The Language Barrier (1)

[franceslievens]

One thing that restricts my blogging experience and internet communication skills, is the language barrier. It's a common frustration for English bloggers who don't use that language in their real lives. Your writing slows down: The train of thought that seemed so fluent in your head, doesn't come out of your fingers as easily as it would in your mothertongue, because half of the thoughts were actualy in your mothertongue. Unknowingly, you'd been translating all along.
A lot of thinking happens on a level that doesn't use any language at all. Or uses a language that's unconsciously yours – that precedes the realisation you're using language, and the restrictions its grammar, vocabulary, and logic imposes on you. Here are two simple thoughts out of a heap of ideas. One: Using a foreign language demands you start using a different logic for your ideas. You can't translate everything you can say in your mother tongue. Two is related to one: The knowledge of the other language is always insufficient. This means you have to find ways to bend the logic of it to your liking, without becoming gibberish. You start imposing the rules you know on the language you've learned and are using.

Most of all changing languages is tiresome. When visiting frenchani in Paris it wasn't the weather and the long walks that wore me out, but the constant use of French. The other language becomes a cage that doesn't let you say the things exactly the way you want them to be expressed.

Comments

[forgiveninasong.livejournal.com]

I can totally relate to this.

It's what I found most frustrating about working in Germany for a year. It was that I had all these opinions and thoughts, yet trying to express them was so difficult because I didn't have the extensive vocabulary, I always seemed to end up using the same words to describe how I was feeling or something. I was often concerned that I sounded stupid in what I was trying to say.

I had so many thoughts and yet I wasn't able to express them the way I wanted to. Luckilly, the people I worked with, especially in the latter part of my working, were understanding and would give me time to speak and would help me with what I was trying to say.

Also, especially because English and German have such different language structures, it was hard to try and remember what I was trying to say!

xxx

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

What frustrated me most was that I actualy got by pretty well with Chani, but then when we met up with our friend S. I suddenly was left behind, because Chani and her would talk at a faster pace. And then you find yourself zoning out and not paying much attention to what they are saying, as if their conversation is too difficult for you. But it isn't, it simply asks too much concentration.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

I soooo relate!

Imagine me in the States in July/August 2004! I spent 3 weeks over there and my English wasn't near as good as it is now. I was exhausted.

Sorry for tiring you out...

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Not a problem. I actualy have the same thing with English -- even though it's better than my French. I just get very very tired talking it all the time, because I am translating.

These were just some things I've been mulling over. I want to write more about it, but right now I've forgotten which pieces of the puzzle I didn't write down yet...

[comava.livejournal.com]

I agree, I find it difficult to get down the meaning of what I want to say in English. Even though it's technically my mother tongue, I haven't actively used it in so long that I think my German is probably better. But I have trouble with both of them, I think.

I can only imagine how exhausting that must have been, considering your French is much, much better than mine!

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

My friend has a francophone gf, who lives in Paris. His French is much much better than mine (he really has a nack for languages) and even he finds it difficult to truly say what he means in another language. It's from him I got the idea of the cage btw.

[comava.livejournal.com]

A cage is a fitting way of putting it, IMO. My sister has the exact same problem - her bf is from the Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and though she is very fluent she admits that she sometimes has trouble finding the right words, especially in stressful situations... which can lead to a lot of confusion and complications.

I still envy her though, I can only consider myself fluent in two langages, and ideally I would like to know Spanish and Latin well also.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I also envy my friend. I'm fluent in English, but not as fluent as would like. My French is passable. But whenever I hear him speak, he just seems so confident and comfortable in that other language. So I was surprised when his experience with his gf totaly matched mine with Chani.

But in French I even have trouble with the standard conversations, so I'm not even trying to say something a bit more deep.

My Latin has been gone for years now. I've never been that good at it. Maybe because I hated learning all that vocabulary by heart. I did like doing Latin though...