Paying Attention When Understanding Another Language

The word “attention” is interesting, since how it is used in a language gives us an understanding of how the people who speak that language think.

The word, “attention” is derived from “attend”, and comes into the English language from the Latin “ad” and “tendere”, which collectively mean “to stretch”.  Within the context of English, attention is the act of paying heed, or noticing something.

In English, we “pay attention”.  The implication is that the speaker is valuable, and we have to honour the speaker by paying that attention.  It is a one-sided affair, which points the hierarchial development of that understanding.

Speaking in Spanish, however, you would say, “presta atención”.  “Presta” means to lend, with the cultural implication that giving attention is transactional, and the speaker is obliged to give that attention back.  Therefore, attention that is not returned means the communication of ideas is incomplete.

The French also say “presta atención”, which is a sort of demand, even though it has the same meaning as Spanish.  However, in French, you could also say, “faites attention”, which literally means “to do attention”, since one is not in attention without attendance.  It may be understood philosophically as not only being physically present, which may be superfluous, but to be intellectually and spiritually present. The French really want all of you to listen.  The phrase has an element of caution, meaning that the one spoken to is told to be careful.

The Germans have two phrases.  They say, “Aufmerksamkeit schenken”, when referring to people.  It literally means “to give attention”, since they are bestowing their time on the speaker.  On the other hand, when referring to objects, they might say “Aufmerksam auf etwas verwenden”, which literally means “use attention for something”.

All these four languages are Western European languages.  Spanish and French are Romance languages, derived heavily from Latin.  German is a Germanic language.  English evolved from Germanic dialects, before adopting some French vocabulary after the Norman conquest.  Even in related languages, phrases and the use of verbs differ, which shapes the way native speakers unconsciously think.  Thus, it is one thing to learn a language and understand it technically.  It is an entirely different matter to be able to think like a native speaker, and understand the connotations of the words spoken, at a deeper level.