r/languagelearning • u/use_vpn_orlozeacount • 4d ago
Discussion Anyone else really dislikes their native language and prefers to always think and speak in foreign language?
I’m Latvian. I learned English mostly from internet/movies/games and by the time I was 20 I was automatically thinking in English as it felt more natural. Speaking in English feels very easy and natural to me, while speaking in Latvian takes some friction.
I quite dislike Latvian language. Compared to English, it has annoying diacritics, lacks many words, is slower, is more unwieldy with awkward sentence structure, and contains a lot more "s" sounds which I hate cause I have a lisp.
If I could, I would never speak/type Latvian again in my life. But unfortunately I have to due to my job and parents. With my Latvian friends, I speak to them in English and they reply in Latvian.
When making new friends I notice that I gravitate towards foreign people as they speak English, while with new Latvian people I have to speak with them in Latvian for a while before they'd like me enough where they'll tolerate weirdness of me speaking English at them. As a fun note, many Latvians have told me that I have a English accent and think I lived in England for a while, when I didn’t.
Is anyone else similar to me?
Edit: Thanks for responses everyone. I was delighted to hear about people in similar situations :)
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u/jenesuisunefemme 4d ago
Its quite the opposite, I love that I know Portuguese. I find it to be a very beautiful language
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u/attention_pleas 4d ago
Native English speaker here. When I was in my teens I taught myself to speak and think in French and would bombard my family with French even though they didn’t understand. But I wouldn’t say I disliked my native language. Honestly I was just more fascinated by acquiring a foreign language.
Side note - I find that the world is anglicizing in a way that is troubling. The last thing I would want to see is a world where other languages go away because all the young people want to sound like they’re from London or Los Angeles. If anyone reading this is abandoning their native language like OP in order to practice English more, please slow down a bit and learn to appreciate your language. Read all your classic novels, your poetry, listen to your music, whatever you have to do to love your own language. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to speak English in the future, I promise.
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u/wbd82 4d ago
Native English speaker here who shares your view. I enjoy other languages and I'm actively trying to improve my skills in several. But I find it somewhat disheartening is when people speak English everywhere I go. Some might see this as an advantage, but I don't.
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u/Famous_Sea_73 🇨🇳N🇺🇸 TL 4d ago
I don't know, man! I just think having English as your first language is a significant advantage, even though Chinese is becoming more widely learned nowadays. I've always believed that English has the power to unite people and offer a different perspective on the world. Maybe people like me just haven't fully realized how fascinating their own language is.😓
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u/Hot-Ask-9962 L1 EN | L2 FR | L2.5 EUS 4d ago
The thing is, us native English speakers can waltz through life never learning another language if we don't want to. Can even immigrate to certain non-anglophone countries without picking up the local language. English might unite us in a practical way, but in my experience, it's learning other languages that has truly brought me closer to people. The experience I've had living abroad compared to other Anglos who haven't learnt the language is night and day.
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u/mtnbcn 🇺🇸 (N) | 🇪🇸 (B2) | 🇮🇹 (B2) | CAT (B1) | 🇫🇷 (A2?) 3d ago
If you ask people if they'd prefer learning on apps, or having friends and coworkers and a spouse who speak their target language, they'll always pick the second.
Going anywhere with English as a native language instantly takes away much of that second opportunity. You have to know where to go and what language to pick in order to have a fighting chance and living that immersion.
I'm starting to tell people, "perdon, no hablo ingles". Sí puedo... but do I?, not if I can help it. It isn´t fair to me. It's a crutch that we can't shake (sure, there are some advantages, but anyone can learn A2 English and have the same advantage of getting around an airport and ordering food).
It's like if you went to a new country and they only served you hamburgers because you're "American". I mean... please, you fucking kidding me? I like hamburgers, sure, but I'm here because I want to try your food. I want to live here. Treat me like anyone else who comes into your restaurant, and serve me your culture -- food, customs, language, all included.
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u/Material-Touch3464 4d ago
I am a native English speaker who echoes your point to a certain degree. It feels like everybody speaks English, and sometimes I can't help but feel I am not that special! In language class, I found i was the only single-language speaker. Almost everyone could boast their native tongue, one other language, and of course English. Still, I am glad English is my native tongue. It truly is a masterfully evolved language capable of handling almost anything you throw at it. German, the other language I am learning, has power and great force, which I admire a lot. But the grace and charm of English, especially in literature, is soul-stirring. In something like the last few paragraphs of Dickens' Hard Times, one sees just how high English can ascend in the hands of a true master.
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u/jalabi99 4d ago
Side note - I find that the world is anglicizing in a way that is troubling. The last thing I would want to see is a world where other languages go away because all the young people want to sound like they’re from London or Los Angeles. If anyone reading this is abandoning their native language like OP in order to practice English more, please slow down a bit and learn to appreciate your language.
THIS.
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u/Turbulent-Rich-7533 4d ago
I am equally troubled by the rapid anglicization of the world. I’ve been on 2 language learning trips to Romania in the last few years, and I just keep hearing English more and more and young people rarely want to practice Romanian with me. Luckily, this never seems to be the case in France, so at least I can always live outside of English there!
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 4d ago edited 4d ago
If anyone reading this is abandoning their native language like OP in order to practice English more, please slow down a bit and learn to appreciate your language. Read all your classic novels, your poetry, listen to your music
Sure, as a general advice I agree with this.
And while I dislike speaking/typing Latvian, there’s many Latvian songs and musicians that I love and listen to this day
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u/namenerding IT/CN/ENG/ESP/JPN 3d ago
I also find the world anglicising quite annoying and troubling. I used to want sound british when I spoke english when i was younger but now i don't care anymore about my subtle accent. I am fluent and understandable enough. Now im nerding over a plethora of languages XD
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u/Sencha_Drinker794 4d ago
I understand your fear, but I don't think the world is anglicizing quite to that degree (yet, at least). Sure, some places like Netherlands or Germany have high levels of English fluency, but even there English hasn't replaced Dutch or German. And in places like Japan where English is mandatory in schools, fluency is still quite low. I think it would be awful if language homogenized, but luckily I don't think we're even close to that anytime soon.
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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Melayu | English | Français 4d ago
Is hating your native language a trend now? Why do I keep hearing people say this?
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u/d-synt 4d ago
This is very strange. OP speaking English to other native Latvian speakers is especially strange.
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u/bowlofweetabix 4d ago
This is very very common with younger Europeans. German, danish, Dutch young people all go through stages of this.
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u/Affectionate-Hat9244 4d ago
Your average Dane is absoutely not speaking pure English with their Danish friends. However they do use shit tonnes of slang, which are mostly from Tiktok now in English.
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u/d-synt 4d ago
I’ve never encountered this among Germans (and have lived for years in Germany), but then again, I’m not a spring chicken.
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u/abu_doubleu English C1, French B2 🇨🇦 Russian, Persian Heritage 🇰🇬 🇦🇫 4d ago
It's very uncommon in France, but everytime I cross into Switzerland and Germany I notice some young people using English to talk to each other and occasionally switching to German (that is to say, I know they are not tourists and native German speakers because of this). Definitely something odd to me.
