Is it normal to forget native language

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11 Comments

Is it normal to forget your native language when trying to learn others?

English is my first language but I'm trying to learn 2 others, and I'm starting to notice that, well, I can't English anymore.

I'll be at work and my boss or anyone will talk to me, and I can barely understand them. It'll just take me longer to comprehend things. Does anyone else experience this or should I chill out and give my brain a vacation? Or just start with one at a time?

Voting Results
33% Normal
Based on 12 votes (4 yes)
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Comments ( 11 )
  • Boojum
    4 years ago

    https://www.fluentu.com/blog/learning-two-languages-at-once/

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    • AaaaaashtonKush
      4 years ago

      This was actually quite helpful, thank you!

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  • Phoebe2005
    4 years ago

    I wish I knew another language other than English lol and I failed my classes and I hate it (:

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    • AaaaaashtonKush
      4 years ago

      Duolingo is really good too it's what I use!

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    • bleedingdiarhea
      4 years ago

      Try esperanto. It's incredibly easy to learn and if you arent fluent in 6 months you arent trying.

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  • AaaaaashtonKush
    4 years ago

    Yikes I didnt expect this to be so abnormal 😅

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  • RoseIsabella
    4 years ago

    I don't know about all of that, but when my mom had her hysterectomy probably over thirty years ago I remember visiting her in her hospital room with my father, and sister, and my mom could only speak in English. My mom is originally from Colombia, and her native language is Spanish, she's bilingual, and fluent in English. I don't know why my mom could only speak English when she first came out of surgery, but she's been in the United States for over 53 years, and the language that she speaks the most since my sister I have come along is probably English. My sister, and I can probably kinda understand some Spanish, but really we only speak English.

    I did study German in high school, and a little bit in college, but don't get a lot of opportunities to practice it. I feel on some level that it might be safer to travel to Colombia these days than it might be to go to Germany, or England. Maybe I'm wrong, but I dunno.

    Anyway, is it just me, or are cat farts potent, yet fleeting, and ephemeral?

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    • Boojum
      4 years ago

      I think what happened with your mother wasn't that unusual. I've heard of people forgetting their native tongue and only being able to use the most recently learned language when under the influence of drugs and after brain injury.

      I read a few months ago about an English-speaking woman who suffered a stroke and woke up only able to speak French, which was very weird, since her last exposure to the language was about thirty years before in the UK equivalent of US high school. My recollection of the details is hazy, but I think it took her months to get back to speaking English fluently.

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      • McBean
        4 years ago

        During the last weeks of a summer long business assignment in Madrid, Spain, I started to forget how English sounded. Reading was no problem. I could speak English fine, but not very clearly. Fortunately, the problem was easy to fix by watching BBC news from London on television every night. The international edition news anchor spoke in a neutral way that was equally clear for both North American, and European listeners.

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      • RoseIsabella
        4 years ago

        Thanks! 🙂👍🏻

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    • AaaaaashtonKush
      4 years ago

      Ya got me in the first half not gonna lie

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