Why Culture is So Important When Learning a New Language

[@Mary-gm2cl]

Idioms make language fun. It is interesting to learn their origins and how there are similarities as well as differences across languages.

[@Leftyotism]

Haha, there the dog goes crazy in the pan!

[@IvanBarsch]

My favorite idiom that I’ve learned is “Das ist mir Wurst” which translates literally to “That is my sausage/that is sausage to me” but means “I don’t care”

[@Leftyotism]

@@IvanBarsch Everything has an end, but the sausage has two.

[@IvanBarsch]

@@Leftyotism that one is great too.

[@aris1956]

@@IvanBarsch. Yes, this is what the Germans say here in Germany. For me being Italian it seems a little strange, but it will obviously have its origin. It's just that often if you ask some Germans, even they don't know why they say it that way. :) However then vice versa is kind of the same thing. There are idioms that we Italians have that to foreigners may seem very strange.

[@LarryGarfieldCrell]

I went to France on a foreign exchange in high school. My exchange partner and I were playing chess or something while some younger kids were playing nearby, and the ball or whatever kept going wild and hitting us. I would hand it back and say "c'est d'accord", literally "it is OK." Which made the kids crack up because that's not quite what the phrase means. I think it was coming off as "I accept this" or "it's what I wanted", which is of course nonsensical.

[@ewoudalliet1734]

"C'est d'accord" would indeed translate to something like "it's agreed"; or "it's okay" in the sense of reaching an agreement. In Dutch we have the advantage that the word "akkoord" translates to it. "Een akkoord" means "an agreement"; but you can also say "ik ben/ga akkoord"; "ik ben/ga" means "I am/go", but that particular sentence it translates simply to "I agree" and not "I am agreement". Similarly, it's not weird to say "akkoord" as in like "deal", "agreed" or "okay", but with some synonyms like "overeenkomst" that'd sound very, very weird. In French and Dutch "accord/akkoord" also is a musical term (chords). In Spanish you also have the word "acuerdo", which functions the same way as in Dutch. In English you also have "accords", "accordance", but I think we can agree it's used a bit differently. There's also the verb "to accord" which means something entirely different.

[@KevDaly]

I think this is one of the weaknesses of Duolingo, because it often seems to ignore the cultural context (to the extent sometimes of using atypical vocabulary that translates American norms)

[@emmanuelwood8702]

cultural intelligence.

[@PublicAwakening]

I would love to see a series on the cultural aspects of languages.

[@BGBPW]

I’m not studying any of the languages mentioned but I absolutely love this kind of insight with culture and language! Thank you so much! Please give us more. =D

[@EpherosAldor]

Understanding these nuanced phrases or idioms is probably best acquired through extensive reading and listening of popular media of native material. There's probably no good way of getting around learning these things without that kind of immersion. Getting your hands on that much variety of material would be the hard part without being in country.

[@ursulastaempfli759]

I made the experience that the practice of speaking Italian and trying hard to pitch the right pronounciation had an all-pervasive effect on my personality. I've never experienced this with English, French or Spanish. I mutated into an Italian, I even unconsciously had an accent after I had spent a month in Italy and when I came back someone asked me where I was actually from because they detected an altered intonation. When asked questions that appealed to emotions my first spontaneous reaction was to answer in Italian. I was so "brainwashed" I dreamed in Italian. Italian friends were convinced that I was not German but in reality Italian though my Italian at the time back then was far from perfect or fluent, and I am still learning. Italian with its vowel emphatic structure and melodious quality generates deep seated emotions. I've always felt very much "at home" in Italy. I recommend the acquisition of Italian. It will improve your breath control and your voice and your ability to speak with conviction and of course it opens a door to a culture and way of thinking that is an enrichment to the limited perspective that you inevitably have when you only think and feel in your maternal language.

[@CrispyCircuits]

