What a great point! Regarding the internal language & how it is translated into a language just for you in your mind & then exported as a different language, I've never though about it that way.
I do believe it is possible if you are constantly surrounded by this new language & have that support & encouragement, especially when you make mistake.
Thanks for sharing & good luck :)
Ask HN: Do you think we, as adults, can become native in another language?
11–13 of 13 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you think we, as adults, can become native in another language?
#12I would recommend the book Fluent Forever for getting started with a language. 1) I think you can reach a really high level, IMO true fluency comes from being able to understand the cultural references and for a lack of a better word memes used in a languages culture 2) I used 'shadowing' to greatly improve my French accent, got lots of compliments from native French speakers on it. It helped alot
Thanks, devKnight! I'll take a look at the book. I totally agree about (1), and glad to know your experience with shadowing was helpful. How did you do it?
Shadowing is rather simple but highly effective.
The way i did it at least, involved ripping the audio from tv shows in French. And listening to them on my phone as i would music, while trying to say the characters lines with the same tonality, pronunciation etc etc.
The objective is to try and be as close as possible to the recording. You would use the same recording/s over and over again. To try and hit all the right notes when it comes to expressions and all that. This is a sort of dry run of having fluid conversations.
Do this, everyday for an amount of time that works for you say 20 minutes or so while taking a walk, or while working. It really helps, and to me somehow connected the words i "knew" but my brain never detected when someone said it in a tv show, movie, podcast, let alone a youtube video or something informal like that. Shadowing made things click for me not just in pronunciation but in listening.
Its weird to explain it, as you kinda have to go through it. Its a minimal task with lots of benefits.
Re: Ask HN: Do you think we, as adults, can become native in another language?
#13What a great point! Regarding the internal language & how it is translated into a language just for you in your mind & then exported as a different language, I've never though about it that way. I do believe it is possible if you are constantly surrounded by this new language & have that support & encouragement, especially when you make mistake. Thanks for sharing & good luck :)
Thanks, serverlessmom! Knowing that posting this was worthwhile for someone else made my day!
I "discovered" this some a few weeks ago while watching my co-founder sell very well. Afterwards, we were discussing it and I said, "man, you should see my brain when I'm programming, it's kind of amazing!" and then it dawned on me what was happening. A mixture of a visual language, with elements from both English and Brazilian Portuguese, and the abstract CS concepts.
When he sells, I'm sure he has his own internal language to do it. He doesn't think about objections, how to answer a specific question, etc. anymore. He just does it. It's kind of fascinating, and the universe is fascinating too. Learning every day!
I'm the one who has to thank you for sharing -- good luck too!