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Losing Samoan | ||
Tags: Forgetting a language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| sfuqua Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4765 days ago 581 posts - 977 votes  Speaks: English*, Hawaiian, Tagalog Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 9 10 December 2013 at 12:23am | IP Logged | ||
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I learned Samoan up to a C2 level, according to the FSI CEFR equivalency scales. I lived in Samoa and spoke Samoan pretty much full time for 6 years. Since I left Samoa in 1982, I spoke the language infrequently for a couple of years in Hawaii, and then I haven't spoken it more than 10 times. I know for a fact that I haven't had a real conversation in it for the past 12 years. I haven't read a book in it; I haven't watched a movie in it.
Last week, I realized that I was talking to a native speaker of Samoan, and we talked for a half hour or so in Samoan. I thought people might be interested about how much remains of a language after so long with so little practice... I would say that my comprehension is at least 90% of what it was when I used Samoan regularly. I missed a couple of words, but they were new words, technical education terms, adopted into Samoan since I was using it. My general understanding seemed to be pretty intact, and I suspect that it would only take a few hours to get back to full speed. My speech was more of a mixed bag. I kept getting interference from Tagalog and Spanish, two languages that I have learned since I stopped using Samoan regularly. If I concentrated, this was not too hard to stop, but I definitely had to use more effort than I did "back in the day." My impression here was that it might take a few days to get back into the swing on things. I stumble over a couple of grammatical points that should have been easy, but the big problem was interference, saying things like, "No lo quiero." instead of "Ou te le fiafia i ai." All in all, I was pretty pleased. Most of Samoan is still in my head somewhere; getting so I can access and use it fluently would take a little effort. I wish Samoan was more of a world language so I could use it more. So if you ever wondered what is left of a language you used to speak, my guess is that there is probably a lot left of it. 13 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Tollpatchig Senior Member United States Joined 4007 days ago 161 posts - 210 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Maltese | Message 2 of 9 10 December 2013 at 12:37am | IP Logged | ||
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Do you experience interference when you speak English to other people? I find that German likes to try to infiltrate my brain and sometimes I have to catch myself from saying something in German to someone. I also find that sometimes I've started thinking in German with English words spliced in when I don't know the German equivalent.
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| Astrophel Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5732 days ago 157 posts - 345 votes Speaks: English*, Latin, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Cantonese, Polish, Sanskrit, Cherokee | Message 3 of 9 10 December 2013 at 8:20am | IP Logged | ||
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I find it's that way even with languages you only know a little of, as long as the context was meaningful. I
learned a few phrases of Tigrinya and Malayalam about 5 years ago from native speakers and haven't used it since, but I still remember it. I believe this is because I was engaged at the time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sarnek Diglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4215 days ago 308 posts - 414 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: German, Swedish | Message 4 of 9 10 December 2013 at 11:43am | IP Logged | ||
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Yep. My father lived in Germany for over 20 years and he spoke it fluently. We had a
conversation in German a couple of weeks ago and I was impressed that still, after 15 years or so of not practicing the language at all, he was still able to communicate fluently without thinking about the words to use for too long and he made almost no grammatical mistakes. That's the only language my father knows, though (except Italian, ofc), but I'm not sure interference with other languages would be the case for everyone, especially if one learns the language when one is "young" (my father was 18 when he moved to Germany). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sfuqua Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4765 days ago 581 posts - 977 votes Speaks: English*, Hawaiian, Tagalog Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 9 10 December 2013 at 9:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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I never have any interference with my native language, or at least the smallest bit. I sometimes say things in the wrong language, but that's when I'm not paying attention to whom I'm talking to.
I experience tons of interference between Tagalog and Spanish. Many words are shared by the language, and it's easy to forget which are only in one language. I also have Spanish grammar showing up in my Spanish from time to time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5783 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 6 of 9 10 December 2013 at 10:12pm | IP Logged | ||
My Spanish is a bit like that too. 
3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| sfuqua Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4765 days ago 581 posts - 977 votes Speaks: English*, Hawaiian, Tagalog Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 9 10 December 2013 at 10:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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I also have Spanish grammar showing up in my Spanish from time to time.
Not what I meant to say, but it's really better this way... :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4665 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 8 of 9 10 December 2013 at 11:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've never had *grammatical* interference from French to English, at least that I've
noticed, but there have been times when a French expression comes readily to mind and I have to "search" for the English equivalent, or when I use an English word in a "French" way (for example, asking my wife how her "voyage" went). Edited by tastyonions on 10 December 2013 at 11:58pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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