Learning a new language

[zurb]

I am wondering what others have experienced with trying to learn another language - not as an academic subject, but to actually live in another culture.

I think as an aspie I am more adept at picking up cultural issues than my colleagues (they would probably say I pick up trivia) but I have really struggled with language. Sometimes I think I'm expected to do more in the new language than I do in English. Having read a little about the mechanics of my son's echolalia, and also of translation, I don't hold much hope.

 

[dragonwolf]

What do you mean by "expected to do more in the new language"? And are you intending to actually move to another country? If so, which one?

As for learning languages, I've dabbled in a few different ones for different reasons, but I generally learn it the same way a young child learns a language - start with letters, then words, then sentence structure. For me, at least, it makes it easier and less overwhelming, especially when dealing with different alphabets.

 

[zurb]

What I mean is that in English, we are taught to use short concise sentences, which as an aspie suits me. My host culture prefers long flowery repetitive sentences. I struggle with this. I suspect I have a small phonological loop. Even in English, by the time I get to the end of a sentence sometimes I've forgotten how it started. It's not uncommon for me to say 'Did that make sense?' because I have no idea what I just said. As an aspie, I don't engage in small talk, which doesn't help language practice, nor help me engage in the culture at a deeper level. When I go for language assessments, my performance anxiety and selective mutism kicks in so I can't get a fair assessment.

 

[dragonwolf]

Perhaps it's that particular language, or even just the regional subset, that is causing you issues? I don't know what language you're attempting to learn or where you're at, but my understanding of a few different European countries is that they're rather forgiving of differences in speaking, as long as your words and sentence structure are correct (ie - you don't say something like "have sex," when you mean "hang out" or some such; in which case, they'll get a good laugh and correct you). Most care more that you're actually willing to put the effort in to learn their language. And some languages are just more curt and literal than others.

 

[Judge]

Are talking about outside the realm of a romance language? Seems to me that alone can pose some substantially more complex issues...

 

[dragonwolf]

Are talking about outside the realm of a romance language? Seems to me that alone can pose some substantially more complex issues...

Even some of the romance languages are still pretty straightforward. The Dutch, for example, are rather straightforward about things (in my experience, at least), and the language reflects that.

And yes, there are languages outside of the romance ones that are quite straightforward, as well.

The Russians actually take it to the extreme to the point that they drop words they consider "unnecessary." This actually poses an opposite source of the same problem -- not enough words to clearly understand (especially to someone for whom Russian is a secondary language). (Disclaimer - my experience with Russian is largely with Russians on an English site, I don't actually speak Russian, but that was one thing that I learned in those interactions.)

Japanese, though, I actually found to be surprisingly easy to pick up. It's daunting at first, because of the alphabets, but once you realize that two of the three are phonetic (and the third you just have to take each new character as it comes), and each symbol only has one sound (when the sound changes, so does the character), it becomes a lot easier. There are a lot of rules, both in the language and the culture, but the rules are pretty consistent, with relatively few exceptions (especially compared to English, where there are sometimes more exceptions to a rule than things that follow it).

 

[Shawn D]

I learned French after spending a quarter in Paris. I found learning another language comes easily to me. I think my brain treats it like learning math equations. X+Y (with a little oui oui) = Z.

 

[AsheSkyler]

I love to dabble, but I have trouble with the initial translations. I need a direct translation, not an approximation. "Muy bien" is not "great" it's "very good", in example. Once I get that problem sorted out, I usually can read it without too much trouble, but forget about speaking or writing it. My best hope would be to point and grunt if I traveled to a non-English country.

 

[Charlotte]

Foreign language is one of the few things which I have extreme difficulty with. I tried learning a new one a few times while in college, but had to drop the class every time. I can memorize the phrases, but when it comes to using them, nope. My thought process goes in this sequence:
-see/hear the word
-process it
-pull up what it means in English
-piece it together with the previous words in English
So, if it isn't a direct translation, I am lost. If it is spoken and goes too fast, then I don't have time to process, and I am lost. And if a word I don't know is used, then it freaks me out, and I am lost.

 

[Etzelaire]

I'm studying English, Italian, Russian and chinese. Let me point out I can solely express myself in most situations in English and Italian. The other languages I just know the basics for now.

 

[May Black]

I came across one of Danie Tammet's books while I was teaching Aspies and I really like his approach to learning/teaching languages.

Courses - Optimnem: The Official Website of Daniel Tammet