LANGUAGE MAY BE A SOURCE OF

MISUNDERSTANDINGS" BY
MARSHALL MCLUHAN, 1964

We communicate through language but we all speak

different languages, which leads to misunderstandings.
The world has 7,100 languages, and some of their words have the same
spelling and pronunciation but different meanings. For instance,In English,
you can say you ”won” something and feel proud or happy. In South Korea, it
is their national currency. When a house is said to be ”won” in Polish, it
means that it is ”nice smelling.” Russia has a different interpretation,
however. In Russian, using the word ”won” means describing something that
”stinks.” That’s why we need to be careful with our words because it may
offend someone. If we travel in other countries we need to adjust ourselves
and learn their culture. We should be aware that some words in a foreign
language may sound similar to English but mean something entirely different
in another language. Languages are certainly fascinating and interesting, but
there is enough reason to learn a few basics in order to avoid making a silly
mistakes when visiting another country.
We Pilipino also misunderstand each other because in our country we
have eight major dialects. That is why sometimes there is a
misunderstanding causing a quarrel. In particular there is a word “libog”
which means a strong sexual desires in tagalog but in Hiligaynon and
Sebwano, the word “libog” means confused.
Learning different languages in the world and using it properly can help
you to communicate without misunderstanding.However, we all know that
some languages are difficult to learn so all we need is a consideration.