It is quite interesting to live in the society where two languages are used almost interchangeably. A good example is Canada where both English and French are written on almost anything. The automated replies on phones have both English and French as well. As I spend some time in Canada every summer, I have become used to seeing instructions, directions, etc. in both languages.
I wrote about the benefit of knowing two languages, as you become aware of the unique characteristics of one language by learning another. Language can indicate what type of differences the society where the language is used is sensitive to. For example, age and seniority play a significant role in Japan, thus the language indicates the age difference clearly. The examples shown were brother and sister.
In Japanese, a clear distinction is made between older or younger (i.e., age and seniority) while in English the distinction is not that clear. There are many different expressions showing how it rains in Japanese (some I do not even know), but not many in English, I hear. It makes you aware of the difference in concepts when you learn another language.
I am thinking about some of these differences, as I am in the process of translating my recent articles into English. I would rather do it myself than ask some professional to do so, as they are my ideas and concepts and I am the one that knows well how writing has developed to the final form (I do ask for professional help in editing and proof-reading).
It is the translation of concepts, and not language and words, per se, that I am trying to do. Thus, the original writer (in this case, myself) would understand the concepts better.
What I find often when translating my own articles is that my sentences are too long and try to capture too many ideas. I personally like simple sentences and make every effort to write in simple, short sentences. However, as I write and rewrite so many times, my sentences tend to become too long and the structure becomes too complicated.
I realize it when I try to translate into English. (In fact, when I ask for editing at the early stage of my writing in Japanese, the editors usually come back with comments that my sentences tend to be too long.)
Sometimes language does not even convey the feeling, as I know that photographers and designers can communicate much better directly even though they speak different languages. They speak the same “language” in concept and expressions.
Yoko Ishikura is a Professor at Hitotsubashi University ICS in the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy in Japan. She has held positions as a professor at the School of International Politics, Economics and Business of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, as a consultant at McKinsey and Company Inc. Japan and a visiting professor at Darden School.
Professor Ishikura is a consultant to a number of multinational companies and has been a frequent speaker at management conferences, seminars, and workshops throughout the world. She was a member of the Regulatory Reform Committee for the Japanese government and the International Competitiveness Commission for METI. She is currently a Forum Fellow of the World Economic Forum.
She is the author of Strategic Shift from OR choices to AND paradigm, Building Core Skills of Organization , and the co-author of the following publications: Managing Diversity in the 21st Century, Strategy for Cluster Initiatives in Japan , and Building a Career to the World Class Professionals – all in Japanese. Her books in English include: Asian Advantage, Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management and Trust and Antitrust in Asian Business Alliances.
Professor Ishikura’s current research interests are focused on global competition, innovation, and knowledge management. She received her BA from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan; MBA from Darden School, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia; and DBA from Harvard Business School.
