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- Seen Nov 23, 2023
This was a thought that popped into my head for a while, I only recently brought it up again with my friends. Nica especially wanted me to make this thread. :)
I know that there are plenty of people out there who know more than one tongue. I admire you all greatly, because that is still something I'm trying to work upon and am getting there through baby steps.
However, there is something I've wondered for a while, especially amongst people who have learned English as a second language. Having learned another tongue along with the one you were first taught, perhaps becoming fluent as you continue to develop your speaking skills, what does that say about your thought process? Are you able to speak fluently in English or another language, yet at the same time you think in a language remotely different to the one you most frequently speak?
I know several friends. One of them is Asian, another is Spanish, another is Italian and one more is Greek. They're friends from college. My asian friend is Pakistani, and had English thrust upon them once having moved to the UK to live with their family. After several years, it's come to the point where they've started speaking AND thinking in English more than they do their native language. Whereas my other friends, whom are Spanish, Italian and Greek, all became accustomed to the English language in similar fashions yet stay true to their native languages when they think to themselves.
Let me ask you this question, which of these scenarios apply to you? If you've learned more than one language, do you think and contemplate in your native language, or any secondary languages? Do you perhaps alternate between both and somehow manage to rotate them at your own discretion?
Incidentally, this doesn't only apply to those who know more than one language. As an English speaker, you must at least know English to a good extent. If you were to learn another language, would you ever see yourself becoming more accustomed to that language rather than the one you've used for a very long time? Even to the point where you may start thinking in that language rather than in English?
I'd love to hear your input.
I know that there are plenty of people out there who know more than one tongue. I admire you all greatly, because that is still something I'm trying to work upon and am getting there through baby steps.
However, there is something I've wondered for a while, especially amongst people who have learned English as a second language. Having learned another tongue along with the one you were first taught, perhaps becoming fluent as you continue to develop your speaking skills, what does that say about your thought process? Are you able to speak fluently in English or another language, yet at the same time you think in a language remotely different to the one you most frequently speak?
I know several friends. One of them is Asian, another is Spanish, another is Italian and one more is Greek. They're friends from college. My asian friend is Pakistani, and had English thrust upon them once having moved to the UK to live with their family. After several years, it's come to the point where they've started speaking AND thinking in English more than they do their native language. Whereas my other friends, whom are Spanish, Italian and Greek, all became accustomed to the English language in similar fashions yet stay true to their native languages when they think to themselves.
Let me ask you this question, which of these scenarios apply to you? If you've learned more than one language, do you think and contemplate in your native language, or any secondary languages? Do you perhaps alternate between both and somehow manage to rotate them at your own discretion?
Incidentally, this doesn't only apply to those who know more than one language. As an English speaker, you must at least know English to a good extent. If you were to learn another language, would you ever see yourself becoming more accustomed to that language rather than the one you've used for a very long time? Even to the point where you may start thinking in that language rather than in English?
I'd love to hear your input.