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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| languagefreak Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5057 days ago 51 posts - 52 votes  Speaks: Russian, English* Studies: German | Message 1 of 9 19 January 2011 at 7:39am | IP Logged |
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So, I may sound silly asking this question, but I want to know. I think the term fluent is a bit too general and
doesn't really describe what I am about to describe. Is there a name for when you find meaning in a word, or at least the word doesn't sound "foreign," when you hear it, without having to think about it? Let me describe it, because I know that that wasn't a very good question, but I know no other way to ask it. So, I took Spanish for a few years in high school, so I got decently good at it. However, when I heard even simple words, like sí, it didn't sound "familiar" to me, it sounded "foreign." Even if I didn't really need to think about the meaning of sí, it still was somewhat foreign. However, if I hear a russian word or English word, even if I don't know what it means, it doesn't sound "foreign" to me. So, even if you have a terrible vocabulary in a language (perhaps if you haven't spoken it in many years or something), words can still have meaning and the language can still sound "familiar" to you when you hear it. So, is there a name for this, or is it just characterized as "fluent?" 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| CheeseInsider Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4932 days ago 193 posts - 238 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin* Studies: French, German | Message 2 of 9 21 January 2011 at 8:41am | IP Logged |
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? I'm sorry I don't think I understand your question...
Maybe try rewording it and you'll get your answer. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6392 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 3 of 9 21 January 2011 at 10:20am | IP Logged |
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I think I know what you're referring to. In my mind I've called that the point where what you're studying "becomes a language" in your brain. Like, until then it's facts and rules and structures, but it's not a language. You may have internalized and automatized some of those facts and rules, but that's still what they are. But at some point, after a certain amount of study, your brain accepts it as a language.
And that point is glorious. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Yurk Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5540 days ago 29 posts - 37 votes Speaks: English*, Russian, Azerbaijani Studies: Modern Hebrew, Sign Language, Korean, Spanish, Indonesian, Irish Studies: French | Message 4 of 9 21 January 2011 at 6:28pm | IP Logged |
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A specific word? Perception? Awareness? Cognition?
I don't think you're going to find an English word to specifically suit this situation, if that's what you're after. Ari's answer sounds as close as you'll get. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ratis Hexaglot Newbie Germany Joined 4913 days ago 28 posts - 43 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin Studies: Czech, Japanese Studies: Hindi | Message 5 of 9 22 January 2011 at 1:40am | IP Logged |
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If I tried to explain it to a friend, I think I would use the term "natural", like
hearing or reading the language "has become natural to me". 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6360 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 6 of 9 22 January 2011 at 2:03am | IP Logged |
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Two phrases come to mind.
1) having an ear for the language 2) being tuned into the language 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| danieldesu Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5486 days ago 15 posts - 29 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 7 of 9 22 January 2011 at 4:19am | IP Logged |
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I'm going to throw this out there:
Foreign language assimilated acclimation phenomenon 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| languagefreak Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5057 days ago 51 posts - 52 votes Speaks: Russian, English* Studies: German | Message 8 of 9 01 February 2011 at 4:58am | IP Logged |
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Perhaps I didn't describe it too well, but I didn't really know how to describe it better. I think people generally
understood what I was after, and I think Ari explained it fairly well for those who didn't. So, I guess there just isn't a word for it, just a bunch of different explanations. So, now I have a question that I know people on these boards don't like, but I think its not that bad of a question. I am currently studying German, at a pretty intensive pace. My University has an intensive language program where you are in class for 8 hours a week and classes are mostly German, so its like a semi immersion type program. There are 2 semesters, and people come out of the second one speaking pretty darn well. Would you guys think it would be possible to "get an ear for German" (as discussed above) if I did 2 semesters of this intensive language program and a semester (3-4 months) in Germany? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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