If you ever
learned any language, and presume you have since you are able to read this, you
have probably encountered this little thing called register before. No, not the
school register that Mrs. Frillybottoms used to see if you were skipping class
that day. The dictionary definition for this sort of register is: “A variety of
language used in a specific social setting.” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com)
If there is
anything I did noticed about register, its dynamic nature. What was completely unheard
of some decades ago is now slightly frowned upon or even completely normal.
Thus a person who might be the vision of good nature and manners today might
cause a proper Victorian maiden to blush and call him an awful, unrefined
brute. For example, in Victorian times, not only was it impolite to mention
your posterior, but also just using words like “trousers” or “legs”, meaning
that these words weren’t even accepted in the informal register of the more
refined class.
However,
register also isn’t unified for all languages. Just the language structure
requires some attention. If I compare my own language, Slovene, with English, one
notices a big difference in the way we address people. In modern English,
saying “you” to the president is not considered impolite. In contrast, Slovene differentiates
between two sorts of addressing people: “tiknje" and “vikanje”. (See? In
English, these two ways of addressing don’t exist so I couldn’t even find the
right translation for it.) Let me explain: in Slovene, the “you” with which you
address your friend translates into “ti”- so “TIkanje”. However, if you want to address a person in a
formal way, you use “vi” instead- thus “VIkanje”.
So there you
have it. Knowing your registers also means getting that much closer to
understanding the language. Direct translation can often be misleading, for dry
words usually aren’t set in the bigger picture of the culture of that language.
So, when learning languages, think about the words you know and how to use them
in the proper setting. It might help you avoiding lots of sticky situations.