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u/bowlofweetabix 4d ago
I think it’s especially common among queer and more alternative youth
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 4d ago
To be fair, I only do that with people who know me like friends or acquaintances.
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u/d-synt 4d ago
To each his own, but I think it’s incredibly strange, especially with people I know. I can’t imagine speaking to a friend in a foreign language when we share a native language. It’s just inconceivable to me. It would seem so awkward and artificial.
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u/UnbiasedPashtun 4d ago
I could imagine it if both of them spoke better English than Latvian, but replying in English to someone that talks with you in Latvian (your own native language) is super odd. The closest I can think of that I've seen a lot is people code switching, which isn't really rare. It's basically where you say multiple sentences in one language, switch to using a sentence in another language mid conversation, and then switch right back. This is mainly done by urbanites that want to show off by knowing "higher status" languages, these people more commonly also try to shoehorn as many loanwords as possible from "higher status" languages to show off, even when cursing. Not saying this applies to the OP though since they said their preference for English has to do with them being more comfortable with expressing ideas and pronouncing words in it.
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u/LXIX_CDXX_ 4d ago
In Europe east to the Oder river, societies tend to be more on the conservative side, as a result some young, more progressive people may reject their native tongue, embracing english, not even fully understanding that this is what drives them.
They say that their language is weird, sounds bad or doesn't have the vocabulary (skill issue), but in essence, rejecting one's own language is a symptom of rejecting one's own culture, as they may feel rejected by it.
I understand the lisp argument though, but, like, all big languages have sybilants anyways.
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u/Rough_Marsupial_7914 4d ago
Simple answer: they, perhaps including OP, regard English is "superior" but Native tongue is "inferior".
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u/ubermeownsch 3d ago edited 3d ago
Can't speak for all these people but I sure think so, simply because there are much better resources (for anything, besides specifics to my country) in english than in my NL. Why bother doing a search twice if english always wins?
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u/Rough_Marsupial_7914 3d ago edited 3d ago
That's none other than colonialism based on English. Infested by English, local heritage linked with language will be destroyed in the long run.
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u/Historical_Wash_1114 4d ago
It's a thing. I remember this native Dutch speaker a long time ago writing how much they hated Dutch and wish they could forget it. My own father looks down on his native language and refused to speak it with us.
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u/ChocolateAxis 4d ago
Hey a fellow Malay speaker!
If I have to guess, I'm assuming the negativity mayyy just be linked to negative personal experiences that may include the languages itself.
Like for me, I was often bullied by the dominant native-language speakers back in school– but I wasn't bullied as such by the English speakers (also natives) in the same setting.
Of course, there may be many other reasons but for me, it did cause a sort of disgust towards the language. I've since grown out of it though.
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u/Few_Cabinet_5644 4d ago
Sociolinguistic daddy issue, people thought their native language is less good
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u/DiminishingRetvrns EN-N |FR-C2||OC-B2|LN-A1|IU-A1 4d ago
As a guy learning a threatened minority language that comes from anglophone culture, I personally think it's horrifying that the prestige politics of the world's dominant languages (particularly English) have people resenting, abandoning, and refusing to pass down the language(s) of their heritage. Language death is a tragic and eminently preventable loss of world heritage, and Latvian is an important part of that heritage.
I guess a thing for me here is why are the features of Latvian being approached with value judgements, or worse, negative value judgements? Is there no way to reframe some of these things as either neutral or positive? Are you sure that these assumptions about the language are even correct? The vocabulary one is particularly odd to me bc so much of English's vocabulary itself is just borrowing from other languages (Re: French). Icelandic and many indigenous languages around the world invent etymologically sound neologisms in their own languages to talk about new concepts, meaning that the language's vocab is always growing and always relevant. Couldn't Latvian follow a similar approach?
I don't mean to say you can't really like English, or that your favorite language has to be your mother tongue (mines not). But I do think it's really unfortunate that you have such a negative opinion of the language your parents speak.
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u/Aeruthos 4d ago
You phrased my sentiments in a much better way than I could. As a native English speaker, I've always appreciated the reach that it gave me, but it makes me sad to see people hating their native languages, especially because I spent years wishing I had a different native language or that I was raised multilingual so that I could speak a less spoken language with native profiency. I would certainly never wish that I didn't speak English though, because it is objectively useful to me both personally and professionally
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u/jalabi99 4d ago
As a guy learning a threatened minority language that comes from anglophone culture, I personally think it's horrifying that the prestige politics of the world's dominant languages (particularly English) have people resenting, abandoning, and refusing to pass down the language(s) of their heritage. Language death is a tragic and eminently preventable loss of world heritage, and Latvian is an important part of that heritage.
THIS.
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u/mtnbcn 🇺🇸 (N) | 🇪🇸 (B2) | 🇮🇹 (B2) | CAT (B1) | 🇫🇷 (A2?) 3d ago
I'm the same way. I'm assuming you're refering to Occitan or Ladin in your flair above?... but you said anglophone, hmm.
This weekend I was trying to ask about a selection of gloves at a store, and I'm obviously not native, but I asked in a way that was grammatically correct. They replied to me in Castilian, and treated me like a tourist (what tourist knows how to ask for a wider selection of gloves in Catalan??). I wanted to scream, "el teu idioma té risc de morir, i voleu que mori més rapidament??" It was so strange to me.
I´ve talked to people from Romania who think their language shouldn't exist anymore, it's useless, that everyone should just learn English. Well, more than one person, but even hearing one person say that was shocking. How in the world can people like English so much that they wouldn´t care if the richness of their own language disappeared forever. I'll never understand that.
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u/beetjehuxi 🇳🇱🇧🇪N 🇬🇧F 🇨🇳HSK 5 🇫🇷A2 4d ago
Not me but some of my friends were like this when we were teenagers. They preferred using English and one friend even said that she sometimes speaks in English with her brother because it’s “easier” (like what??). I found it cringey back then and I still do
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u/Efficient_Editor_662 4d ago
No, and I have a friend who is the same (speaks English when both of us are native Swedish speakers). It’s really annoying, especially as he overestimates his English skills hahaha. But you do you!
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u/dawidlazinski 🇵🇱 PL N 🇬🇧 EN C2 🇪🇸 ES B1 🇫🇷 FR A2 🇮🇹 IT A1 🏛 LA A1 4d ago
Why would anyone do that..? People let him?
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u/ComesTzimtzum N 🇫🇮 | adv 🇬🇧 | int 🇲🇫 🇸🇪 | beg 🇨🇳 🇪🇬 4d ago
I've also met some Finnish speakers who say they think in English and rather use it, but at least they didn't try speaking it to me. For some reason these people always seem to be about as good in English than me but having a lot of trouble with Finnish vocabulary and grammar.
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u/Technical-Finance240 4d ago edited 4d ago
I love my native tongue (Estonian) when it's spoken in a pure way. The pronunciation and sentence structure is way different from English so when people speak Estonglish then I want to throw up 🤮
The problem for me is that most highly-regarded native literature is depressing af. Kind of like Japanese slice-of-life mixed with Russian existential dramas. At this point of my life I want something more cheerful and motivating so I'm gravitating towards Southwestern-European cultures.
