I genuinely hate how English is becoming a sort of de facto global language. Just more cultural imperialism. But it's very nice to be able to communicate with comrades from around the world, it might be my favorite aspect of this site. So I do appreciate you all taking effort to think something in your native language, translate it in your head, then type it up in English. Hopefully in FALGSC we'll get our universal translators, too.

For real, learning languages is hard. I had 2 years of Spanish in high school and didn't do too well, something in my brain just didn't click. But maybe you need to use another language a lot to really learn it? I lived in Germany for just two months and by the end I found myself kinda picking up things.

:soviet-heart:

  • Awoo [she/her]
    ·
    3 years ago

    think something in your native language, translate it in your head, then type it up in English

    When I speak in Japanese on Japanese sites I actually think in Japanese too. There isn't a translation process of English thought to Japanese speech.

      • Awoo [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Right that's what I was getting at. When we use second languages we don't think in our original language then convert it we just think and speak in the other language. I often say speaking in Japanese often makes me feel stupid at times because sometimes not having the right words also means not having the right thoughts too, this makes my thoughts feel somewhat child-like and lower in the usual level of what I can produce in terms of thought because I just don't have the right words for some thoughts in that language. It gets very frustrating sometimes and that's when the English comes back.

          • Awoo [she/her]
            ·
            3 years ago

            This discussion just made me realise this raises the importance of reading and expanding vocabulary because the expanded vocabulary is absolutely vital to our thoughts. I should probably have already understood this but for one reason or another it only just clicked for me.

    • TraschcanOfIdeology [they/them, comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I was about to say this. I'm learning a new language now, and translating in my head is exhausting. I just want to think in it, damn it. But English? i don't even notice i'm thinking in English.

    • Trouble [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Yeah, I don't even speak any other languages fluently and I know this lmao