Absolutely correct! I have told so many people that if you don't actually speak Spanish well, you will never have a chance of understanding their culture and the essence of how they think, feel and see the world. And it is different and important. I found a missing piece of my view of things once I learned Spanish (US, Mexico, Guatemala). It was fulfilling to find the philosophy that I felt, but didn't find present anywhere I lived in the US until I was able to communicate fluently in Spanish. I grew up in Washington state. I have my own unique view of the world. I felt that either my thinking was wrong or everybody else was wrong (in just my opinion and without any malice). Well, I'm just arrogant/confident enough that I decided that I was right and the world was wrong. We moved to Texas when I was 16. I didn't learn any Spanish until my late 20's. Once I met the Hispanic culture with me speaking Spanish, I discovered that a mix of my culture plus Hispanic culture was just the right mix to be me. So yes, learn the culture. You might just find something more useful than simply good communication One interesting thing in at least Texas, the people we can reasonably call Tejanos, have a saying that "we didn't cross the border, it crossed us". Which happened after the war with Mexico. Tejanos who are fluent in both English and Spanish have a tendency in a mixed group where some speak only Spanish, others only English; they then speak both. Once in one language, immediately the same in the other language. But frequently, they don't really say exactly the same thing. Usually one language gets the extra stuff or the fuller story. A weird experience when I gained enough fluency to follow it well. So please, take this video very seriously. I would put this as an essential skill. Also, a very difficult skill, but it will also just happen if you pay attention. It's not a task like studying grammar or pronunciation. Pretty much a freebie over time.

[@JoaoPedroPT696]

Idioms are advanced language learning anyway, so I guess no one will be too hard on you as a foreigner and usually people that are not too comfortable in the target language just typically try to avoid those. Great video anyway.

[@paulwalther5237]

I’ve studied a lot of Japanese but I could still totally see myself saying ありがとうございます to someone who helped me. 😅

[@VoodooAngel63]

I have always liked the Spanish expression "Ticinco". If a "lady of certain age" is asked her age she may simply reply ticinco, (basically meaning "oh, something five").

[@henriqueprata3534]

There are a lot of expressions on Portuguese that are quite impossible to translate to English, the more comum being "vai tirar ou pai da forca?" Or the variant "tirar a mãe da zona?", both are things we say to ppl being careless while in a hurry and roughly translate to "Going to save your father fron the noose?" And "going to get your mother from the whorehouse?". We also have a version of every cloud has a silver lining that is close to the Italian, we say "há males que vem para o bem" that is also roughly translated as "there are ills that do good".

[@Overcrook65]

I've heard that in Japan compliments are not only rejected out of politeness, but are often seen as demeaning as you implicitly put yourself above the person you're complimenting. I suspect it depends on the context.

[@wanderer8038]

please do more in japanese. I'm a native manderin speaker who is currently learning japanese. I used to have a lot of japanese friends when I was studying and living in the US. but now i'm back in china. I'm looking for more ways to learn japanese regardless of what happens next :) Thank you for all ur vids good job my man

[@littleredpony6868]

I’m curious what are a few idioms that you have in China that you didn’t hear an equivalent to while in the United States?

[@vitogunnhilder]

Can we just appreciate the detailed description here?

[@darthguilder1923]

Definitely important, you want to know how to speak not just in terms of words but also respect, understanding context, etc.

[@3MinutesFever]

I didn't know my own culture. In modern Chinese, 青 is green. But in my Hokkien dialect, it is blue. As a child I kept trying to correct my parents. It is only later when I studied Japanese, to learn that the blue meaning is a preservation of the ancient Chinese meaning.

[@6Uncles]

It is green-blue. Supposed to representative of colours of live leaves and such

[@anondelivers9051]

Imagine spending a Christmas eve with a Japanese family and everyone denying present, rejecting compliments on the cooking and apologising constantly

[@oscarpalma4066]

In Spanish, we have the expression 'ahorita,' which could be misunderstood as 'right now,' but it's more like saying 'I know that I have to do something, but I cannot do it or do not want to do it at this precise moment.'"

[@Tony32]

Not all Spanish speaking countries use that word. The usage you mentioned is probably regional.

[@oscarpalma4066]

@@Tony32 You're right; I should have added Mexican Spanish. At least

[@PC_Simo]

I would, *_ABSOLUTELY,_* be interested in such a series 👍🏻.

[@AdhamhMacConchurain]

In Ireland, it's also considered polite to reject a gift three times before accepting it and to say sorry when someone else bumps into you or helps you out. It's not exactly an apology but a recognition that they didn't have to help you but did or you're not mad at them for bumping into you. Sorry isn't just for apologising but for establishing peace.

[@mariocatanese1011]

I would really like a video like that, more in-depth on Italian culture, that’s what I would be most interested in, would you please cover Sicilian as well, even a separate video to cover both!? That would be awesome and much appreciated!

[@nazarnovitsky9868]

Thank You very much for this new video ! 😊

[@Sousabird]

Even when I was flunking my way through high school German, cultural lessons were always the most interesting.