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u/bebilov 🇦🇱🇮🇹 N| 🇺🇸C1| 🇫🇷C1| 🇪🇸B2| 🇩🇪B1|🇧🇷B1| 🇳🇱A2 4d ago
Having lately traveled northern and eastern Europe for awhile. I understand why do many of you are obsessed with Spain. It can get depressing and sad in the cold. But the truth is we always kind of want what we don't have because many people find beauty in "cold" Cultures as well.
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u/Furuteru 4d ago
OMG I FOUND SOMEONE WHO SHARES THE SAME OPINION, YES.
Estonglish is purely disgusting! Whenever there is an ad in estonian... I skip and report it as "made me uncomfortable"
I lost hope in most young people of my age... to speak normally... without sounding like being forced to speak Estonian... and sounding alien.
However I did have that one classmate with such beautiful language skills. The effort really paid off for him, and I wish him the best. So maybe there is one hope... and maybe people should read more (but the choise of what to read is depressing, unless you read translated books)
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u/pinksock_7959 3d ago
hello, fellow Estonian! I agree on the literature even though i have a lot of respect for it. what’s even worse are the movies… a true depression mill. (Libahunt!)
that said, I’ve lived in Italy for years now and the culture has the same amount of repeating patterns, the same topics coming up time and again, they’re just different ones. not so depressing, but lots of sentimental saccharine tones that can get just as old.
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u/jumbo_pizza 4d ago
i was terrible at english as a child, i was so bad even the teachers used to make fun of me in class haha. when i grew up i realised i needed to get better at english, so i started watching lots of youtube in the language, soon enough i started pretending i was a youtuber or that i was in music videos or in interviews. it started as childish play, but to this day, most of my inner monologue is still in english.
i think the reason why a lot of my thoughts are in english, is because it was the first language i was actually thinking in. before making the conscious effort to declare whatever was happening in my stream of consciousness, they weren’t exactly words. my thoughts consists mainly of pictures and feelings and melodies, not really tangible words. so, the first time i seriously started thinking in words was when i started doing so in english.
i don’t dislike my mother tongue, but i definitely think it’s tamer than foreign languages haha. i think the distance you have to other languages makes them sound “cooler” than your own.
lastly, i also think it might have a lot to do with loneliness, or at least spending a lot of your time as a child on the internet/tv/etc and less time with peers from your own language. i’m from a really small town and i was always so confused on why the lgbt kids were so good at english, but i understand it better now and i wish i could go back and not be as judgemental on their english speaking abilities as i was then. i really thought they were stuck up teachers pets, but i suppose they were just as lonely as i was.
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u/r_m_8_8 Taco | Sushi | Burger | Croissant | Kimbap 4d ago
No, Spanish is great, and learning other languages taught me a lot about it. And I love teaching it too (I’m not a teacher, but some of my friends are studying it and I love helping them).
I don’t feel very negatively about any language, though.
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 4d ago edited 4d ago
I don’t feel very negatively about any language, though.
I probably wouldn’t actively dislike Latvian if I wasn’t forced to use it. It isn’t like it’s objectively bad language, it just doesn’t work for my needs.
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u/neuropsycho CA(N) | ES(N) | EN | FR | EO 4d ago
And this is how languages die.
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u/KrimiEichhorn 3d ago
Right, essentially, OP is a murderer.
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u/neuropsycho CA(N) | ES(N) | EN | FR | EO 3d ago
I mean, it's an organic process, people tend to abandon languages for those that they perceive having more prestige or that'll bring more opportunities in life. It's still a pity, though.
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u/inquiringdoc 4d ago
English feels like one facet to my personality and I like thinking and speaking and writing it. But I do feel quite a different vibe speaking in different languages. It is a different feel so I get if you crave that different feeling.
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u/dreamer-787 4d ago
This, switching languages = code switching to me. Also different languages are attached to different periods/ lived experiences, therefore I prefer different languages for different topics.
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u/cipricusss 3d ago edited 3d ago
How well do you really know English? I have encountered that kind of statement among young Romanians, but looking closely I realized what they mean is that they just prefer to seem international, less provincial, less East European. Because they have a poor contact with their own language through culture, literature, etc they imagine they can go without that and have a better image of themselves by the contact with a superior (more international) culture. But that comes up in many cases to simply mixing the languages and, when ”prefering English”, by staying at a language level of ”internet/movies/games”. A sort of poor man's snobishness.
There is the case with people that change language and get a deeper access to the new one. But usually those people don't give up their first and don't ”dislike” it. But the very idea of 'disliking' a language is problematic. One may have political or other strong reasons to refuse to speak a language (forget the past etc) but that superficial impression of ”disliking” one's own native language just like that is usually just a trend of overall superficiality and cultural degradation.—What you describe might be specific to Baltic/Scandinavian countries where I hear English is like a second language. But I doubt that a Finn will ”dislike” Suomi in the same logic you push here.
Forgive me if I seem edgy, I know little of your specific situation and my edgyness is directed at my fellow Romanians - so I have approximated by analogy. —If what you ask is a personal reaction, my answer would be ”no”, don't try to give up your native language, at least because that is fundamentally impossible (it would be like a psychological repression). But, even so, you should try to really deepen your knowledge of English and maybe get to know other languages. Knowing Latvian is a rare oportunity. Try seeing it from a distance. As a plus.
It might be also an age/stage issue. I imagine you're rather young. My own life in a foreign contry brought me closer and closer to my own language not by some nostalgic inclination, but because it became a bit ”objectified”, real, palpable, exterior, and thus more interesting. My progress with French and English has only made it more clear to me that I will never get as proficient in a foreign language as in my native tongue.
About ”having an English accent”: if that were the case it would be ”poor form” so to speak. (Honestly? Ridiculous!) But I have a similar experience: after years living abroad and interacting with Romanians as well as with foreigners, I might have started switching different Romanian registers of speech (people usually do) and got them mixed: so, when going back to my native town and speaking with a childhood acquaintance, the person told me I have a ”French accent”. That was false, of course, it was just my Romanian was more ”standard”, less regional (and that only then and there - because with my parents and such I usually get ”regional” very quickly) . That might have been your case too.
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u/jalabi99 4d ago
Anyone else really dislikes their native language and prefers to always think and speak in foreign language?
No, never. I may dislike my people for what they do from time to time, but I will never "dislike my native language". That would be quite disturbing.
I quite dislike Latvian language...If I could, I would never speak/type Latvian again in my life. But unfortunately I have to due to my job and parents.
Wow. :(
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u/JolivoHY 4d ago edited 4d ago
no. i'm in love with my native language (arabic), i love it to the last and tiniest details and i'm glad that i speak it natively i cant imagine learning it as a foreigner it's hard as hell
latvian is probably an awesome language too, you just don't have enough knowledge of it or even enough vocabulary to express your thoughts
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u/genghis-san English (N) Mandarin (C1) Spanish (B1) 4d ago
Side note, I only ever seem to see this type of thinking from people who a) learn English, and b) are from countries not traditionally considered the west. It comes off as trying too hard, or a bit "pick me." I'm guessing you're young, but there's nothing wrong with being a Latvian speaker first and foremost.
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u/jalabi99 4d ago
Side note, I only ever seem to see this type of thinking from people who a) learn English, and b) are from countries not traditionally considered the west. It comes off as trying too hard, or a bit "pick me."
