When I was a kid, whenever I hear a word, “Butler”, I pictured “Sheep” in my head.
This totally does not make any sense when written in English.
In Japanese, Butler is “Shi-Tsu-Ji”, and a sheep is “Hi-Tsu-Ji”. Both sound very similar. Since I grew up in an ordinary Japanese family where we never had a butler, I had no image of butler whatsoever. So,I could not help picturing a sheep, although I knew Shitsuji was not a sheep.
Words are funny sometime. If you totally accept its meaning, you don’t even think of its sound. The sound becomes a simple signal to connect to its meaning.
However, even in your mother tongue, once you stop and pay serious attention to the sound of the word, you will fall in to the mystery zone. When I explain certain Japanese word to the foreign students in the class or lesson, often I fall into this mystery zone and think, “What is this word actually?”. I often don’t even know the origin of the words. Only the sound connected with its meaning in my brain.
I read somewhere that there is a meditation exercise where they repeat one word over and over, maybe 1000 times. As you repeat one words many times, the word will gradually loose its meaning and you will feel only the sound.
I have never tried this but I do a similar thing while being in the foreign countries. Say I am in Vietnam. I have no knowledge of the language, but I watch Vietnamese TV drama in my hotel room often. And I watch it for fairly long time. Maybe it is a Vietnamese soap opera. I have no idea. I simply watch it, wondering what they are speaking about.
Then after a while, since I don’t know the language, my mind looses its focus and start wondering what this actress had for breakfast this morning. Vietnamese noodle?
After I watch it further, though, I sometimes hit the moment when I almost sure this guy must have said, (for example) “It’s not my fault!”.
Most likely I am totally wrong and the person is not saying, “It’s not my fault”, but it is true that I feel something in that moment.The meaning of some sort.
Music is very similar, I think.
I sometimes hear people say, ” I don’t understand this music”, but I always want to ask, “Then do you really understand the other music?”
I think it is not what you understand that matters. The important thing is you listen wondering, “what are they speaking of?”.
Rock, Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop, Latin, Rap, and, even dog’s barking. If you keep wondering what they are speaking of, then you will feel.
After all, this simple and pure wondering of, “What is person trying to say?”, is a key factor, even in our native tongue, for the communication.