Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
being bilingual is utterly mundane for something like half the people on this planet and yet it is a mind-opening thing that's like… hard to communicate to people who literally have only ever spoken one language in their lives
2 replies
multi
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
@hikari i keep on getting hit by this one any time one of my monolingual relatives asks me "so how's your german coming on?" as if this question is in any way well formed and makes any sense
Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
(replying to multi)
@timezone because they don't know you work a german-speaking job?
multi
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
@hikari nah, they know that. it's more that they don't really understand how one lives and breathes a second language when you're properly immersed, and that on the continent speaking more than one language is really nowhere near as remarkable as it is in the uk
Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
(replying to multi)
@timezone oh, yeah. it was like that for me with swedish, beyond a certain point it learns itself and i didn't have a reason to touch any study materials
Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
@timezone i just read and watch the news. i never put any specific effort whatsoever into learning the language of political discourse, it comes automatically from reading about politics
Kahanis
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
no, you don't know everything if you only speak one language! no, you won't get it through translation alone! it's one of those things that you have to experience to fully understand i think. i guess there might be some incredibly open-minded monolinguals out there but
1 replies
Cat!
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
@hikari I want to say all translation is approximation, but I feel like that's not so much strictly true as it is a useful thing to assume.
Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
can you understand how nebulous all concepts are when you've only had to learn them once?
Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
anyway that's how i paid off the original sin of being born briti— i mean what
Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
i think this is what cow tools was about
1 replies
hypergirls on a quest
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
@hikari speaking of nebulous concepts, I think people here are more likely to use a word like bilingual to refer to languages of childhood, which in turns is also nebulous bc there may be mostly only one of these and the other one is from a bit later
Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
(replying to hypergirls on a quest)
@calotriton oh yeah. as i kind of hint at here, i grew up monolingual, and started learning other languages in my teen years
Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many)
(replying to Kanbaru 🌟 (one hikari of too many))
oh, you may also find that a different language draws out a different side of your personality. i definitely gravitate to different languages depending on my mood which is interesting