Fmbm Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 LOL I don't know... I don't think I translate... I had a conversation about this with a friend once! because we noticed that French people for example translate every word first in their head before they can say a sentence in a foreign language. we had to translate an English text to French. I remember there was the word "field", they all immediately knew the right translation was "champ". they usually found the translation much faster than me, although I think I'm much more fluent in English than them. (I'm not French and French is not my first language) before I found the translation "champ" I put much longer and as I read the word "field", what I had in mind was the concept of a field... and then I had to think how I would say that word in French before I found what we were looking for! I hope you understand what I'm saying it's hard to explain, really You're not French? Where are you from then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cath85 Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 You're not French? Where are you from then? luxembourg. that's not France I know many Americans think that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmbm Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 luxembourg. that's not France I know many Americans think that Where is that? haha *feels stupid* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cath85 Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Where is that? haha *feels stupid* don't it's a very small country and you live far away, you can't know everything! it's situated between france, belgium and germany, I hope this helps a little! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmbm Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 don't it's a very small country and you live far away, you can't know everything! it's situated between france, belgium and germany, I hope this helps a little! Ohhh ok haha. So what is your first language? (This feels like 21 questions, sorry!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cath85 Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Ohhh ok haha. So what is your first language? (This feels like 21 questions, sorry!) my first language is Luxembourgish it sounds a bit like German actually... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmbm Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 my first language is Luxembourgish it sounds a bit like German actually... Okay, I understand now haha. Thanks for being patient with me:biggrin2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cath85 Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Okay, I understand now haha. Thanks for being patient with me:biggrin2: oh don't worry I'm used to this kind of questions and I like telling people about my country! because many don't know it, I think it's about time that they all learn where it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseygoodness Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 BUT, in different French interviews, he's struggled with words at times. Like at that Taratata thing, he didn't know how to say 'gulf war'. i think because he learned french when so young, he wouldn't need to know the word for "gulf war", and in another french interview he didn't know the word for obesity. some words you just don't need to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violet_sky Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 i think because he learned french when so young, he wouldn't need to know the word for "gulf war", and in another french interview he didn't know the word for obesity. some words you just don't need to use. Right, and I don't think he used the French word for 'landmark moment' a lot when he was at the age of eight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyraucia Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 I don't usually think much about stuff like this...but, i guess i have two different 'modes'... As in, when someone talks to me in Cantonese, I quickly switch to my 'Cantonese' mode and understand and respond quickly without translation.. But if you say something in English VERY soon after that and I wasn't really expecting it, I'll probably try and figure out what that means in Cantonese (and get absolutely no sense out of it ) and then I figure it out in English I think Mika is more fluent in English Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backflip_76 Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Right, and I don't think he used the French word for 'landmark moment' a lot when he was at the age of eight You mean, little boys don't talk about landmark moments when they're 8 years old? I think you're right though. You're vocabulary (even in your first language) isn't that great when you're 8 or 9...I'm sure he missed out on a lot of French words by leaving France at that age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em' Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 LOL I don't know... I don't think I translate... I had a conversation about this with a friend once! because we noticed that French people for example translate every word first in their head before they can say a sentence in a foreign language. we had to translate an English text to French. I remember there was the word "field", they all immediately knew the right translation was "champ". they usually found the translation much faster than me, although I think I'm much more fluent in English than them. (I'm not French and French is not my first language) before I found the translation "champ" I put much longer and as I read the word "field", what I had in mind was the concept of a field... and then I had to think how I would say that word in French before I found what we were looking for! I hope you understand what I'm saying it's hard to explain, really Same for me. My mother tongue is French. When I need to translate English to French, I have to really think hard about it, because when you read or listen, you get the context of what is said, the whole meaning, but you do not translate in your mind word word by word what you've just been told/read. You just don't think twice . When I speak English I do not think in French first, it just comes (within my range of vocabulary, that is. I use English every single day at work as my bosses do not speak French). But some days when I'm tired, or if I have not used a word for a long time, I will just forget it (which is why it's important to maintain a language learned by reading, speaking etc). Mika has a fluent level of French, his accent is very light (actually to me he's talking like he's nearly always lived in France), he speaks fast, you can see he's at ease with the language. Just he must have not learned/forgotten some words as he does not talk it 24/7... Add to it if he's tired, the words won't come back as easily as usual... And regarding the mix-up of two languages, I'm the QUEEN! People can get bothered at me because I will mix so much English/French, but I can't help it, some words in French just don't come back to me, English has replaced them! Sometimes I wonder: what would I do at a job interview, that would not give a good impression.... