Previously, Messi claimed he was too nervous to answer questions in English, despite taking language lessons since 2020, as per an interview with journalist Guillem Balague. “I’ve been learning English for a year and a half. I understand it, but I don’t speak it,” he said in 2021.
Funny, it really is easier to get the gist of what someone is saying in a foreign language that one has some familiarity with, but constructing a sentence with the correct words and grammar is a completely different game.
I’m the opposite with Japanese, at least. I can construct sentences and know what to say, but when native speakers talk to me, I just can’t follow well at all.
It blows my mind because my wife can hear and read other languages and translate it with insane accuracy, but she wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation.
Sometimes it can be the opposite as well, because missing a key word or two renders all the other stuff you understood in the sentence basically useless. If you understood “He has a new X and he’s gonna try Y tomorrow,” you got everything except the gist, but constructing basic sentences doesn’t take all that much study.
Anyway, I’d recommend not trying to do Japanese through immersion.
Japanese has a cheat code though. If you try to say English words with a Japanese accent they can mostly understand you. Words like hamburger and strawberry are a good example.
The huge number of loanwords is a bit of a boon, but the benefits are canceled out by the small amount of sounds in the language. There are so many homophones and words with similar sounds that learning vocab is really difficult.
Also it was years before I found out that hambaagaa is a hamburger and hambaagu is a meat patty on a plate.
Yeah, I remember going through that period when started learning English, but also attending other classes that I was passionate about and didn’t want to wait.
I understood everything the teacher said, but tough luck if I had any question. I remember trying to ask once and teacher trying to figure out what I was asking.
So very much this, I’ve been living in a foreign country for 6 months now and taking language classes. I can eavesdrop better than just about any other skill. Including understanding when spoken to directly.
There’s also, at least for Spanish but probably for other languages too, a significant difference between the academic version and the colloquial version.
I assume it’s sort of like if you, as an English speaker, only spoke as if you were composing a college essay.
Wow this could have actually happened:
Source
Funny, it really is easier to get the gist of what someone is saying in a foreign language that one has some familiarity with, but constructing a sentence with the correct words and grammar is a completely different game.
I’m the opposite with Japanese, at least. I can construct sentences and know what to say, but when native speakers talk to me, I just can’t follow well at all.
It blows my mind because my wife can hear and read other languages and translate it with insane accuracy, but she wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation.
My English speaking brain can’t do it.
Sometimes it can be the opposite as well, because missing a key word or two renders all the other stuff you understood in the sentence basically useless. If you understood “He has a new X and he’s gonna try Y tomorrow,” you got everything except the gist, but constructing basic sentences doesn’t take all that much study.
Anyway, I’d recommend not trying to do Japanese through immersion.
Japanese has a cheat code though. If you try to say English words with a Japanese accent they can mostly understand you. Words like hamburger and strawberry are a good example.
The huge number of loanwords is a bit of a boon, but the benefits are canceled out by the small amount of sounds in the language. There are so many homophones and words with similar sounds that learning vocab is really difficult.
Also it was years before I found out that hambaagaa is a hamburger and hambaagu is a meat patty on a plate.
Yeah, I remember going through that period when started learning English, but also attending other classes that I was passionate about and didn’t want to wait.
I understood everything the teacher said, but tough luck if I had any question. I remember trying to ask once and teacher trying to figure out what I was asking.
So very much this, I’ve been living in a foreign country for 6 months now and taking language classes. I can eavesdrop better than just about any other skill. Including understanding when spoken to directly.
Doesn’t help basically everyone speaks English.
You would have been SUCH a successful spy 40 years ago when top secret stuff was still mainly via face to face conversations 😁
Them: Papiere bitte
Me: What? Uhhh I mean, was?
Them: 🤨
I think anybody who’s bilingual or attempting to learn another language or done some duolingo classes can relate to a degree.
Reading/writing, speaking, and listening can feel like different skills.
There’s also, at least for Spanish but probably for other languages too, a significant difference between the academic version and the colloquial version.
I assume it’s sort of like if you, as an English speaker, only spoke as if you were composing a college essay.