[@JMM33RanMA]

My German class used a very old book. The cultural information was so out of date that it gave a distorted picture of the culture. The "joke of the day" was bizarre and completely unfunny. I have become an ESL teacher, and I now realize that the teaching method used for German back then (1960s) was old fashioned and ineffective.

[@steveneardley7541]

We had an Italian AFS student in our high school. He said he almost starved to death for the first month. Whenever anyone at the table asked if he wanted some food he said no, and they took it away! On the other side of it, when I am offered food by my Italian relatives and I say no, they ask me one or two more times, when I actually meant no the first time. So if I'm not thinking my third no might sound a bit testy--like "Leave me alone."

[@JMM33RanMA]

An Irishman once told me that he nearly starved in America because when offered food he'd say no to be polite and the food would be taken away. Some of my fellow Americans have different customs, though. I'e heard, "The fridge is over there help yourself." I've also experienced being told you've got to try this, and had something almost forced on me.

[@tomasmercado7577]

6:29 The Spanish equivalen would be “No hay mal que por bien no venga”

[@bliblivion]

it's allways nice to learn new things about other cultures.

[@stephencooper5040]

Idioms are so fun, for example when I was learning Arabic I asked one of my professors about the phrase “this town is not big enough for the two of us,” kind of an Old West American English fighting words phrase… basically “get out of town or I’ll kill you.” If you say the idiomatic phrase to an Arab, they would simply look around at how big the town is and then look back at you as if you are crazy. To convey the same point, I was told you must say “the tent is only large enough for one camel,” which apparently is derived from back in the days when many Arabs were Bedouin tribes.

[@haidner]

A Canadian would both apologize and say thanks when someone hands them back their dropped umbrella.

[@MidwestArtMan]

Knowing the language, but not the culture: "Wow, your Japanese is really good!" "You're damn right it is."

[@Elveaworld]

A bit different, but First time in the US, in Boston, I went to a Wendy’s, I ordered and then the lady asked “are you all set?” Not being familiar with this phrase in this context and the accent, I understood “are you upset”, so I went “no!”. So then I was awkwardly waiting for her to tell me how much I had to pay and she was awkwardly waiting for me to tell her what else I wanted. So she goes “are you all set?” Again, and I go (a bit weirded out), “no, can I have the check please?”. I paid and left, wandering all the way home why she’d think I was upset. She must have thought I was bonkers 😂 so yeah, getting used to idioms and common phrases of a specific place we visit might be important to avoid awkward situations even if we think we speak the language decently (I didn’t even think it could have been me not having a clue about what she was asking🙈 so embarrassing)!

[@ElmerEscoto]

In Spanish we have "ahogarse en un vaso de agua" (to drown in a glass of water) to indicate an overly dramatic reaction to something not too big of a deal. In Russian they say "сделать слона из мухи" (make an elephant out of a fly") with the same sense. Grazie mille Raffaello!

[@marcello7781]

It also makes learning a language more entertaining and opens new windows towards different ways of thinking.

[@manuelramospetruchena4620]

Oh hell yes. "No hay mal que por bien no venga". We use that in Spanish A LOT. The equivalent of the silver lining. Trying to make it useful in English, no evil comes without little good (sort of). Another example, in Argentina we use a funny one: lost as a Turkish person in a fog (perdido como turco en la neblina). This one comes from a Spanish term, which refers to the noun of being drunk as "la turca", mainly referring to Moor wine. The correct approach would be: lost as a drunk person in the fog. And one that intrigues me, Metatron. In Argentina, some people have the custom of not passing the salt directly from one to another (you know, salarium). Does this happen in Italy? If so, could you explain why? I've heard and read some things, but it could be something interesting for a video!

[@tonysawyer3754]

I’m interested in a video series on Italian with the cultural addition. I actually already study this with my Italian instructor…but it is always good to get more examples. This cultural part of language is one of the most interesting aspects to me. Thanks for sharing 🙂

[@markrossi5703]

This is great, because you are exposing how perceptions of reality, differ in different cultures, and how they are expressed through language.

[@PC_Simo]

I’m interested in languages (mostly) *_PRECISELY, BECAUSE_* of the cultural learning, and my interest in cultures, in general.

[@Lindormber]

Cultural approach to language learning? Yes please!

