Foreign Languages

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Has anyone else found it more difficult to articulate and communicate after learning/immersion into a foreign language? I don't know what is wrong. I type completely random words as of late in place of the ones I mean to use, when I try to read things out loud I say the wrong words, and I can't seem to articulate myself well; instead of asking if I can do something I instead might just say "I I I I I I I I I I I I".

Can someone link me to that page that goes along the lines of Help my autism is getting worse! with a huge list of reasons why it might appear as such? I couldn't find it. I realize I could just be becoming more aware that I do those things because I'm trying to talk more, but things like typing the wrong words never happened previously. I feel really dumb and wonder if this could just be a product of studying different languages recently. It seems like I keep wandering off and it's harder to focus on things too. THANKS~~

I have never had that - but - languages main special interest since forever - I found early in my college years, if I even THOUGHT of a word in a foreign tongue, the next word I said IN ENGLISH containing an R would get get NOT an American English R but a tap or trill. The word I said or thought of did not even have to contain R - the fact it was NOT English would reprogram my tongue.

Much later, in Africa I had to interpret for a Frenchwoman who did not speak the local language. I had spent moths hearing and using the local language. I could understand her French no trouble, but I could not say anything too her - I was stuck with Englisdh and the language I had been using.

It took two of us - a friend [another fringe Aspie] asked questions in Fench, but could not understand the answer. I understood the answer, but could not respond in French. We solved the problem, but clumsily.

I have heard of bilingual people who coul;d easily speak in either language, but then could not tell you what they just said in the other language.

Sounds like shifting into foreign language mode is causing interference on your circuits.

I switch languages fairly easily, but I was brought up with multiple languages. I would have guessed that the autistic tendency to compartmentalize rather than generalize would make switching languages easy, but other factors would make fluency in a foreign language harder to attain.

People say my accent is very good, which I suspect is (partly) an autistic trait of imitation.

I can be talking and understanding in French without realising that I'm not talking in English, which is very refreshing. But it only works until I come across a word I don't know. Sometimes I can easily get away with being French and other times, I just get in a mess. For me, it depends how tired I am.

So yes, I think you sound like you are tired. In which case, I wouldn't worry too much. With time, it will settle.

not exactly...I speak 3 languages (languages are one of my special interests), and sometimes I've inserted a Romanian word into a Spanish sentence or a Spanish word into an English sentence when I was distracted (that's got me some STRANGE looks...LOL). I also get frequent comments that my accent is very good (I think it's that imitation thing).

~Kate

Most people who have learned a foreign language will mix some words, especially when they have a great level in this language. It is normal.

Meow101 - A quick side jump that I hope is not too far - I have found it really hard when I simply cannot find an English word for a concept where I have a GREAT word in another language, but except with specialists I cannot talk in English about hlonipha, for example.

On Rumanian - I handle input from almost anything Romance easily, but get blocked by written Rumanian far out of proportion to context. Yet when I got to tune in [in Detroit] to a Rumanian broadcast I followed easily. I can't think it is simply orthography, because frankly Portuguese orthography is at least as hard on the Latinist.

I actually do well with foreign languages. I took German and Spanish in high school and aced them both. Sadly my schedule wouldn't let me continue on my quest to be trilingual so I dropped Spanish and continued learning German because I felt that I could learn Spanish easier on the fly if I had to. I made it up to German level 4 in college and did rather well. I tested out of German 1 +2 so yaaaaaay for free credits. I'm not fluent by any means, I can speak it on a conversational level though.

Sometimes I'll forget some words just because I'm out of practice. *shrug*

I think in pictures, so sometimes I don't have word for picture in my head. Or I have, but not in language which I use.

I speak 6 languages and 2 basic ones and a basic Brazilian indigenous language. When I get tired I slur my words and accents pop in English, especially when I get angry I stumble over my words in English, but that also happens in my native tongue.
Whe I talk to three different nationals at the same time it happens that i answer in a language of one of the three epopel I ma conversing with but it is not the language of the person. Like I would answer in French to the Englishman and English to the Frenchman.
When I am in trance through hallucinogenics I talk in tongues, many different ones...but I cannot stop my mouth from speaking them, because when it happens I can hear myself thinking, stop this babbling, what am I saying, can I have a translation , please? But I conitnue in that foreign tongue: I also dream in different languages.

http://www.autistics.org/library/more-autistic.html

That happens to me too...I find myself wanting to use a word or phrase from Spanish or Romanian because it is so much better than the English counterpart but unless the person I'm talking to speaks the other language I'm SOL.



What messes you up? Is it the diacritics? Or is it the fact that the word order is sometimes wonky? Or maybe all the hyphenations and elisions? Interestingly, I'd been wanting to learn a third language for some time, and I heard a song on the radio in early 2009 (O-Zone's Dragostea din tei) and I was struck by the fact that I could understand much of it (at that time I was fluent in Spanish but didn't know Romanian yet) and when I looked up some details on Romanian and tried to translate the song, I fell in love with the language and just had to learn it

~Kate

Languages are one of my main special interests and the only problems I've had is that sometimes I think of the right word for a concept in a language that is NOT the one I'm using, then I can't think of the word in any other language.

Also I have this odd mixup when I am writing in Esperanto and have to use the words 'nun' and or 'nur', which I first learned in German, I have this moment of doubt that the word is really Esperanto and so I have to look it up in the dictionary. Yup, it's still Esperanto....

So that's why I have lots of dictionaries in my computer work area.....

Last edited by nissa_amas_katoj on 03 Sep 2010, 7:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

I like languages, but lack the motivation to learn the whole language.

I know a little Spanish and some words in German, Russian, French, and Japanese.

Hi, Buryuntime,
Yes, I have DEFINITELY found that happening to me. Although I only speak reasonable french, and some spanish and korean, I frequently find myself forgetting words, mixing up my grammar, and just in general sounding ESOL. Also, I'm a kiwi who watches hardly any TV, however, I find myself speaking in accents all the time - everyone always assumes I'm American but then again, that's probably an aspie trait of imitation.