Is it normal to speak in a language that isn't your mothertongue?

85% Normal
10 Comments

Hello, I've been wondering why it's not my mothertongue that I think in, or have my dreams in or be able make jokes in.

See, my sister and I learned English by ourselves when we were preteens. Reading, watching tv, songs etc. and I think it went a little too far and we don't really speak in our mothertongue in the company of each other, because it's harder and sounds more foreign to us. With my friends I find it hard to make jokes or sometimes even carry out a decent conversation in my own language because I have a hard time trying to translate it in my head from English. But it would be too weird to tell them this because it'd be awkward and they might not understand at all.

I'm 21 and it's been going on for years and getting worse. I hate having culture shock in my own language and own country and I'm really not interested in it. I just happen to have a knack for learning languages and it's always been my best class. I just want to move out and live in the US because I'll be able to blend in. And it's not like there was someone to influence me to be this way, no English-speaking relatives or friends. I've never been to US or UK... All my entertainment sources are english and it's really troubling that I can't/don't want to fit into my culture.

Help, please. Is this normal? What do you reckon I should do?

Voting Results
85% Normal
Based on 41 votes (35 yes)
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Comments ( 10 )
  • dappled
    13 years ago

    That must be really difficult to deal with. Although I'm reasonably fluent in other languages, I only think in those languages for very simple words like dog, car and bath. For words like hedgerow, lightning conductor and ambivalence, I think in English and then do a mental lookup of the word (if I know it).

    It must be harder for you because you've pretty much always had two competing languages.

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  • xxxbeautifullybrokenxxx
    13 years ago

    Well what is your native language???

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  • f.lovely
    13 years ago

    yea my first language is russian but same here i have a knack for languages and i was foreign to the rest of the class from my first day of learning it,my pronunciation was always very intuitive and unusually good,i felt i wanted to jump into an english-speaking reallity and be there and think like that,and i did it and never looked back,it was meant to be;) not that i dont like russian,i loved reading before,i read lots of books,i had favourite authors,but once i've met english language it was a love at the first word lol i guess a foreign language gives me the sense of being in reality i have built on my own,a bit like living a fantasy or a dream or alternate reality but still be here,i love it,dont hold back,but yea your're sure a show off and a weirdo to the rest of the clan,you're not the one of the clan lol dont worrry,if its cool for you then its cool!lena

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  • NothingRecognizable
    13 years ago

    I mix English and my mother toungue (Crotian) a lot, especially when I'm thinking... When I really need to focus on something i usually switch to English... I don't know why but i guess it's fairly normal.

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  • DannyKanes
    13 years ago

    Sometimes I mix all the languages I know together. So sometimes it'll be English, mixed with French and German. Or Italian, mixed with Slovak and Russian :-D

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  • [Old Memory]
    13 years ago

    I sometimes speak in Spanish for the hell of it but never in public or anything. I just figure it's a good way to practice. I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much.

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  • noone21
    13 years ago

    i think its normal. i dont speak my motherlanguage all the time. i learned german in school and i talk in german with my friends and also listen to german songs. its normal

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  • sydna100
    13 years ago

    Sure it's perfectly normal. I an totally relate to that.

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  • alv1592
    13 years ago

    haha, u said mother tongue.

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  • alessa
    13 years ago

    Thank you for all your comments, very much appreciated :)

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