[@littleredpony6868]

Idioms are definitely on a more advanced level of understanding in a language. For instance the idiom that someone has a big mouth doesn’t translate into Spanish very well

[@coolbrotherf127]

It's so common in Eastern cultures to complement foreigners on their language abilities just to be nice even when the language abilities aren't that great. There's the common joke about getting the "nihongo jouzu" from Japanese people after saying a few basic words. Often, when people are actually impressed with a foreigner's language ability they'll start asking questions like "How long have you lived here?" or "Did you grow up here?" The biggest compliment though is if they don't say anything at all and just speak with you like any other person from their country.

[@SuperHaven7]

Yeeeeeeeeeesssss I am interested in learning the Cultural "we do's" and "we don't" of Italian Metatron....

[@JaredaSohn]

I would 100% be interested in and appreciate that series! Thanks for another great video!

[@martindiaries]

I'm very interested in Chinese and Italian culture, so please segnor Urbani do the videos you mentioned, it will be splendid! 🇨🇳🇮🇹

[@corinna007]

I was watching a video about the Isle of Man, and one of the Manx speakers said something to the effect of "Language is the underlying fabric. If you take that away, everything else goes with it." When I started learning Finnish, my original goal was just to learn enough for a simple conversation. But the more I learned about the culture, the more I fell in love with it. Language opens you up to so much.

[@littleredpony6868]

There’s a view that embedded in every language is a worldview

[@mihainita5325]

Funny thing about refusing 3 times... In communist Romania when you visited someone you would usually be offered food. And you refused 2 times, and accept the 3rd time. A friend of mine visited US soon after 1989. He was picked up from the airport, and once at the house of the hosts was offered suggesting to eat. He said no, thanks, got back an "OK", and that was it. The poor guy was starving, but had to wait until dinner :-) I don't know is this is still the custom, i left about 25 years ago...

[@vincentstef5708]

You should come back to visit! We are always here waiting for Romanians to come back and visit their homeland. I would say its definitely still part of the culture except its more common to reject the offer only once now and accept on the second

[@tomschreiner3717]

An American who lived in Germany for more than 20 years always said 'I'm gonna let you go' litterally in German on the phone. I was puzzled the first time, when I heard this. Cause in German in this situation it sounds like someone breaks up the contact forever instead of stopping a call. In German you normally say '[Don't be mad at me but] I have to hang up for now'.

[@llareia]

I just want to note that in America, the cultural expectation surrounding gifts (or someone buying you lunch or whatever) is absolutely that you should reject a gift at least once. "Oh, no, you shouldn't have!" or "I couldn't take that!" are common responses ("You don't have to do that!" for lunch). Some people may reject the gift twice, though that is less common. Rejecting the gift three times would be rude, however. But if you don't make at least a token rejection of a gift in America, you will come across as quite greedy. (In a more familiar relationship at a designated gift-giving special event like a birthday, this may be skipped, but it's still polite to at least say the words.) Fights over who is going to pay the bill for whom at the end of a meal are quite common as everyone is refusing to let the other person pay while trying to pay for the other. 😆

[@TonyLang1984]

I agree. I recommend that before diving into a language, watch many movies in the language to see and absorb the culture subconsciously. Behaviors, body language often, intonations, usage, usage of puns, jokes, etc… cannot be learned in text books or courses. They must be observed and experienced, or the language usage will be very unnatural and alien 👽

[@manofcultura]

Every Asian non native speaker always gets amazed when I explain “yeah yeah yeah” means “no” in a very derisive way or skeptical disbelief.

[@GigaDavy91]

This also makes me think about the honorifics in Japanese, and how it's difficult to convey their meaning when you translate in English that has a very different way of speaking when it comes to formality levels

[@danielantony1882]

Orþodox translation is not ðe greatest þing.

[@MM62442]

@@danielantony1882 How are you writing with Old English characters? I've never seen that option on my keyboard. Maybe on my phone... not sure, but not a computer.

[@m.wilkinson9559]

I'd definitely be interested in those cultural videos for all those languages as I teach people from china, italy and japan so it would be nice to better understand their cultures in general.

[@seilahqlq1]

The "silver lining" also makes no sense in Portuguese - we would say something like: "Há males que vem para o bem" = Some evil come to do us good. "Deus escreve certo por linhas tortas" = God writes straight on crooked lines. Time flies makes sense because is Latin "Tempus Fugit". In Portuguese is "O Tempo Voa".

[@Ragnarok540]

I have always said that. You have to immerse into the culture completely, listen to music in the language you are studying, watch movies and even eat the food from the places the language is spoken.

[@SkymarshalAnoke]

I'm studying Italian and I would love it 😊👍

[@MFT9170]

Cultral aproach is indeed very important and I'm sure there are learners who will appreciate a video series.

