Retaining and Confusing Languages (Lessons in Polyglottery) Language Learning Forum

Retaining and Confusing Languages
Tags: Forgetting a language \| Confusion/mixing up languages \| Alexander Arguelles \| Study Plan
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Language Learning Forum : Lessons in Polyglottery

9 messages over 2 pages: 1 2

ChiaBrain
Bilingual Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5590 days ago
402 posts - 512 votes

Speaks: English*, Spanish*
Studies: Portuguese, Italian, French
Studies: German

Message 9 of 9

31 January 2009 at 8:23am | IP Logged

Olekander wrote:

I had a rather more bizare encounter, well actually it is ongoing.
I find the more I learn in my foreign languages, the more I forget my mother tonuge. I
know this sounds ludicrous but I constantly find myself forgetting the more
complicated words in our language and have resorted to actually asking a foreigner to
helping me out. Now the reason I feel this happens is because I am constanty thinking
in french, and sometimes russian, but i'm still living in england.I still understand
the words when I hear them, but just simply can't reproduce them. Bizare.

There was a thread on here about this:

http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=7694&PN=0&TPN=1

which referenced this article on the topic:

http://www.scienced
aily.com/releases/2007/01/070118094015.htm

Basically the article says that you aren't actually forgetting your native language
but are in the habit of suppressing thoughts in it in order for you to think in the
languages you are acquiring. The posts in the thread on here seem to back this up.
According to the article it is far more pronounced when the languages you are trying
to learn are new to you. The good news is it sounds like you should be fine after a
day or two back in your native language.

Edited by ChiaBrain on 31 January 2009 at 8:34am

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