Posted: Jan 09, 2012 7:28 pm
My first language was Polish, but since I was born and living in England, English sort of came by osmosis even though my parents spoke exclusively in Polish, as did virtually all their friends up until I was 4 or so when we moved to a small town without a "little Poland" concentration. I suppose my English was pretty fluent by the time I started school; at any rate, I don't remember having to actively learn it, and by the time I was about 10 (at which time we moved to the USA), English had become far more comfortable for me to speak, which did cause some friction at home. To this day (some 40 years later) my parents and I communicate with them speaking Polish to me, and me answering in English. My understanding of both languages is completely fluent, but my spoken Polish tends to limp along as I often can't dredge up the word I'm looking for. Of course, that happens more and more even in English these days!
In response to Scar/James/Spearthrower (previous post), I have always wondered why and how English became so much easier, and so much more appealing to me so rapidly when I was more or less equally exposed to both languages, and find it's hard to avoid the notion that it's simply a more attractive and more expressive language. Of course, the grammar is far simpler as well, but since I never had to "learn" Polish syntax, the argument that it was just too complicated is moot.
In response to Scar/James/Spearthrower (previous post), I have always wondered why and how English became so much easier, and so much more appealing to me so rapidly when I was more or less equally exposed to both languages, and find it's hard to avoid the notion that it's simply a more attractive and more expressive language. Of course, the grammar is far simpler as well, but since I never had to "learn" Polish syntax, the argument that it was just too complicated is moot.