[@magyarbondi]

First time in England in shops or marketplaces, salesmen/women always asked me if I was alright. I always said “Yes, thank you” and thought, “How nice of them, what a friendly country!” Took me a while to realise they just ask “Are you alright?” instead of “Can I help you with something or are you all right?” They were being polite but not interested in my actual health or well-being... (facepalm) (It actually sounds "Y'orroi, mate?" or "Y'orroi, bab?" in this region, but that's another story.)

[@elhayatt4883]

Very much interested in cultural learning in language learning!

[@The_Lord_Of_Confusion]

great commentary, so true

[@stipe3124]

That "Silver Lining" and Italian version is just like "Svako zlo za neko dobro" which would translate as "Every bad for something good" like if you break a leg it is bad but if avoid fire at your job that could have killed you than even that bad becomes good.

[@iberius9937]

Very applicable to me, believe it or not. I am currently continuing my learning of Latin, which I can already speak and understand a lot of, but without immersing myself in Ancient Roman culture, history and religion, my study of Latin is meaningless. Yes, no one speaks it natively and it is a dead civilization that has left significant echoes and influences and footprints that have carried over into the modern world, but it is still rewarding nonetheless. I wish to eventually think and speak as an Ancient Roman would, not just speak English and substitute Latin words and pseudo-grammar.

[@belstar1128]

If you use the language you will learn the culture quickly.

[@Octa9on]

to add an example of needing to understand the culture to speak the language properly, in the Chuukese language of Micronesia the word for "thanks" is "kinisou" and is used as we do in English. however its literal meaning refers to a state of social obligation which is taken very seriously in Chuukese culture. most of the time, the polite response to "kinisou" is "ewer" which means "yes"; kind of like saying "yeah sure it's no big deal". however the translation of "you're welcome" is often given as "kote pwan afani" which means roughly "don't remember it", but this is actually only appropriate in situations of real significance, like owing a debt of gratitude. there is a response to "kote pwan afani" which is "sipwe pwan afani" meaning "we will remember it", insisting that the state of "kinisou" exists between the two parties and will not be overlooked

[@juanestebangiraldobordon7230]

I'm Spanish it would be like : "No hay mal que por bien no venga" a little bit more similar to Italian than I thought

[@lugo_9969]

Excellent observations Metatron. I would add that the same language can often have different cultures....especially across borders. Eg germany & austria. 2 cultures. Or catholic & protestant in Northern Ireland....2 cultures. Both with fluent english.

[@theimpossiblethespian6974]

Out of curiosity, if there is someone who finds language learning not as intuitive and maybe difficult but would still want to try to have a second language, is there a language that you would suggest that might be easier to learn than most? Or do they all have their difficulties and in different ways are still all equally hard to learn?

[@yanneyanenchannel]

3:10 I have heard some Japanese people use both in succession as well, as in すみません、ありがとうございます (sumimasen, arigatou gozaimasu), but the すみません is pretty much always there, as is the bowing while saying it. 4:08 I feel like this is what many people don't realize about translation, either, and why human translators are so valuable. I'm sure technology will continue to improve, but as it is, even stuff like Deepl and ChatGPT can't deal with the cultural differences and different expressions, and you end up with literal translations that make little to no sense.

[@byronwilliams7977]

I can't stress this enough. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT POINT. Cultural fluency and linguistic fluency, couple that with native like prosody and you're in the game. I would really like to see a video with you and Stuart Jay Raj the emphasis you place on developing a high degree of mastery of the languages you speak goes hand in hand with his approach to languages. Stuart did a small series about cultural points in Asia called Wag the dragon which I thought was excellent. Here is an interview he did with Matt from MATT VS. JAPAN: kzbin.info/www/bejne/boaZfISlnK2naM0

[@wolfgangpeter2995]

Yes please the series 👍

[@Reziac]

Might be fun to discuss this with "Find Your Love in Japan" (I forget what the channel is called now) as he was also a language teacher. He has a hilarious video on why Japanese apologize all the time.

[@wolfcryerke]

I honestly think this is one of the most fun things about learning other languages. I find it so fascinating :)

[@darthguilder1923]

Vorrei vedere un video sulla cultura italiana e la sua interazione con la lingua da loro che parlano italiano come la loro lingua materna. Ho studiato quasi due anni ma sempre dimentico le frase idiomatiche. Grazie per i video del questo canale, mio padre e io ci piacciono molto.

