations - not only after a long day's work but also during the day.  I think it shows how the Japanese culture values hard work and how people appreciate/respect it.

On the other hand, a couple of months ago when I was asked what my favorite English phrase was, what came up first in my mind was "I hope life has been treating you well."

The literal translation in Japanese would sound really awkward - in Japanese, life doesn't treat you in any way; you always have to 頑張る(gambaru=work hard) to live a better life.  I think I like this English phrase because it sort of sounds like no matter what's happening now in your life, it's not your fault - it's just that "life" has been treating you badly.

I actually find it interesting that my favorites kind of have the opposite approach towards life - well, at least according to my interpretation.

It's pretty nice to be able to think about life in two different ways through two different languages.