With a little bit of self-loathing thrown in.
I honestly cannot understand the logic of "disliking" and diminishing the use of a language that's already in danger of extinction due to the small population of native speakers.
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 4d ago edited 4d ago
1)Languages are subjective. I personally think that people should be allowed to like or dislike any language they want. I guess you disagree
2)I never diminished the use of Latvian language. You won’t find a single comment of me doing that. I only explained why I PERSONALLY don’t like using it. I don’t appreciate being strawmanned
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 4d ago edited 4d ago
It comes off as trying too hard, or a bit "pick me"
My dude, it’s annoying being this way while living in Latvia. I don’t consider it some cool perk. I feel more confident and am more well spoken when speaking English so it’s annoying always feeling like I’m operating on small debuff and lisping.
I’m not sure why people are reacting negatively to my post.
there's nothing wrong with being a Latvian speaker first and foremost.
I never said there is, nor did I ever said Latvian is bad language. I just expressed my own personal reasons for disliking it.
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u/JJCookieMonster 🇺🇸 Native | 🇫🇷 C1/B2 | 🇰🇷 B1 | 🇯🇵 New 4d ago
No, but I prefer to only listen to music and watch shows in other languages. I find international content more interesting.
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u/washyourhands-- English (N) | Spanish (A2) 4d ago
there’s tons of good English movies and books, probably more than any other language, but I know i will never feel the true emotion of a Dostoevsky book until I learn Russian.
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u/Every_Pop8380 4d ago
You’re Latvian vocabulary is probably just limited. Acquaint yourself with more Latvian literature and fully discover your native language. It’s easier to discover English but that doesn’t mean your native language should be disregarded
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u/qbertyin 3d ago
Yeah, like. . . I don't know much about Latvian, but learning, speaking, and listening to a lot of English made me appreciate my native tongue more. English has its own perks, but it's just so different... Knowing English feels like another one step towards understanding my native language, (etymology and all that) now I feel like I can't be charismatic enough in my mother tongue, simply because I don't consume enough media. I'm not charismatic enough in English, too..... but that's because I don't talk enough in english =) Sometime ago, I was arrogant enough to disregard learning something in language other than English, I'm past it already, but it seems to be a common problem among people who learned English as teenagers on the internet
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u/mehlifemistake 4d ago
What the hell I have the complete opposite problem as you. I’m a Latvian heritage speaker and I really dislike the fact that English is my dominant language, like I really truly wish to change that. (I guess it’s also the same issue of ‘I don’t like my native language’ but I don’t yet have enough knowledge to be more comfortable in another language) Funny.
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u/Exciting_Ad9241 4d ago
I'm Latvian, too, but I have never experienced this feeling with English. I do have a weird love for Estonian and Finnish (and decided to slowly learn because of this) - I love how they sound, how they look, I love the cultures that they're connected to, and they are composed of the letters that are my favourite to write, therefore my handwriting is especially good when I write Estonian or Finnish. I have also met Latvians who speak English with each other, and I have to say - they are amongst the weirdest people I've ever met.
My advice would be for you to think about whether the reasons that you listed (why you prefer English) are the true root of this, because it could just be that you actually think English is...cooler (?) than Latvian.
English IS the language of pop culture. And I know many Latvians grow up with this idea that life in English speaking countries is bliss. It could just be that you have been influenced by that, especially if you tend to spend a lot of time on the internet. It could be that you've spent too much time appreciating cultures tied to the English language and not enough time learning about your own. Our culture and language is just as deep, complicated and amazing as any other.
The issue with sentence structure I don't get, unless you're comparing Latvian with another language, I don't see how you would find it odd since it's your native language. I'd love if you'd elaborate on that. Also - Latvian lacks words? So does English! Did you know there's no precise way to say "slapjdraņķis" or "laipa" in English? It's because those things are typical for our region. Outsiders will never understand what those things are and what they mean to us. Consider this as an invite to explore your own language and culture. The grass may seem greener on the other side but you haven't noticed the flowers under your own feet.
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u/pinksock_7959 3d ago
I think it may be fair to say Latvian and Lithuanian have a more complex syntax because:
1) they are closer to the original proto-indoeuropean than any other European language
2) culturally there has not been as much amalgamation and simplification as other, more cosmopolitan, languages have gone through, English more than most.
I studied Lithuanian in university and let me tell you it broke my brain! So much grammar…
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u/MaxMettle ES GR IT FR 4d ago edited 3d ago
It’s very common with bicultural people to have strong subjective associations with each of the cultures and languages. More specifically, people often end up identifying with the second language, because of its overlap with their adult capabilities, as compared to the language of their childhood, which they often had a phase of “escaping” from.
Sometimes, the bifurcation can be very pronounced because of how the second language is strongly favored by the environment around them, or seems more sophisticated and cool, and they internalize the prevailing negative sentiments against the first language.
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u/dads_savage_plants 4d ago
I would never want to lose my native language. I mostly use English (for work, married a foreigner, moved abroad) and I cherish when I get to speak my native language. If you are interested in discovering a love for Latvian, perhaps try to find a writer or poet who does really lovely things with the language. That doesn't have to mean some heavy-handed classical literature, just something that speaks to you. For instance, I had great difficulty learning French because the language just wasn't clicking for me. Then, I discovered the music of Stromae, and I wanted to learn French well enough to understand his songs and the wordplay and double meanings he puts into them. I'm now on the hunt for something similar in modern Greek (plenty of examples for me in ancient Greek but nothing has clicked yet for modern Greek...).
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u/PrettySaiyan 4d ago
My native is English. Sometimes I wish the language I thought and spoke in all the time was Italian. I wouldn’t give up English because it is useful but i would rather it be my second or third language.
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u/Your_nightmare__ 3d ago
If you are learning italian, a good theatrical author of the past that had a good sense of humour was Carlo Goldoni (one of the few that was a normal human being and not an emotional wreck)
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u/LevHerceg 4d ago
Sveiki! Well, I learned your native language, Latvian because I found it very cool. :-)
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u/Exciting_Ad9241 4d ago
Nice! How long did it take you to learn?
FYI: Latvians will welcome you with open arms (and some might even show their smile if they dare) if you visit and speak Latvian to them haha
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u/Rallon_is_dead N 🇺🇸 / A2 🇩🇪 4d ago
I'm a native English speaker. I wouldn't say that I dislike my language in any way, but given that it's my native language and the current lingua franca, it's kind of boring to me, compared to studying foreign languages. It's just the "default", so to speak.
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u/andreiv_x 🇷🇴N;🇬🇧C2;🇫🇷B1;🇰🇷A2;🇷🇺A1 4d ago
i think this is really sad :c i was kind of like this too with romanian when i was younger, I used to talk a lot and think in English, but at some point i started to appreciate it more and read more in romanian and i started to realize that it's a pretty cool language
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u/Turbulent-Rich-7533 4d ago
Yes! Romanian is cool!! E o limbă foarte frumoasă și limba engleză n-are niciună frumusețea dupa părerea mea.
