Tyrion101 Senior Member United States Joined 3923 days ago 153 posts - 174 votes Speaks: French
| Message 1 of 7 30 July 2015 at 1:23pm | IP Logged |
My French is not perfect, and I will refrain from saying I have a complete fluency in it for some time. I've noticed that when I am tired, my listening skills aren't there at all sometimes, and sometimes they are. Same goes with my reading skills. I could read/listen to something when tired, and it makes no sense at all, yet after I've given myself time to wake up, it makes perfect sense again. Is this normal? Is it simply a matter of not being completely familiar with the language? I'll highlight a page in a book to look it up later, only to find out I don't have to, and I know everything but a single word, that sort of thing.
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garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5217 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish
| Message 2 of 7 30 July 2015 at 1:48pm | IP Logged |
I've found tiredness to be one of many variables that affects my language ability on any given day, and like you say, not in a consistent way. Sometimes it clearly worsens my understanding and speaking but sometimes I manage quite well despite being tired. These sorts of ups and downs are common in the intermediate/advanced stage in my experience.
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kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4899 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish
| Message 3 of 7 31 July 2015 at 2:22am | IP Logged |
Totally normal.
I think this is one of the major factors for me too. Foreign languages take a lot of
mental energy, and I am much more alert when I'm rested. Reading is a bit easier for
me than actually speaking, but even then there are days where I struggle with a passage,
only to find that it's easy when I look at it again after a good nap!
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Hanuman Diglot Newbie Australia Joined 3584 days ago 3 posts - 4 votes Speaks: English*, Thai Studies: Russian, Japanese
| Message 4 of 7 31 July 2015 at 6:53am | IP Logged |
Absolutely.
I find myself staring at sentences all the time which would come to me easily if I wasn't tired. It happens in English as well, I could read a whole page of a book before I realize that I didn't actually digest any of it, just skimmed over it.
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Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5019 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian
| Message 5 of 7 31 July 2015 at 10:53am | IP Logged |
Of course it is normal. Just as it is normal not to run at the same speed every day, not to be in top form at every test, not to have mood for socializing every day...
I'd say the problem is not unfamiliarity, it is need for more practice. It should get better with more time spent on the language, more immersion. It has already worked for me a few times, there is no reason why it shouldn't work for you. ;-) Bon courage.
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ExRN Groupie United Kingdom Joined 3405 days ago 61 posts - 75 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Spanish Studies: Dutch
| Message 6 of 7 21 August 2015 at 7:31pm | IP Logged |
I have t1 diabetes and when blood is running high it makes me constantly tired and u can't focus on
language at all. Be it English or any foreign tongue. On the other end of the scale, when I hypo, my body
goes into fight or flight mode and boom, total clarity. I understand more than when I am at "normal" levels.
I believe it's linked to dopamine levels. Tiredness has a massive impact in the dopaminergic system. The
system linked with memory and learning.
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Paco Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 4287 days ago 145 posts - 251 votes Speaks: Cantonese*
| Message 7 of 7 27 August 2015 at 4:01pm | IP Logged |
On a good day I can pass for a Beijinger in front of Taiwanese; on an average day I speak
Mandarin like an average foreigner, sounding more like English than a tonal language. When I
attend Toastmasters Club meetings, I speak and listen without any problem; when I'm out in the
open, my friends have to keep repeating and I mess up the English tenses. What do you think?
Edited by Paco on 27 August 2015 at 4:02pm
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