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I have gone the other way, I am a native british english speaker learning another language. I had learning difficulties when I was a kid, which meant that my r
by KaiserPro 5y ago
I have gone the other way, I am a native british english speaker learning another language.
I had learning difficulties when I was a kid, which meant that my reading was slow (its not now) but my spelling was utterly shite(it is still)
When the first child was born, I decided that when I was bathing them I would learn a new language. I can read and write dutch slowly now, at the level of a 6-8 year old. I don't speak it very well.
however when it came time to teach my child to read, I realised just how much of a cunt english is.
* spelling: there are no rules. I just thought it was me being dense.(I before E, except after C, apart from these 1500 corner cases in the most common 10k words. )
* Pronunciation: some words are greek, others latin, french, germanish, some anglo saxon. None of them have rules.
* Syntax: its not german.
* fuck me there are loads of words
* Idioms are not universal.
On the point of introvert/extrovert, I very much agree. I am able to be who I am in English, because I know I can react, change tact and update my responses in real time to match the "social impedance". I have a very fine grained, real time control over the cheeky/formal - funny/sombre - flirty/impassive axes (and much more).
In a second language, I have to plan far more, which means I'm committed or silent.
- chii 5y ago> * Idioms are not universal. if you think idioms are bad, try cockney rhymes (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/09/guide-to-cockney-rhyming-slang https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/09/guide-to-c...)
- KaiserPro 5y agoAlas cockney is one of those things that died just after WWII. I grew up in a rural county, which _had_ a rich tradition of both hyper local words and idioms. I used to be able to place someone in a sentence to within 5 miles of where they grew up. ( I can't do that now, I've been away too long)
- cafard 5y agoHow can an idiom be universal? I teach ESL as a volunteer, and I do have deep sympathy for students--mostly native speakers of Spanish--who have to deal with irregular verbs and English pronunciation/spelling.
- KaiserPro 5y agowell that the thing, as someone who exists in an almost exclusively english speaking world, you simply don't realise that "mad as a box of frogs" doesn't translate.