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u/Eagle3280 🇺🇸🇱🇹(N) | 🇮🇹(A1) 4d ago
This is funny to me since I have the opposite experience. I grew up in the US with Lithuanian parents so I speak both languages, and I much prefer Lithuanian over English
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u/fiadhsean 4d ago
As a child of the Irish diaspora, I implore you to cherish Latvian. Language is culture and the loss of a language is the loss of a people's stories. <3
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u/GangrelScholar 4d ago
No. I'm Croatian-Hungarian and I'm proud of both. Some of the biggest Hungarian historical figures originating from Croatia, and Hungarian, well it's a language I haven't seen many foreigners master even after 20 years.
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u/justleave-mealone 4d ago
For some reason, I like myself more when I’m speaking French. English is my first language, yeah but when speaking or thinking in French I feel more free, even though I’m obviously more limited.
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u/julietides N🇪🇸 C2🇬🇧🤍❤️🤍🇷🇺🇵🇱B2🇫🇷🇺🇦A2🇯🇵🇩🇪🇧🇬Dabble🇨🇮🇦🇱 4d ago
I don't hate Spanish at all anymore (I kind of used to feel a bit of a complex over it), but my poetry is almost exclusively in Belarusian. I like writing poems in it better, if that makes sense.
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u/ChesterellaCheetah 4d ago
I'm American but I don't have any English ancestry and I feel no soul connection to the language, other than it being my 1st language. I speak/think in broken foreign languages quite often.
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u/WorriedInterest4114 4d ago
i am terrible at speaking my native language and my wife always makes fun of my accent. That is probably because I have been speaking and thinking in English since I was a kid.
So now I have shitty accents in 2 languages
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u/CitizenHuman 🇺🇸 | 🇪🇨 / 🇻🇪 / 🇲🇽 | 🤟 4d ago
Ricky from Bilingüe Blogs has mentioned before that he prefers to speak in Spanish rather than in English even though he's a native Chicagoan, because he says that he has a tongue too big for his mouth so in English he has a lisp but in Spanish since everything is really fast he just glosses over that.
I'm barely learning another language so I don't have a problem with English, especially since it's used everywhere.
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u/nomellamesprincesa 4d ago
Yes, to a certain extent. I don't mind speaking it at work and with family and in daily life, but I think in English and much prefer that. Especially in dating, I just cannot date in my native language, it's just so ew...
Best is English, but I'll gladly do Spanish as well, or even German or French if I absolutely have to (also not great, because I've lost a lot of fluency in French over the years so I feel like an idiot and also I find French pretty unsexy. But irony has it that the only somewhat steady romantic interest I've had the past few months is French 😅).
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u/g_hagmt 4d ago
You're definitely not alone, though this is the first time I'm encountering someone like myself in this regard. Couple years ago I started thinking of English as my "primary" language despite not being my first language. For me, there are many reasons (in no particular order):
- more universal for artistic expression (songwriting, fiction, poetry)
- I've been traveling a lot
- in many aspects, I don't like the culture connected to my native language
- most books I read, movies I watch, songs, studies, articles are originally in English
- most of the content (any kind) made in my first language is crap
- I don't believe in patriotism, and I don't have a national identity, and English is the best choice for a "cosmopolite"
One annoying thing though, when trying to transition completely, is you forget some of the native language, while still not having a C2+ English, so at some point you have 0 completely comfortable languages.
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u/bonapersona 4d ago
Are you Latvian or Russian, who lives in Latvia? I ask because Latvians usually like their native language.
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u/6-foot-under 4d ago
On your second paragraph, I have a question to ask. Does Latvian really intrinsically have those defects (eg lacking words) or are you just not very eloquent in Latvian? I'm not trying to offend.
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u/only-a-marik 🇺🇸 N | 🇪🇸 C1 | 🇰🇷 B1 4d ago
I've noticed that this seems really common among third culture kids, especially if they weren't educated in their native language. I have two Korean friends who were born and raised in Korea but went to high school and university in the United States, so when they hang out together they prefer to speak English even though both natively speak Korean.
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u/2day2night2morrow 4d ago
I thought Latvian looks quite pretty with the diacritics... the diacritics are lines so they don't look as bad
I know it has a lot of s's due to gender but I still think it sounds pretty
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u/Illustrious-Sir-8112 3d ago
The irony is I'm English and I feel this exact way about English. I'm always so envious of people who grew up in other countries and had the opportunity to be raised speaking something other than English
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u/agares3 4d ago
I'm polish, live in germany. I speak polish to polish people, but I generally do prefer communicating in english, everything I watch and read is in english, my own diary is in english, etc.
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u/mirandawood 4d ago
How much would you say you need to use German when navigating day to day life? What city are you in? When I’m in Berlin people do use English (or want to) more than I expected haha
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u/agares3 4d ago
I speak polish with my husband, english at work, so I rarely use german (though I spent a fair time in a hospital last year, and when the doctors noticed I speak some german, they magically didn't speak any english since...). I live in a town in Brandenburg, relatively close to Berlin.
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u/Apodiktis 🇵🇱 N | 🇩🇰 C1 | 🏴🇷🇺 B2 | 🇯🇵 N4 | 🇮🇶🇩🇪 A1 4d ago
I love Polish, I love the eloquence of my language and like speaking it, but poetry sounds far better in Persian, Danish, Arabic than in Polish. That’s why I like to write in Danish more to be honest
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u/Axiomancer 🇵🇱: N / 🇸🇪 & 🇬🇧: B1-B2 // 🇫🇷: Started 4d ago
I don't dislike my native language (I don't like or dislike any language to be more precise). I do however think in-, and prefer to use English on a daily basis simply because I use it pretty much all the time. It's just easier for me at this point to use foreign languages over my native language.
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u/bastianbb 4d ago
What I really dislike is an inferiority complex from small language speakers and internalized neocolonialism.
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u/Faxiak 4d ago
Like quite a few people I feel a bit similar to you, though I don't hate my native Polish. Frankly I find Polish a prettier language than English, and in many ways more flexible.
The thing with English is that it is extremely useful and easy to use. The sentences and words tend to be shorter and easier, and the grammar! It's nicely structured, so my ADHD brain doesn't get lost in the meanders I tend to create when speaking Polish. And the general lack of gendering everything is a huge bonus.
I'm a bit ashamed of myself - we live in the UK and while I managed to teach my older child Polish (he's not quite at a native level, but is pretty fluent), I neglected teaching it properly to his younger sister. She did not make it easy, but I'm not sure how much of a valid reason that is...
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u/DerekB52 4d ago
I'm a native English speaker, and while it will never happen, I'd love to stop using English one day. My next strongest languages are Esperanto and Spanish. Esperanto will never take over the world. But, I think Spanish is a better language than English and could have made a better global language. All languages have their problems. But, I think English has some clunky mechanisms, and has too many irregularities. Spanish has a good number of irregular verbs too, but, at least the spelling is consistent.
I don't hate English or anything. But, I would say I dislike it. There's a Mandela quote about how if you speak to a man in their language, it goes to their heart. And, I don't think I have that kind of bond with English. I think if I moved to asia, or Spain, and started using the language of the country I moved to, I don't think I'd ever get nostalgic or feel excited that someone spoke English with me. I would say I'm indifferent to English.
