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I spent nearly 4 years in a country and barely learnt a thing, everything I knew was from online courses or internet forums. Even then people still respond to

I spent nearly 4 years in a country and barely learnt a thing, everything I knew was from online courses or internet forums. Even then people still respond to me in English and having a conversation was incredibly hard without paying someone for tutoring, I'd seek out very old shopkeepers to practice some brief interactions but that only gets you so far. Exposure is nowhere near enough to learn.

smeej 3y ago
I guess maybe I have more facility than I thought. I only spent a month in France, but could do basic things like order food, give directions, or follow a basic friendly conversation, even if I got by with incorrectly conjugated verbs and hand gestures. In Germany, it was less than two weeks and I could pick up the flow of the sentences even if I still lacked almost all the vocabulary. I assume it would take longer somewhere with a totally different language structure, like if you dropped me off in Japan, never mind another planet, but 50 years? After at most a year, I'd have to resign myself to, "I guess I just live here now," and get to work.
- Grimburger 3y ago
  I have enough to get by with the basics, but that took concerted effort on my part rather than simply being around it a lot. Nearly everyone would see me as an opportunity to practice English rather than speak in their native tongue, people would switch from one language to the next and not skip a beat to greet me in English. If everyone in Japan spoke English as a second language you might have a harder time than you think at working on it.
  - smeej 3y ago
    I didn't say simply being around it a lot would pick it up automatically, but you're not the only person to read that into my original post. Within the first week, I'd be paying close attention to everything people around me said, listening for patterns. Within a month, I would at least be trying to talk to them, albeit probably terribly. A situation like yours where most people will speak to you in your native language is totally different than one where nobody does for 50 years. If you don't make learning the language they are speaking a high priority sometime in that span, that's not all on them.
    - Grimburger 3y ago
      To quote: > I could learn to speak a language from another planet if I were immersed in it. Maybe others and I misinterpreted but it very much came across as "I would learn it simply by being there"
      - smeej 3y ago
        Oh, I see how it could read that way. I meant it in juxtaposition to a situation where I was not immersed in it, like if they had an easy way to make things accessible to me in my own language instead. If my only options were "learn this new-to-me language" and "never speak to anybody again" because I was immersed in the new language, I could learn it. It wouldn't happen automatically, but I could do it. And over 50 years, I can't imagine not doing it. It would be my very top priority after meeting my physical needs well enough to stay alive.
zer0tonin 3y ago
> Even then people still respond to me in English Netherlands?
acuozzo 3y ago
Sweden?

smeej 3y ago

I guess maybe I have more facility than I thought. I only spent a month in France, but could do basic things like order food, give directions, or follow a basic friendly conversation, even if I got by with incorrectly conjugated verbs and hand gestures. In Germany, it was less than two weeks and I could pick up the flow of the sentences even if I still lacked almost all the vocabulary. I assume it would take longer somewhere with a totally different language structure, like if you dropped me off in Japan, never mind another planet, but 50 years? After at most a year, I'd have to resign myself to, "I guess I just live here now," and get to work.

Grimburger 3y ago
I have enough to get by with the basics, but that took concerted effort on my part rather than simply being around it a lot. Nearly everyone would see me as an opportunity to practice English rather than speak in their native tongue, people would switch from one language to the next and not skip a beat to greet me in English. If everyone in Japan spoke English as a second language you might have a harder time than you think at working on it.
- smeej 3y ago
  I didn't say simply being around it a lot would pick it up automatically, but you're not the only person to read that into my original post. Within the first week, I'd be paying close attention to everything people around me said, listening for patterns. Within a month, I would at least be trying to talk to them, albeit probably terribly. A situation like yours where most people will speak to you in your native language is totally different than one where nobody does for 50 years. If you don't make learning the language they are speaking a high priority sometime in that span, that's not all on them.
  - Grimburger 3y ago
    To quote: > I could learn to speak a language from another planet if I were immersed in it. Maybe others and I misinterpreted but it very much came across as "I would learn it simply by being there"
    - smeej 3y ago
      Oh, I see how it could read that way. I meant it in juxtaposition to a situation where I was not immersed in it, like if they had an easy way to make things accessible to me in my own language instead. If my only options were "learn this new-to-me language" and "never speak to anybody again" because I was immersed in the new language, I could learn it. It wouldn't happen automatically, but I could do it. And over 50 years, I can't imagine not doing it. It would be my very top priority after meeting my physical needs well enough to stay alive.

zer0tonin 3y ago

> Even then people still respond to me in English Netherlands?

acuozzo 3y ago

Sweden?