Multilingual Observation | Five Essential Pieces

These are the five pieces that most vividly capture the world of multilingual observation. Please start here.

Five Essential Pieces

1 | Yesterday and Tomorrow — Differences in How We Carve Out Time

“Yesterday” and “tomorrow.”
In just these two words, entirely different “flows of time” reside, depending on the language.
Japanese, English, Arabic, Indonesian — every language carves out “time” in its own way.
A piece that symbolizes May Languages Studio.

2 | Here, There, and Over There — How We “Point” at Space is a Mirror of Culture

A worldview emerges just by pointing.
The delicate sense of distance in Japanese, the simplicity of English, the unique sense of territory in Arabic. “Space” differs so much depending on the language.

3 | To Eat — The Physicality Behind Everyday Words

How does language carve out the act of “eating”?
Japanese, French, Indonesian, Arabic — the “correctness” felt by the body differs for each language. A piece that makes your daily life suddenly stand out when you read it.

4 | To Rest — Words Between the Mind and Body

What does it mean to rest? To lie down? To do nothing? Or is it when the heart becomes still?
If the language is different, the outline of “resting” also changes. A piece that gently relaxes the heart.

5 | The Distance to the Other Person Residing in “Thank You”

What is “thank you”? A word to express gratitude? A part of etiquette?
A piece that examines how that single word re-establishes the distance between you and the other person.

Recommended Series After the Essential Pieces

1 | Words of Greeting

A record of multilingual observations on the first words that gently set the distance between people in motion.

2 | Words of Time

A record of multilingual observations from various perspectives on the “time” that flows within words, such as “morning” and “night,” “yesterday” and “tomorrow,” and “this very moment.”

For those who would like to read more

・ The Three Principles of May Languages Studio

・ Multilingual Observation Table of Contents