Posted: Feb 19, 2011 9:09 am
There's something that's been bothering me for a while and I would love some insights into it from a scientific point of view and from that of fellow non-native speakers.
The thing is, I am German and my mother tongue and the language I use in everyday life obviously is German. English is my second most used language and also the only other language I have a good grasp of (I did have French in school, but I never got into it and have since lost most of it).
I actually got most of my English skills not at school, but on the Internet through posting on forums like this, or in chat-rooms and while playing online games.
Now, for some reason, I like English much better than German and in fact catch myself thinking in English regularly, even when not on the Internet. I even catch myself on a regular basis being unable to express something in German, but having no problem doing so in English, or being unable to find the proper German word for something in English, although I am sure I know it (it's like you know something must be in a dictionary but you just can't find the page).
It's rather weird really. I at times even think my grasp of German is getting worse, increasingly finding myself in situations when I have to stop and think for a moment because I just can't find a way to express something properly, which makes me feel awkward in conversations. That never happens in English (except for when I genuinely lack a word. Even then, I find it easier to get around that problem by just describing what I mean than I would in German). I could swear I was more sophisticated in my mother tongue a few years ago. I am by the way not one of these geeky Internet guys without real life friends or other social contacts (so I am not just missing practise in German).
Is that some sort of known phenomenon?
The thing is, I am German and my mother tongue and the language I use in everyday life obviously is German. English is my second most used language and also the only other language I have a good grasp of (I did have French in school, but I never got into it and have since lost most of it).
I actually got most of my English skills not at school, but on the Internet through posting on forums like this, or in chat-rooms and while playing online games.
Now, for some reason, I like English much better than German and in fact catch myself thinking in English regularly, even when not on the Internet. I even catch myself on a regular basis being unable to express something in German, but having no problem doing so in English, or being unable to find the proper German word for something in English, although I am sure I know it (it's like you know something must be in a dictionary but you just can't find the page).
It's rather weird really. I at times even think my grasp of German is getting worse, increasingly finding myself in situations when I have to stop and think for a moment because I just can't find a way to express something properly, which makes me feel awkward in conversations. That never happens in English (except for when I genuinely lack a word. Even then, I find it easier to get around that problem by just describing what I mean than I would in German). I could swear I was more sophisticated in my mother tongue a few years ago. I am by the way not one of these geeky Internet guys without real life friends or other social contacts (so I am not just missing practise in German).
Is that some sort of known phenomenon?