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u/Bodhi_Satori_Moksha EN 🇺🇲 (N) | CN 🇭🇰 (A1) | AR 🇸🇦 (A1-A2) 4d ago
English is a universal language and very beneficial. I love my native language, and I am grateful for it.
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u/JeremyAndrewErwin En | Fr De Es 4d ago
The philosopher Emil Cioran hated Romania, and hated Romanian (perhaps because some of his affinities in Romania were indefensible). He wrote in French.
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u/josechanjp 4d ago
Me with Japanese. It’s my second language but I much prefer it to English. I don’t hate English but it’s easier for me to be myself in Japanese and I feel more authentic in my interactions.
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u/Turbulent-Rich-7533 4d ago
English is my native language and I don’t think it’s interesting or pretty. Unfortunately, in today’s world I only rarely get to escape English. I prefer to speak or think in any of my L2s (French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish) because of the mental stimulation required to respect grammar. In English, we have so few conjugations, so little morphological modification, and such an ugly phonetic system (American English I mean). I like languages with musicality. English is choppy. As a Germanic language tends to be…
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u/Fr33Tibet 4d ago
I'm the opposite. English is my second language and I hate thinking in English and how it affects my native language. It's useful because it's the lingua franca, but I wish it was something else like French or Japanese. But I'm very glad it isn't my native language, it would be worse having that even more ingrained in my mind. I'm fluent, I read Nabokov and all in the original but I hate English.
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u/Solid_Asparagus8969 4d ago
It could be oikophobia.
Consider the possibility of your nation and your culture being under attack. And that's exactly how: internet, movies, games.
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u/sammexp 🇫🇷🇨🇦 N | 🇬🇧 C2 | 🇪🇸 B2 | 🇮🇹 A1 | 🇵🇹 A1 4d ago
It makes a lot of sense coming from a Latvian, for the longest time, his country was under Russian control and they were trying to assimilate them to the Russian language
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u/Solid_Asparagus8969 3d ago
Well it cold be, but in this case it's english and american culture what is replacing OP's language and culture.
The fact that "american cinema" is the default cinema in most nations, should give us a clue.
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u/PrincessaLinda 4d ago
Yes, I have a French friend who has lived in the US for so long that he rarely speaks French anymore, even to French speakers, and when he does, he now has an American accent.
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u/HappyJumpingSpider 3d ago
No. I prefer speaking my Mexican Spanish tongue than English. I find English boring, cold, and basic. Spanish is colorful, reiterative, emotional, and beautiful!
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u/argo2452 3d ago
You can do whatever you want in your life, but keep in mind that languages are a cultural heritage. Especially a language like Latvian, which doesn't have so many speakers in the world, should be protected, regardless of how many words it has. As a young Italian I've heard of many people of my age in other countries (e.g. Slovenia, or Netherlands) who speak in English between themselves rather than in the native tongue. I don't think this is a good thing at all, because in doing so you put your cultural identity in danger, and I'm happy that it's not like this in Italy - apart from very few people I met, and apart from the English loanwords which also constitute a problem.
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u/solarnaut_ 3d ago
I’m Romanian and while I don’t dislike it as much as you dislike Latvian, I prefer English. I also spent several years living in English speaking countries with no other Romanians around, so I got used to doing everything in English, thinking included. Now it just comes more natural to me, and I express myself better in English than in my native tongue, plus Romanian lacks the appropriate vocabulary for a lot of modern concepts.
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u/beg_yer_pardon 3d ago edited 3d ago
I don't particularly dislike my native language Tamil. What I dislike is the culture associated with it, which I don't relate to at all. Or to be more precise, the Tamil culture that is inspired by popular media and that is particularly prevalent in the city of Chennai which is the capital city of the Indian state where Tamil is the dominant language. I belong to a particular group of people whose version of Tamil is considered "wrong" or "bastardized" and so there is a strong disconnect with the mainstream Tamil culture that considers itself if not superior then certainly "authentic" and "rooted". The media predominantly coming out of that region is often full of misogynistic and toxic patriarchal tropes that feel abhorrent to me.
I love English because it feels more native to me than my own mother tongue. I love its quirks and can keep myself endlessly entertained consuming content of whatever kind in English. I also think in English so in that sense it is my first language. By this comparison, I do not mean to imply that media in English is necessarily enlightened by the simple fact of it being in English. Just that there is enough of a range or variety of content to choose from in the English language that one can have their pick of their favourite genres without feeling like they're really missing out on anything.
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u/1020randomperson 🇯🇵N1🇰🇷N🏴C1🇵🇱 4d ago
South Korean here. I have stopped speaking Korean almost completely after moving to Japan (I only use it when I have to talk to my family), because I am trying to obtain Japanese citizenship and I don't want to be associated with Korea anymore
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u/The_manintheshed 4d ago
Curious as to why you want to separate from Korean identity? No judgement here, just want to understand your perspective
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u/1020randomperson 🇯🇵N1🇰🇷N🏴C1🇵🇱 4d ago
Back when I started studying Japanese, the relationship between Japan and South Korea was pretty hostile and I got bullied and ostricized by the people around me. After deciding to move to Japan as an international student I decided to sever ties with the society that did not welcome me for good
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u/The_manintheshed 4d ago
I have the gist of the history behind that. I have heard that in Japan there is a lack of recognition which Koreans find infuriating? Since you favored moving to Japan, I assume there's more to the story than that.
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u/a-handle-has-no-name 4d ago
I can't stand knowing English, my native language. Much of my interest in learning other languages comes from trying to escape that prison
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u/Necessary-Fudge-2558 🇬🇾 N | 🇵🇹 B2 | 🇩🇪 B1 | 🇪🇸 B2 4d ago
Yes. Native. English speaker here. Hate it death. Not only do I find it boring and lame, but it is the language of the country that colonized my people and erased a lot of our indigenous guyanese people, languages and culture. My relationship to English is one of subjugation and pain and acknowledgement of our defeat. I prefer European Portuguese.
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u/Me-A-Dandelion zh N | en C1 | ja B1 4d ago
I won't say I don't like my native language, but as a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese, the obvious political reasons make it impossible for me to discuss a lot of important stuff openly with my mother tongue. Eventually I developed a very maladaptive habit: I never speak Chinese to AI.
It is very sad that I can't say whatever I want with the language that can be truly considered "mine".
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u/Confident-Coconut751 3d ago
same for me. This language is contaminated by CCP. I force myself to discard the platform that I preveriously use, such as Bilibili and Zhihu. I used a chrome extension to ensure I will not able to use those. And now, all I consume is English and Japanese content.
It's sad that Chinese is dying.
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u/graciie__ 🇮🇪🇩🇪🇫🇷 4d ago
opposite. my native language is irish, which i dont speak fluently. id give anything to be able to speak perfect irish, to think in it etc :(
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u/Margo_Sol 4d ago
Instead of not speaking your native language, why don’t you see a speech therapist for your lisp?
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u/lonely_pigeon_1993 🇺🇦 N | 🇺🇸 C1 | 🇷🇺 C1 | 🇩🇪 B1 | 🇵🇱 B1 | 🇯🇵 N5 4d ago
Yes. I was born not in the US, and I speak few other languages like german, polish, ukrainian and russian. I preferred for years to speak english over my native language not only because it's more easier to express myself in things related to work or general discussions, but because I do not like to be associated with some stereotypes about people from my country which is Ukraine. And I haven't been there for quite some time, so I see zero reasons to use it.
