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") |
| 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 | 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") |
| 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") |
| Japanese | 習うより慣れよ (narau yori nareyo) ("from learning one becomes skilled") |
| Latin | Uses promptos facit ("use makes perfect") |
| Low Saxon | Doon dööt/deit leren ("Doing does teach") |
| Luxembourgish | Praxis mécht perfekt ("practice makes perfect") |
| Norwegian | Øvelse gjør mester ("practice makes a master") |
| Polish | Praktyka czyni mistrza ("practice makes a master") |
| Russian | Навык мастера ставит (Nabyk mastera stavit) ("skill makes mastery") |
| Spanish | La práctica hace al maestro ("practice makes the master") |
| Swedish | Övning ger färdighet ("practice makes skill / proficiency / competence") |
| Portuguese | A prática leva à perfeição ("practice leads to perfection") |
| 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") |
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
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