[@williamedwardhackman4695]

I'm learning Mexican Spanish and I know a lot about the Mexican Culture. I'm learning Mandarin as well and I love the Chinese Culture.

[@LuDa-lf1xd]

In spanish Usted- formal Tu- informal Vos- informal and depending on the region, can be very disrespectful. Every latino kid that comes to spain have a bit of a shock when they have to adress their teacher by their name and in informal language. The 'usted' can be rude too because make a distance between people, so is very important to learn this things here.

[@critogni]

Great video. Thank you!

[@tessaparis6223]

I’m trying to learn Greek and would love a video on culture and language!

[@lisapop5219]

This was interesting. I love idioms and it's interesting to see them in other languages

[@nightsazrael]

Yes I am interested.

[@PC_Simo]

3:45 This reminds me that, in Finland, if someone (even a total stranger) offers you booze, you don’t thank them. You, in fact, say absolutely nothing. We even have a saying: _”Viinasta ja vitusta ei kiitetä.”_ = ”One does not thank for booze and pussy.” 😅. That aside, I can definitely understand apologizing, for being careless; and thus, making you put in extra effort, for them. This is a *_VERY_* rare instance, where I understand the Japanese cultural habit better, than my own (Finnish). Usually, Japanese culture is of the ”What the hell?!” -variety, for me. Also (though, this is more of a ”personal culture” -thing); I heard from a stranger (an elderly gentleman), in a bar; and I *_IMMEDIATELY_* adopted it, myself; that, when a *_MAN,_* whom you don’t know, directly, talks to you, you should stand up, when he is talking, as a token of respect. This doesn’t apply, if the speaker is a woman (or a child, obviously; that would be weird); and your own gender (or age) doesn’t matter, either.

[@Leftyotism]

I'm here for that series!

[@edspace.]

One thing I have wondered is does one need to travel to the country where the language is spoken to immerse in the culture? Or more accurately, are there some good alternatives/substitutes or things that will do the job (even if not as well) that someone could do if travel is not feasible, e.g. financial limitations or work prevent travel for extended periods, a queer person learning a language from a part of the world that's less queer friendly and thus might be a risk to personal safety and I'm sure other examples can be imagined.

[@LouisMcK]

This video was fucking great, please do a cultural vid for all the languages you know !

[@transmathematica]

I would be really interested in a podcast on cultural aspects of Mandarin.

[@JohnnyLodge2]

Can you make a video talking about italian idioms which don't make sense in english like "in bocca al lupo"

[@Blues_Light]

I have a solution: Use your native figure of speech, but preface it with: "In (your native language), we have a saying..." and then explain it afterward. I'm mostly joking but hey, it could work if you don't know the saying's equivalent (if there is one).

[@MM62442]

Yes I would be interested in a series like that for Italian!

[@davidpugh692]

I would love to learn more on Feench Cultural differences. Also do you recommend a good site, or book that would list the most common words (verbs, adj, etc...) and a basic order/tip to learn them?

[@cariopuppetmaster]

Yes I always knew there was a connection between culture and language! But I could never put my words on it (pun intended)

[@povilzem]

The other way around, I'd say. Language is the key component of culture. You can't become culturally integrated if you can't speak.

[@JMM33RanMA]

This is a very good explanation of the Sapir-Warf Hypothesis.

[@ossoduro7794]

I'll pick up whatever you put down.

[@derauserwahlte5402]

Great video!

[@Tony32]

"Every cloud has a silver lining" In Spanish we say "no hay mal que por bien no venga" which makes no sense to me.

[@wes4736]

With you first chinese and Japanese examples, i think the arrogant Westerner stereotype makes a bit more sense. While there are certainly arrogant people, if you are coming across someone who is accepting compliments thay you'd normally reject it makes q lot of sense to see that as self bloating and being pompous. The more you know

[@cristixav]

I'd be interested in a series and even in a book on this opic.

[@mariatheresavonhabsburg]

I should have watched this video decades ago... I would have had the possibility to avoid many blunders.

[@StefanGhigo]

Piece of cake!

[@taijennex6829]

I would love to see videos about the culture on Italian and Japanese cos I want to continue learning the languages, this would be helpful and interesting also.

[@richardharrow2513]

5:41 Nice one lmao! That'll be a weird thing to say in English too ain't it? 🤣

[@AkasakaS2000]

I actually had the experience in reverse. I often rejects/redirected compliments in English in the beginning, until my western friends asked me "I didn't mean it bad, why do you have to reject my words?"