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnFa Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Personally, when I speak or write english I don't even think about it. Its just like when I do it in danish, except from the fact that I don't know half as many words. And when you havent used a language for a while you forget words. Words you normally wouldn't use on a daily basis. I think thats how most people do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sienna Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 I read the funny conversation about Luxembourg and it made me remember when I was in California. Most peple there had no idea where Sweden was. Do you mean Schweiz, or is your capital city Copenhagen, where the comments I got often. So, do you people in US know where Sweden is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romis Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 perhaps not much of you know... languages related to english are difficult to learn for dyslexic people...because there are words which pronnunciation is different than the way you write them... e.g. cough and enough hole and whole (they're pronnounced the same) romanic languages are easier to read for a dyslexic kid...so he speaks french and spanish very fluent. and that could be the reason why he was a good student in France, and his dyslexia appears when he turns to the english system... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 With language it's really a case of 'use it or lose it', and because Mika hasn't lived in France since he was 8 his level of fluency and ease of vocabulary retrieval will have decreased over time. Also, as others have said, he seems to lack some adult French vocabulary, for fairly obvious reasons. When you reach a certain level of competence in another language you stop translating in your head. I speak French, Spanish and Portuguese as well as English but to different standards; I've studied all three to the same level, but as I haven't spent much time in either French or Spanish speaking countries I am not very fluent in those languages in fact I struggle with them these days through lack of practice, and have to often 'translate' in my head first. With my Portuguese it's different, because I lived there 4+ years and gained a certain level of competence and fluency whilst there, so even though I'm rusty now in that language, it will always be above a certain level and will 'come' to me more easily. Complicated! Language acquisition is fascinating but complex. And imo Mika's English is far better than his French. His spoken English is perfect mother-tongue standard, at least to my ear. he doesn't struggle for words or expression, in fact just the opposite. He is probably so articulate BECAUSE he has experience of another language, there is a link there, as someone else suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah_Lollipop Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 With language it's really a case of 'use it or lose it', and because Mika hasn't lived in France since he was 8 his level of fluency and ease of vocabulary retrieval will have decreased over time. Also, as others have said, he seems to lack some adult French vocabulary, for fairly obvious reasons. When you reach a certain level of competence in another language you stop translating in your head. I speak French, Spanish and Portuguese as well as English but to different standards; I've studied all three to the same level, but as I haven't spent much time in either French or Spanish speaking countries I am not very fluent in those languages in fact I struggle with them these days through lack of practice, and have to often 'translate' in my head first. With my Portuguese it's different, because I lived there 4+ years and gained a certain level of competence and fluency whilst there, so even though I'm rusty now in that language, it will always be above a certain level and will 'come' to me more easily. Complicated! Language acquisition is fascinating but complex. And imo Mika's English is far better than his French. His spoken English is perfect mother-tongue standard, at least to my ear. he doesn't struggle for words or expression, in fact just the opposite. He is probably so articulate BECAUSE he has experience of another language, there is a link there, as someone else suggested. His English sound good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 So, do you people in US know where Sweden is? Yep, I'm familiar with Sweden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IngievV Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Well, actually, when I was 6 years old, my grandparents started teaching my English and I kept practising it, watching English movies without the subtitles on etc (Not when I was 6 but you get the deal:naughty: ) and I use English so often that I have moments when I completely think in English. Also sometimes when I'm talking in Dutch, I just say an English word, because I'm just stuck between these to languages. It's funny actually. I speak fluent English. I'm good at French and German, but mostly in writing it. And my stepmother teaches me some Polish, but I'm better at speaking that than at writing it. Yeah I'm weird. As for Mika, I think that he thinks in English somehow. I'm not sure, I can't look inside his head:biggrin2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 As for Mika, I think that he thinks in English somehow. I'm not sure, I can't look inside his head:biggrin2: And why not? You're just not trying hard enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greta Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Well, actually, when I was 6 years old, my grandparents started teaching my English and I kept practising it, watching English movies without the subtitles on etc (Not when I was 6 but you get the deal:naughty: ) and I use English so often that I have moments when I completely think in English. Also sometimes when I'm talking in Dutch, I just say an English word, because I'm just stuck between these to languages. It's funny actually. I speak fluent English. I'm good at French and German, but mostly in writing it. And my stepmother teaches me some Polish, but I'm better at speaking that than at writing it. Yeah I ROX!{'m weird}. As for Mika, I think that he thinks in English somehow. I'm not sure, I can't look inside his head:biggrin2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IngievV Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 And why not? You're just not trying hard enough! Well, I could put up a theory if you want:roftl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sienna Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Yep, I'm familiar with Sweden. Thank you, glad to hear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violet_sky Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 And why not? You're just not trying hard enough! But don't forget the sunglasses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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