Oh, we’ve all been there! Whenever we don’t understand a word from a foreign language, we rub the Aladdin Lamp (not even thrice, just once actually) and we have the answer.

Well, it doesn’t work all the time, though. Some of the true-translation pitfalls I’ve come across: Telling somebody “Es ist halb-neun” when it’s 9:30 AM. It actually means 8:30.

Most common thing though, is when someone asks “How are you?” and you say “Ich bin gut”. You want to say “Es geht mir gut” whereas “Ich bin gut” actually means that you are a good person.

One more embarrassing mistake coming up – you introduce one of your friends (male/female) as “Er/sie ist mein freund/freundin”. It actually means he/she is your boyfriend/girlfriend. To be safe, say “Er/sie ist ein/eine freund/freundin von mir”.

The last might not be a blunder and people might understand what you say but it’s just not right. When you want to say “I came by train”, you should say “Ich bin mit dem Zug gefahren”. True-translation does not work here, sadly.

However, embarrassing yourself once in a while is okay. It is a much surer way to learn, have some laughs and save a great story for later!

Ankitha