I never truly appreciated my mother tongue, until I moved to France and had to get by in a different language -one that wasn't even English!- at daily basis. IMO, if I look at things "objectively" (and I use quotation marks around the word, because of course, when you talk about things like taste, nothing can never be truly objective), I think French is one of the most beautiful languages in the world, and Spanish one of the coolest, but after having lived abroad, I really, truly find Swedish beautiful as well, in a way I suppose I wouldn't have, if it didn't mean as much to me as it does. The fact that words simply mean more to me in my mother tongue, than in any other language, automatically makes a good poem, or other type of lyric, more beautiful then I would find it in English, French or Spanish. But at the same time, badly written Swedish poems/song lyrics/dialogue also makes me cringe infinitely much more.
do you find differences in yourself from one language to another?
Yes. If you ever want to learn to really speak, and not only understand, a second language, you need to throw away all those ambitions you may have of always being eloquent and always finding the exact right word for every single thing. Of course, it depends on how big your knowledge in the language is, but you have to accept the fact that you'll, at times anyway, sound stupid, can't be as witty, will sometimes sound like a three-year-old, because the thing of main importance is to make yourself understood at all. So, if I speak any other language, I always throw my inhibitions aside and I don't have the same standards on myself, which can really be relieving. At the same time, it can of course also be frustrating, especially if you live in the other country for a longer time, because sometimes you just really miss being able to express yourself on the same terms as everybody else. I've never lived in an English speaking country, though I spoke it quite a lot in Spain, since I didn't know any Spanish when I first came, and therefore was forced to make my first friendships in English. I tried to switch language later, when I'd learned more Spanish, but it was incredibly hard, because the friendships were already established in English, and it was hard to get back, since obviously both me and the other person, spoke better English and Spanish, so while switching language would have been better for us, from the "I'm here to learn Spanish" perspective, it obviously wasn't from the "I want to get to know you better" perspective. It was different in France, because while I couldn't speak French when I came, I had quite a decent vocabulary, having studied it for six years in school, so I could basically try to speak it from the beginning, and it ended up being the language I always used (except with Swedes), whether I was communicating with Americans or Norwegians. It would be interesting to take another six months in Spain for this reason, because this time, I could begin with Spanish, and thus have the friendships established in that language from the beginning. It would be interesting to see how I'd feel if I ever moved to a English-speaking country as well, if I would feel the same level of frustration, or if it would soon pass. I don't think I ever felt inferior to my Irish and American friends in Spain, though it was their mother tongue, but that probably had a lot to do with the fact that there was another language there where I could feel a whole lot more inferior to everyone, so I think that if that were really THE language, I'd have just the same moments of frustration.
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I never truly appreciated my mother tongue, until I moved to France and had to get by in a different language -one that wasn't even English!- at daily basis. IMO, if I look at things "objectively" (and I use quotation marks around the word, because of course, when you talk about things like taste, nothing can never be truly objective), I think French is one of the most beautiful languages in the world, and Spanish one of the coolest, but after having lived abroad, I really, truly find Swedish beautiful as well, in a way I suppose I wouldn't have, if it didn't mean as much to me as it does. The fact that words simply mean more to me in my mother tongue, than in any other language, automatically makes a good poem, or other type of lyric, more beautiful then I would find it in English, French or Spanish. But at the same time, badly written Swedish poems/song lyrics/dialogue also makes me cringe infinitely much more.
do you find differences in yourself from one language to another?
Yes. If you ever want to learn to really speak, and not only understand, a second language, you need to throw away all those ambitions you may have of always being eloquent and always finding the exact right word for every single thing. Of course, it depends on how big your knowledge in the language is, but you have to accept the fact that you'll, at times anyway, sound stupid, can't be as witty, will sometimes sound like a three-year-old, because the thing of main importance is to make yourself understood at all. So, if I speak any other language, I always throw my inhibitions aside and I don't have the same standards on myself, which can really be relieving. At the same time, it can of course also be frustrating, especially if you live in the other country for a longer time, because sometimes you just really miss being able to express yourself on the same terms as everybody else. I've never lived in an English speaking country, though I spoke it quite a lot in Spain, since I didn't know any Spanish when I first came, and therefore was forced to make my first friendships in English. I tried to switch language later, when I'd learned more Spanish, but it was incredibly hard, because the friendships were already established in English, and it was hard to get back, since obviously both me and the other person, spoke better English and Spanish, so while switching language would have been better for us, from the "I'm here to learn Spanish" perspective, it obviously wasn't from the "I want to get to know you better" perspective. It was different in France, because while I couldn't speak French when I came, I had quite a decent vocabulary, having studied it for six years in school, so I could basically try to speak it from the beginning, and it ended up being the language I always used (except with Swedes), whether I was communicating with Americans or Norwegians. It would be interesting to take another six months in Spain for this reason, because this time, I could begin with Spanish, and thus have the friendships established in that language from the beginning. It would be interesting to see how I'd feel if I ever moved to a English-speaking country as well, if I would feel the same level of frustration, or if it would soon pass. I don't think I ever felt inferior to my Irish and American friends in Spain, though it was their mother tongue, but that probably had a lot to do with the fact that there was another language there where I could feel a whole lot more inferior to everyone, so I think that if that were really THE language, I'd have just the same moments of frustration.