| Vom Thema belegte Seiten: < [1 2] | Forgetting one's first language? Initiator des Themas: Patricia Rosas
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Edward Vreeburg 
Niederlande
Local time: 03:44
Mitglied (2008)
Englisch > Niederländisch
+ ...
| one more example | Mar 12, 2007 |
(just to show that it's not even a Dutch thing, or a men-thing.
When my (ex)wife went to her first intensive 2 hour Dutch training course ( in Paris) and I picked her up from the trainstation, all she could speak was German for the first few minutes (and she was a French native)...!
so Yes (again), you can have troubles understading and speaking your own native language !
Ed
| | | | John Cutler
Spanien
Local time: 03:44
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
I’m absolutely certain that you can forget your own language. Two years might be a little soon to not know how to answer a simple question in your mother tongue, but I’ve lived in Spain now for 21 years, surrounded by Spanish and Catalan speakers and rarely talk with other native English speakers. I find myself struggling at times in conversations in English when I do have one. I feel a little like Rip Van Winkle. To combat the problem, I’ve started downloading documentaries, TV series and... See more I’m absolutely certain that you can forget your own language. Two years might be a little soon to not know how to answer a simple question in your mother tongue, but I’ve lived in Spain now for 21 years, surrounded by Spanish and Catalan speakers and rarely talk with other native English speakers. I find myself struggling at times in conversations in English when I do have one. I feel a little like Rip Van Winkle. To combat the problem, I’ve started downloading documentaries, TV series and movies in English so I can at least hear some English. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Buck
Niederlande
Local time: 03:44
Niederländisch > Englisch
| Mother tongue | Mar 12, 2007 |
Hi. When I first moved to the Netherlands (21 years) ago, I spoke no Dutch whatsoever. As I began to learn more and more Dutch, I would sometimes forget the English for things like hoover. It was very frustrating. These days, I sometimes can't think of the right word in English when translating, but maybe my brains are getting old!
| | | | Nicole Schnell
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 18:44
Englisch > Deutsch
+ ...
In stillem Gedenken
Charlie Bavington wrote:
not that the man has necessarily lost the ability to speak Cherokee, but that he has lost the ability to immediately understand it (he doesn't recognise the sounds as being Cherokee words), and that is why he doesn't reply.
And if he hasn't heard a word of Cherokee uttered for 2 years, then I could imagine that it might take his brain a few seconds to realise what it was hearing
A while ago I caught myself being silent for a second when a new German outsourcer contacted me on the phone (highly unusual due to the time difference). The unfamiliar voice, combined with a language that I never ever hear in my household - except when I am mumbling to myself or read translations aloud ) - I had to think twice about what the person just said. How embarrassing.
My husband doesn't speak German, I don't have access to German TV or radio. It just sounded so strange. Also, when I received the audio files for some translated videos for review recently, my first reaction was: "My, this speaker sounds weird.."
I think the author used this element to subtly dramatize the estrangement that happened during the two years of absence. Nice touch!
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Parrot
Spanien
Local time: 03:44
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
| A further complication | Mar 12, 2007 |
A Cherokee is a Native American. Assume that he is a standard American while also being a Cherokee (bilingualism with possible code-switching). If English, or at least English code-switching, is considered normal in Cherokee society, this can possibly put Cherokee as a mother language in a recessive position. (People from bilingual societies will understand this experience). It's not that one "forgets", but that it takes time to "relocate" a smaller subset that is "nested" in a larger social con... See more A Cherokee is a Native American. Assume that he is a standard American while also being a Cherokee (bilingualism with possible code-switching). If English, or at least English code-switching, is considered normal in Cherokee society, this can possibly put Cherokee as a mother language in a recessive position. (People from bilingual societies will understand this experience). It's not that one "forgets", but that it takes time to "relocate" a smaller subset that is "nested" in a larger social configuration. In fact, over time, that subset may acquire the characteristics of the greater entity -- a dramatic example for this is the Roma spoken by Spanish gypsies, which now considerably differs from the Roma of other gypsy groups. It has taken on the Spanish verb forms (conjugated as "-ar" verbs, following the "rule" on neologisms), indicating that Roma -- which provides the vocabulary -- is now recessive (the dominant language in bilingual code-switching environments is the one providing the "backbone" -- grammatical structure).
[Edited at 2007-03-12 19:36] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Patricia Rosas
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 19:44
Spanisch > Englisch
+ ...
THEMENSTARTER In stillem Gedenken | thank you, again, everyone! | Mar 12, 2007 |
Parrot wrote:
If English, or at least English code-switching, is considered normal in Cherokee society, this can possibly put Cherokee as a mother language in a recessive position. (People from bilingual societies will understand this experience). It's not that one "forgets", but that it takes time to "relocate" a smaller subset that is "nested" in a larger social configuration.
What Parrot writes here and in an earlier post is (I now understand) just what the author was trying to convey--the problems of being bilingual in a society where the mother tongue is from a culture that is subordinate to the "main" one. In the story, the character is struggling with his experiences as an "Indian" and those as an "American," trying to "find himself" in this dual world he inhabits.
Everyone's comments have been helpful and illuminating--thank you all, ProZers!
| | | | Benno Groeneveld
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 21:44
Englisch > Niederländisch
+ ...
| Now that I'm 60 | Mar 15, 2007 |
and have lived in the US for 30 years, keeping my native Dutch current by translating, writing and broadcasting in the language, I do find myself suddenly speaking Dutch to my wife (who doesn't understand the language). It feels perfectly normal to me, but she was startled.
Also, when writing an article I'm sometimes halfway the first sentence when I suddenly realize it should be in the "other" language.
| | | | lingomania
Local time: 12:44
Italienisch > Englisch
| I could never forget | Apr 18, 2007 |
I think I could NEVER forget my native mother-tongue!!
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