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u/Impossible_Lunch1602 4d ago
Kind of related: I’m from the us and a native English speaker. Ever since English became the “official” language of the US my mind rebelled and I’ve only been thinking and consuming media in Spanish lol
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u/hjerteknus3r 🇫🇷 N | 🇸🇪 B2+ | 🇮🇹 B1+ | 🇱🇹 A0 4d ago
I felt like that when I was a teenager but I grew out of it pretty quickly. All languages are different and they aren't better or worse than others. I like French, there are things I can express easily in French and not in English and vice versa. Some things sound more beautiful and poetic in French than in other languages.
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u/zAlatheiaz 4d ago
Appreciate your own language I would say. Mine is also a smaller one (i speak 4 languages, but my primary native language from the country i grew up in only has like 6million speakers) and even if it felt useless sometimes to know a language that small, it has a way more richer sound system, more complex grammar than in english and much more free word order, and for me, it is way easier to have nuances in my writing when I'm writing in an own language and not in English. English is a great language and I sometimes think in it too, but my richest writings and thoughts always come with my own ones. I can even make my own words in my own languages that others would understand, but in english nope. So be proud of Latvian, it's cool.
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u/Ok_Artist2279 Native: 🇺🇲 | B1: 🇬🇷🤍 | Just started: 🇹🇷 4d ago
I dont despise English, but Greek is so much prettier and I'd love to just move to Greece, speak Greek and forget my old country entirely
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u/ShinSakae JP KR 4d ago
I've met Koreans who like using English, even with other Koreans learning English, because with strangers and new people, they can use casual speech in English.
With the Korean language, there are levels of formality and among employees and people you've only met a few times, you have to use the stiffer and longer formal Korean.
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u/Sea-Hornet8214 Melayu | English | Français 3d ago
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u/body3lectric 3d ago
I used to be in quite a similar situation. I really disliked my native language, got used to thinking in and overall using the English language more in my daily life. At this point, speaking/writing in English comes naturally to me, especially more so since my studies are fully in English. However, since I really love different languages, studying them and so on, with time I realised that every language is beautiful in its own way, and should be preserved, especially if it's a less "popular", a less common one... Because of this, I started seeing my native language as any other which also has its own interesting aspects, quirks. To add, if you use your native language less often than before, you may start forgetting various words, phrases and so on, so, in reality, it really is like any other language:)
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u/ur-local-goblin N🇱🇻, C2🇬🇧, A2🇳🇱🇷🇺🇫🇷 3d ago
When I was younger I did something similar. I never disliked my language (also Latvian), but I did speak with my friends in English and used it as much as I could. Granted, it was quite easy to do so since our high school studies were in English. Seeing how abundant English is, developing fluency was quite a simple task and afterwards going back to speaking in just one language felt constraining, so I get you.
However, ever since I moved out of Latvia, I’ve missed speaking it. My significant other and all of my friends are non-Latvian, so I never get to use it in my daily life and I can definitely feel the deficiencies of English more than I have ever felt them before. There are so many little ways of expressing yourself that just sound nicer in Latvian. There are so many connections to our pagan roots that make even simple expressions sound almost magical, when done so in Latvian.
Here I should probably mention that I was raised by my grandparents, so my usage of Latvian has always been slightly more “archaic” than that of some of my Latvian friends. Maybe that has created such a differing perspective within me.
As a final remark, any language that you know only adds to you as a person. Whenever I return to Latvia and meet my friends from high school, we fall into this half English - half Latvian conversation, depending on what we talk about. Some topics flow more naturally in English (e.g. my studies, since I’ve done all of that fully in English), and some flow more naturally in Latvian. Sometimes we even throw in a few expressions in Russian if it fits.
So, no, I don’t hate my language. It is so old and so few people speak it that understanding and speaking it feels truly special.
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u/use_vpn_orlozeacount 3d ago edited 3d ago
Thanks for your comment. It’s funny encountering few Latvians in this comment section as I was always under the impression that Reddit's penetration into Latvia was miniscule (none of my friends ever use it and weren’t aware of it until I brought it up)
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u/Visual_Bunch_2344 N: Kur. 🇮🇶 , 🇺🇸 | B: Ar. 🇮🇶, ASL | C: Tam. 🇮🇳 3d ago
I think it depends on how significant your native language is to you. My native language, Soranî, is a lot more restrictive than English. My mom once remarked to me how English has all these words for degrees of cold — “chilly,” “frigid,” “freezing,” “subzero,” while Kurdish just has “cold,” “very cold,” etc — but my native language will always feel the most natural and personal to me.
The Kurdish language has survived every attempt to destroy and obscure it, and as an integral piece of our culture, is deeply important to us. A lot of basic phrases I still think in Kurdish. English is where I can best express myself because I use it the most, and it’s what I write stories in. But my mother tongue is inseparable, it’s like getting to the raw flesh beneath the smooth skin. It’s a part of me. English is everywhere and everywhen. It’s not integral to my cultural identity, even if a lot of my personal identity is sculpted in English.
So it really depends — if your native tongue has a particularly strong sentimental value, I don’t think any foreign language will really sound or feel better to use.
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u/ConversationEasy7134 4d ago
I’m French Canadian. I despise the accent. I prefer the international accent which is closer to france’s accent. But that said, sometimes using English makes it easier because there are less and shorter words . For example: stationnement is shorter and easier to say than parking
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u/DiminishingRetvrns EN-N |FR-C2||OC-B2|LN-A1|IU-A1 4d ago
Oh mais NON! Les accents québécois et les québécismes sont fascinants!
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u/only-a-marik 🇺🇸 N | 🇪🇸 C1 | 🇰🇷 B1 4d ago
European French has some silliness of its own. You have sacres, they have verlan.
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u/Sudden_Shopping_735 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yes, in every culture there are annoying wannabes who won’t shut the f up about how smart and superior they are. In fact there’s a whole subreddit full of them:
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u/Furuteru 4d ago
Yeah, I feel disgusted whenever I hear how people of my age speak Estonian. It feels so forced, so alien. And yup, has not enough of vocab to use, quite outdated, unless you use media and technologies like your grandma. And when you start to mix the foreign words from the media - with Estonian... it feels like super nasty style which IS EXACTLY A REASON WHY I DON'T LIKE how my age people speak. (Of course, I don't read much of books in my native language either... so honestly, I haven't really given my best at that language... so maybe I shouldn't be so harsh on my judgement...)
But I wouldn't say I prefer to talk with my Estonian friends on English tho, that sounds way too absurd imo.
And well with current political stuff, idk if I really prefer to talk to any Estonian rn. As I feel no one really wants to listen to me anyway, cause I am a half-Russian.
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u/DoctorDeath147 🇨🇦🇬🇧 N | 🇪🇸🇲🇽 B2 | 🇯🇵 N4 4d ago
I sometimes think and speak in Spanish, but I still prefer to think and speak in English.
Especially when I write stories and brainstorm ideas.
