What is a foreign language?

Don’t confuse a foreign language with one which we do not know sufficiently well.  There are times when we cannot understand someone who speaks our native language.  We know all of the words, but we still cannot understand what the person is saying.

A foreign language is basically the same kind of language as the one which we speak.  The only difference is that we do not understand any of the words that we hear.  A true foreign language differs from a language that we simply do not speak in one very elementary way.

When we listen to people who are speaking in a foreign language, it seems that the conversation is an uninterrupted flow of incomprehensible sounds.  It is an insurmountable river of funny noises, and you cannot see its beginning or its end.

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a lot
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airplane
3 words of 123
and
4 words of 123
animal
5 words of 123
back
6 words of 123
bad
7 words of 123
bag
8 words of 123
bed
9 words of 123
before
10 words of 123
blanket
12 words of 123
boat
13 words of 123
boiled
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bread
15 words of 123
breakfast
16 words of 123
bus
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car
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chicken
19 words of 123
child
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closed
21 words of 123
clothing
22 words of 123
coffee
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cold
24 words of 123
color
25 words of 123
dangerous
26 words of 123
day
27 words of 123
do
28 words of 123
doctor
29 words of 123
documents
30 words of 123
down
31 words of 123
drink
32 words of 123
drive
33 words of 123
eat
34 words of 123
egg
35 words of 123
far
36 words of 123
fish
38 words of 123
forward
39 words of 123
fried
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friend
41 words of 123
from
42 words of 123
fruit
43 words of 123
give
44 words of 123
go
45 words of 123
good
46 words of 123
goodbye
47 words of 123
hello
48 words of 123
help
49 words of 123
here
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hot
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hour
52 words of 123
house
53 words of 123
how
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how much
55 words of 123
hurry
56 words of 123
I
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inside
58 words of 123
it
59 words of 123
know
60 words of 123
later
61 words of 123
less
62 words of 123
little
63 words of 123
look for
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man
65 words of 123
meat
66 words of 123
medicine
67 words of 123
milk
68 words of 123
money
69 words of 123
more
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my
71 words of 123
night
72 words of 123
no
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now
74 words of 123
one
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outside
76 words of 123
pain
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pasta
78 words of 123
phone
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please
80 words of 123
potato
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quickly
82 words of 123
relax
83 words of 123
rice
84 words of 123
room
85 words of 123
salad
86 words of 123
shoes
87 words of 123
shop
88 words of 123
slowly
89 words of 123
sorry
90 words of 123
soup
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straight
92 words of 123
street
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sweet
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take
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talk
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tea
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thank you
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there
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ticket
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time
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to
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to the left
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to the right
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together
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toilet
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train
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two
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understand
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up
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vegetables
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wait
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wake
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want
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water
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when
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where
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who
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woman
119 words of 123
write
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yes
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you
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your
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a lot
muito
after
depois
airplane
avião
and
e
animal
animal
back
voltar
bad
ruim
bag
sacola
bed
cama
before
antes
big
grande
blanket
cobertor
boat
barco
boiled
fervido
bread
pão
breakfast
café da manhã
bus
onibus
car
carro
chicken
galinha
child
criança
closed
fechado
clothing
roupas
coffee
café
cold
frio
color
cor
dangerous
perigoso
day
dia
do
fazer
doctor
doutor
documents
documentos
down
pra baixo
drink
beber
drive
dirigir
eat
comer
egg
ovo
far
longe
fire
fogo
fish
peixe
forward
adiante
fried
frito
friend
amigo
from
de
fruit
fruta
give
dar
go
ir
good
bom
goodbye
adeus
hello
olá
help
ajudar
here
aqui
hot
quente
hour
hora
house
casa
how
como
how much
quanto
hurry
apressar
I
eu
inside
dentro
it
ele
know
saber
later
tarde
less
menos
little
pequeno
look for
procurar
man
homem
meat
carne
medicine
medicina
milk
leite
money
dinheiro
more
mais
my
meu
night
noite
no
não
now
agora
one
um
outside
fora
pain
dor
pasta
massa
phone
telefone
please
por favor
potato
batata
quickly
rapidamente
relax
relaxar
rice
arroz
room
sala
salad
salada
shoes
sapatos
shop
loja
slowly
devagar
sorry
desculpe
soup
sopa
straight
direto
street
rua
sweet
doce
take
tomar
talk
falar
tea
chá
thank you
obrigado
there
ticket
ingresso
time
tempo
to
para
to the left
para a esquerda
to the right
para a direita
together
junto
toilet
banheiro
train
trem
two
dois
understand
entender
up
pra cima
vegetables
vegetais
wait
esperar
wake
acordar
want
querer
water
água
when
quando
where
onde
who
quem
woman
mulher
write
escrever
yes
sim
you
você
your
seu

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A completely foreign language turns into one which we do not understand sufficiently well if we hear a few words in the flow of sound which we understand. 

We understand those words and can understand the topic – food, travel, sports, shopping, prices, the weather, etc.  That is all, however.  We cannot move beyond the overall topic that is being discussed.  Don’t fear, though – if you understand the general topic of discussion, then that means that you can identify the language that is being spoken – Spanish, French, Italian, etc.  This means that this is not a completely foreign language to you.  You simply do not understand it sufficiently well.

The next thing is this:  A language will turn from an incomprehensible into an understandable one only when you not only recognise the words that are spoken, but also understand the point to what is being said.

Sadly, some people who want to communicate in a foreign language in a comprehensible way must first learn to do so in their own language.  You have to remember a few things here.  If people talk to one another they only use words which the others will understand, and they use those words so that everyone understands the point to what is being said.