Languages

I've always had an affinity for languages, either as a trait passed on from my mother or simply from a desire to be more like her. Additionally, I was lucky to have an international name, which helps if indeed used as described in a 2005 study.

• • studied in school continuously starting grade V-VI: French, German

  • studied for 2-3 years in school: Latin

  • learned with the help of British Council in my teenage years, native speaker level in TOEFL on arrival in Canada: English

  • almost fluent, learned 2015: Spanish

  • playing with Duolingo since 2015: Russian, Swedish, Norwegian and also with Lingodeer, Drops since 2018: Japanese, Chinese; the latter is a good complement to the former even though less involved

  • sign language - I have been thinking about learning it (ASL) but have yet to fully start; here's a few YouTube resources.

    1. Bill Vicars channel playlists: 1, 2, 3, 4

    2. 25 basic (4min), 100 first (25min)

    3. slow alphabet (15 min)

    4. beginners (10 min)

    5. sign language 101 channel (10 videos of about 15-20 min each)

There is a general assumption among most people that once you learn a language, you cannot unlearn it. I've found that without practice I seem to forget even the earlier-learned languages. Additionally, even managing to keep all the languages I learned fresh in my mind, occasional scrambling may occur (i.e., you try to say a word in a language and it comes to you in another, or it takes much longer than to an unilingual; other times, you make up words (that surely exist, but in another language, not the one you're speaking) or you use them according to rules from another language.

I've discovered that such effects were most pronounced after I hit my head (concussion). There is extensive scholarship suggesting that this does not happen only to myself.

• • Switching between languages is quite complex and alters personality - 2008, Chicago (see also Sapir-Whorf or linguistic relativity) and easier at the right times; babies can tell through visual cues when speakers switch languages and associate them to ethnicities

  • Kids don't learn new words from TV, only from people, esp their peers, whether preschoolers or infants, so don't substitute apps for yourself & use their interests); see also forest vs trees study; can start from preschool, preferably with supportive teachers; there's a limit and they're greatly encouraged by active listening

  • Kids raised bilingual are more likely to stutter and learn slower, almost 2x (though that can be ameliorated, unless phonological)

• • Having a more complex native language (e.g., Russian; Mandarin was also used) gives an advantage to learning new languages

  • First language attrition: learning a new one makes you forget the old one

  • It's easier to persuade in one's native language

  • Stuttering was associated with an overactive area of the brain and reduced blood flow to another

  • Though it was traditionally thought that language belongs to the left side, the right side is actually involved with learning sounds

Studying languages improves your brain, it's fun and it's what I do (or try to do) these days instead of playing games!

Some quick learning tips: US Military DLI, Mormons, Jp.

The following pages tell the story of my love affairs with various languages, which I'm also encouraging you to have, not in the least because it makes your accent lighter!

Andrei's Languages page is part of the Zodian family site.