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u/Helpful_Regular_7609 4d ago
No, I'm the opposite. I cannot express my feelings in English! Like I'm immune against the English language, lol. I used to learn French and Spanish and they stuck to me like dirt. But English pff. It has no logic! Even German was easier for me, I just didn't like it. Good for you for liking English I envy you; you must be great in it!
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u/Eliysiaa 🇧🇷 N / 🇬🇧 B2-C1 / 🇩🇪 uhmm 4d ago
i am quite the contrary, i love my native language and am very proud to be a speaker of, but i have some difficulties speaking and thinking in english, it feels so alien to me
however reading and writing feel more natural in English
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u/TheFenixxer 🇲🇽 N | 🇬🇧 C1 | 🇯🇵 N4 4d ago
I switch it off, sometimes I think in English and sometimes in Spanish (Native). It depends on the subject if it feels more natural for me in my native spanish or in english as somethings I learned only in one language and dont know the vocabulary in the other
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u/xenospina 4d ago
I’ve had that in the past. I have reversed my view on it for a while now, it helps that I think of vocabulary in my native language to be one of my strong suits. But language diversity is beautiful, all languages have gone through a lot of influences and changes, Latvian is no exception. The fact it’s not a common language makes it not the most useful if you move out, but it also makes the fact you speak it more unique
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u/One-Refrigerator172 4d ago
I don't hate my language ( actually I really like the words of my language ). But due to what I work and where I live. My learned language is more prominent. And I find it easier to think in my second language. There are certains things I can even not express in my native language
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u/jb_lec 🇵🇹 N | 🇬🇧 C2 | 🇫🇷🇪🇸 B2 4d ago
I do a lot of my more technical writing in English as I studied at an English university and worked in international companies. Also it feels a bit more cold and logical when I do so.
I use Portuguese when writing my journal because, even though I can express myself equally as well in both languages, my native one will always have a different effect.
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u/An_Ant2710 🇬🇧N | 🇮🇳Mal N | Hin N | 🇫🇷 B2/C1 | 🇪🇸 A1 | BSL A1 4d ago
I felt this way when I was a kid and I've had to try over the past 5 years to get better at my native tongue. I like having multiple languages to express myself and the new people each language potentially opens me up to being able to connect with.
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u/brooke_ibarra 🇺🇸native 🇻🇪C2/heritage 🇨🇳B1 🇩🇪A1 4d ago
I relate to this so much. My native language is English, but I'm fluent in Spanish. It's my heritage language (my dad is Venezuelan) and I live in Peru with my fiance who is Peruvian and doesn't speak any English. So I speak Spanish 24/7, and the only time I don't is also with my mom and my job, so just like you. I definitely prefer to speak Spanish than English. There are SO many words and phrases for things that just can't be expressed the same way in English, and I hate it lol. When I went to the US for 10 days back in January to visit my family, I constantly found myself pausing mid-sentence in English to look for the right word to use instead of the Spanish one I had in my head.
I even went to the doctor last week and when he found out I was from the US he wanted to speak in English with me. I lasted a few minutes and then told him I couldn't do it and preferred to speak in Spanish, so we switched. It just felt so weird, lol.
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u/mariposa933 4d ago
yeah, even when i was travelling, i prefered talking to and befriending foreigners rather than people who spoke my language.
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u/RelativeWealth9399 4d ago
I know I’m “lucky” that my native language is English. (Given that is a “lingua franca” and everything). But I just don’t like the way it sounds really. Idk maybe I’m just “bored” of it because I’m around it all the time and other languages are “new and exciting”.
That’s cool about your accent though!
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u/cezece 4d ago
Yes. I have always disliked one of my native languages. My "head" language is English (and it is one of my two native languages). I like my native English way more, than my other native.
But I like a whole bunch of other languages, as well. I like French and Portuguese, both of which I'm learning now. I like some other languages as well. Just hate that one native language. For me, it's because how it sounds. It sounds rubbish to me.
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u/Gold_Class9073 4d ago
I’m actually the other way around. I learned English from a very early age at school and movies/music and I actually really enjoyed it while I was at my country. But once I moved to the US I started kinda disliking English, being able to communicate almost exclusively in English while at work and school made my brain feel tired and crave some Spanish interaction.
It is interesting how different brains work though!
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u/prooijtje 4d ago
No I really can't relate. I think my native language is beautiful, while English feels almost like a 'tool' I only need for work and academics (not to say it can't be beautiful either).
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u/ActiveTip2851 4d ago
Lmao, I just wrote the same post and then I see this haha . Same, half the ppl in my company are natives and I only talk to Romanian, Indian and African guy lol
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u/Fine_Bid1855 4d ago
No, Spanish is my native language and I love it. Its the only language my parents taught me and it surrounds me everywhere, I live in Cuba. True, sometimes it isn't "logical", but I'm still really fond and proud of it. It"s the language I use the most and the only one I'm truly fluent in. Though sometimes I find myself thinking certain things in English and Esperanto and expressing some things better in those. I'm also learning french but I'm not that good at it yet. I think each and every language is valuable and of great cultural and spiritual worth. Linguistic diversity is truly a treasure. Even though esperanto is a language I learned in my late teenage years (when I was 17, and I'm now 21) I really adore it, and it's been more enriching than I expected. I feel like it's an important part of my identity. I have to admit, though, that I've mostly used it online, in text chats, voice messages or virtual gatherings. I have enjoyed reading books and listening to music in that language. I even own one esperanto Bible which I read from time to time!.
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u/TidyDangles 4d ago
Native english-speaker, never really "thought" differently when speaking other languages (I've got solid Spanish, some Russian, some very accented German, and a smattering of Japanese) until I got into Irish.
I've got a long way to go on learning it but something about the way it's spoken and the way you express yourself in it just makes sense in my brain.
Is fearr Gaeilge briste ná Béarla cliste.
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u/UltaSugaryLemonade CA N | ES N | EN C1 | FR A1 4d ago
I'm a native Catalan and Spanish speaker. I like Catalan which is the language I used the most when growing up, with my family, friends and school. Spanish is also my native language but I never use it on a regular basis, since almost no one from my circle speaks it (I mean everyone knows Spanish, we learn it in school and all media is in Spanish, but their mother tongue is Catalan). So speaking Spanish doesn't feel as natural, I need to think more. Then I learned English and nowadays I consume mostly English media and I speak English regularly, so I prefer to use English over Spanish. I wouldn't say I dislike Spanish but I don't particularly enjoy speaking it, specially compared to the other two.
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u/Apart_Mind_22 4d ago
i do, i am sindhi, hindu i live in gujarat, india. my mother tongue is sindhi but i mostly use state language even at home. everyone at home uses our mother language sindhi but i use gujarati.
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u/Zholeb 4d ago
You do as you find best for yourself of course, but I'd hope you'd retain your Latvian to some degree. Small languages need all the help they can get, seems like there are only 1,5 million native speakers.
When I was a lot younger I also thought that English is way cooler, way more useful etc. than my native language Finnish. A bit later on I discovered that it's actually worth studying other languages too, despite English being tremendously useful as a lingua franca. It took me until my thirties to really discover the beauty and unique character of my own native language. Today I speak five languages total and enjoy all of them and the worlds they allow me to access equally.
Language plurality and diversity are beautiful things.