The more you practice something, whether it's a language, an instrument or anything else, the better you get at it. This idea is neatly summerised in the idiom 'practice makes perfect' Here are some equivalents of that idiom in other languages.
The English version 'practice makes perfect' first appeared in writing in the Diary and Autobiography of John Adams in 1766. Before then other versions were used (see below).
| Language | Practice Makes Perfect |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Oefening maak perfek ("practice makes perfect") |
| Benglai | গাইতে গাইতে গায়েন, বাজাতে বাজাতে বায়েন। (Gāite gāite gāyen, bājāte bājāte bāyen) ("sing, sing, play, play" - if you keep practicing singing, you will become a singer and if you keep practicing playing (a musical instrument), you will become a player") |
| Catalan | La pràctica fa la perfecció ("practice makes perfect") |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 熟能生巧 (shú néng shēng qiǎo) ("practice gives birth to skill") [origins of this idiom] |
| Czech | Cvičení dělá mistra ("practice makes a master") o]Opakování matka moudrosti ("repetition is the mother of wisdom") |
| Danish | Øvelse gør mester ("practice makes a master") |
| Dutch | Oefening baart kunst ("practice gives birth to art") |
| English | Uor wone maketh (1340) For use maketh mastery (c. 1530) Vse makes maistry (1546) practise made perfect (1560) vse makes perfectnes (1599) Practice makes perfect (1766) [source] |
| Esperanto | Praktiko perfektigas ("practice makes perfect") |
| Filipino | Kapag may tiyaga, may nilaga ("when there is perseverance, there is stew") |
| Finnish | Harjoitus tekee mestarin ("practice makes a master") |
| French | Usage rend maître ("Usage makes a master") C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron ("it is by forging that one becomes a blacksmith") C'est en se mouchant qu'on devient moucheron ("it is by blowing one's nose that you become a gnat/midge") |
| German | Übung macht den Meister ("practice makes the master") |
| Hindi | गाते गाते कला वंत हो जाते हैं (gāte gāte kalā vant ho jāte ha͠i) ("While singing, one becomes an artist.") |
| Hungarian | Gyakorlat teszi a mestert ("Practice provides skill") Ismétlés a tudás anyja ("Repetiation is the mother of knowledge") |
| Icelandic | Æfingin skapar meistarann ("practice makes the master") |
| Irish | Cleachtadh a dhéanann maistreacht ("practice makes mastery") |
| Indonesian | Latihan membuat sempurna ("practice makes perfect") Alah bisa karena biasa ("We can do it well because we usually do it") |
| Italian | La pratica rende perfetti ("Practice makes perfect") La pratica rende esperti ("Practice makes expert") Sbagliando s'impara ("You learn from your mistakes") Val più la pratica della grammatica ("Practice is worth more than grammar") |
| Japanese | 習うより慣れろ (narau yori narero) ("from learning one becomes skilled") 鏡は重磨によって輝く (kagami wa jū migaku ni yotte kagayaku) ("A mirror shines when polished") |
| Latin | Uses promptos facit ("Use makes perfect") Exercitātiō artem parat ("By practice one perfects art") Fabricandō fit faber ("By crafting one becomes a crafsman") Repetītiō est māter studiōrum (“Repetition is the mother of learning”) |
| Low Saxon | Doon dööt/deit leren ("Doing does teach") |
| Luxembourgish | Praxis mécht perfekt ("Practice makes perfect") |
| Malay | Alah bisa, tegal biasa ("Being defeated is hurtful but normal") |
| Norwegian | Øvelse gjør mester ("Practice makes a master") |
| Polish | Praktyka czyni mistrza ("Practice makes a master") |
| Portuguese | A prática faz a perfeição ("Practice makes perfect") |
| Russian | Навык мастера ставит (Nabyk mastera stavit) ("Skill makes mastery") Повторение мать учения (povtorénije — matʹ učénija) ("Repetition is the mother of learning") У кого сноровка, тот работает ловко (U kogo snorovka, tot rabotayet lovko) ("He who has dexterity works deftly") Дело делу учит (Delo delu učit) ("Deed teacher deed") |
| Scottish Gaelic | Is e an cleachdadh a nì teòma ("It's the practice that makes the difference") |
| Spanish | La práctica hace al maestro ("Practice makes the master") La práctica hace al perfección ("Practice makes it perfect") |
| Swahili | Mazoezi huleta ufanisi ("Practice brings efficiency") |
| Swedish | Övning ger färdighet ("Practice makes skill") |
| Portuguese | A prática leva à perfeição ("Practice leads to perfection") |
| Urdu | (gāte gāte kalāvant ho jāte ha͠i) گاتے گاتے کلاونت ہو جاتے ہیں ("Singing for a very long time inspires the perfect sound") |
| Vietnamese | Có công mài sắt có ngày nên kim ("If you keep grinding the iron, one day you'll make a needle") |
| Welsh | Dyfal donc a dyr y garreg ("Persevere and the stone will break") |
Sources and translations of this idiom
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/practice_makes_perfect
https://indifferentlanguages.in/word/english/7c6ef3d/practice+makes+perfect
Information provided by Jacob Overgaard Madsen, Nguyễn Việt, Huy Ngo, Arne Milas, Toni Marc'h, Aamm Medmur, Royce Giovano Sutikno, Jyri Anttila, Omer Beer, Ujjwal Mandal, Rodien Perillo Feranco
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
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