What does science say about languages you learned as a child but never used again? No idea — but something surprising happened to me this morning.
I was at the supermarket when a foreign woman asked me in broken Spanish where she was supposed to weigh her bag of tomatoes. The normal answer for someone like me, who's been learning English for ages, would’ve been “At the checkout.” But no, I didn’t say that. I said “Là-bas”, pointing to the checkout line with my finger (a French word meaning “Over there”). She was just as surprised as I was. I guess my reply in French was the last thing she expected, and definitely the last thing I thought would come out of my mouth.
Why on earth did my brain decide I needed to speak French? The woman had blue eyes, was naturally blonde, and taller than a traffic light. How many more clues did I need?
Despite my frustration, I found a silver lining: my French is still alive! I don’t know exactly where, maybe in some forgotten drawer of my brain, but I think I’m going to dust it off and give it another shot.
Headline image by lovelyscape on Unsplash
What, you speak French? How long did you learn it, and for how long have you been neglecting it?
Ok, "là-bas" seriously looks like in Catalan, "allà baix" (down there). That's no coincidence, of course.
It's interesting how it's not "down", but "over" there in French. Apparently, "bas" still means "baix" (down, low) though, so that's funny. Perhaps it means both literally "down there" and figuratively "over there".
Good to see it's not just me that forgets my native language's word for something and unthinkingly uses a different language 😅
@edufuga. Do I speak French? Not really. I haven’t used it in decades. Besides, my French was at a child’s level. My summer friends were all French, and I’d say things like, Give me back the cochonnet or I’ll tell your mom! haha. The "cochonnet" is the little ball used in pétanque. We used to play it all the time. I haven't used the language ever since. That's why I'm so shocked.
Prepositions are totally my nightmare. You know that we’re much more practical in Spanish. Wether we go "en coche, en carro o en burro", its just "EN". Then we also have "paquí, pallá, patrás y palante" and that's pretty much it.😉
Yes, it's amazing how some languages share such surprising similarities. I think the answer is history. Apparently people in the Middle Ages had nothing better to do than conquer and colonize other people's lands.
@schmamie. Of course you’re not alone. I’d dare say that if someone tells you their mother tongue is “untouched" after learning a second/third language, they’re lying. I have many relatives living in foreign countries, and it’s definitely taken a toll on their native language. Their Spanish has become pretty weak . They forget lots of words and sometimes express themselves in really odd ways. We actually joke about it as an inside joke.
Glad some information is still alive in your brain.
Thank you, @T-Newfields