3 ms·
Great article. It reminds me of when I was growing up. My parents would often speak to me in Korean. My (english speaking) friends would sometimes ask me "wh
by rmah 16y ago
Great article. It reminds me of when I was growing up. My parents would often speak to me in Korean. My (english speaking) friends would sometimes ask me "what did she say?" Strangely, though I understood clearly in my mind what my mother said, I could not translate what she said into English. I had to describe what she said instead. This friction never popped up in my head until I was explicitly asked to translate.
As Charlemagne is quoted in the article to say, "to have a second language is to have a second soul." In a weird way, that's true.
- Perceval 16y ago"I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse." —Charles V
- WildUtah 16y ago* My parents would often speak to me in Korean. My (english speaking) friends would sometimes ask me "what did she say?" Strangely, though I understood clearly in my mind what my mother said, I could not translate what she said into English.* I'm English-Spanish bilingual and I have the same problem. I can chat along in Spanish and then try to translate what was said into English but it doesn't work. I have to rethink it and say it all over again in English. Spanish and English are a lot closer than English and Korean. Since it happens in both pairs, it's probably a universal problem. Translating is a different skill from bilingualism.