外国語

foreign language

^{(見出しへ戻る headword ⇒ 語)}

がいこくご
foreign language

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foreign language

(見出しへ戻る headword ⇒ 語)

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がいこくご【外国語】

〔言語〕 a foreign language [tongue]; 〔かたかな語〕 a (foreign) loanword.

●外国語が読めるようになる acquire a reading knowledge of [ability in] a foreign language

・彼女は外国語が得意だ. She is good at foreign languages. | Foreign languages are her forte.

・なかなか外国語が達者だ. He is a pretty good [quite a] linguist.

・ぼくは外国語が苦手だ. I am no [not] good at foreign languages. | Foreign languages are not my forte.

・役所の用語は外国語が多い. Official language contains a lot of foreign expressions.

●「たばこ」という単語は外国語から日本語になったものだ. The word tabako came into Japanese from another language. | The word tabako is a foreign loanword into Japanese.

●外国語で in a foreign [another] language; in a language that is not one's own

・思うことを外国語で言うのは非常に難しい. It is very hard to express oneself [make oneself understood] in a foreign language.

●この小説はいくつもの外国語に翻訳されている. This novel has been translated into several languages.

・この文をいくつかの外国語に訳してください. Please translate this passage into a few (foreign) languages.

・「すみません」を外国語に置き換えると意味がずれてくる. When one puts sumimasen into another language, the meaning doesn't quite fit.

●外国語の習得 foreign language acquisition

・外国語の読み書きができる. He can read and write [has a reading and writing ability in, is literate in] a foreign language.

・外国語の聞き取り[発音]は難しい. It is difficult to understand [pronounce] foreign languages.

・わが社には外国語のできる社員が一人もいない. Not a single member of our staff can speak a foreign language.

●外国語を操る handle a foreign language

・外国語をかじる dabble in [know a bit of, have a smattering of] a foreign language

・「サンキュー」だの「グッバイ」だのとやたらに外国語を使うな. Stop peppering what you say with foreign [English] expressions like “thank you” and “good-bye.”

第 2 外国語 a second foreign language.

外国語学部 a foreign language department; a faculty of modern languages.

外国語学校 a language school.

外国語教育 foreign language education [instruction, teaching].

外国語教師 a foreign language teacher.

外国語辞典 a foreign language dictionary.

外国語指導助手 an assistant language teacher (略: ALT).

外国語放送 foreign language broadcasting; a broadcast in a foreign language.