Re: Similar (was: 'useful') languages

On Fri, 15 Feb 2002, Jonathan Knibb wrote:

> Clint Jackson Baker wrote:
> >>>
> [...] I'm better at
> French, but I think that's because I've known it so
> much longer, and French and Spanish are similar enough
> that when I try to speak Spanish I tend to pidgin the
> two (easy for an English speaker, who has more vocab
> in common with French than with Spanish).
> <<<
>
> Is this a common problem?  I had a similar experience a couple of years ago,
> when I was learning Swedish.  I've had semi-reasonable German since I
> learned it in school at fourteen (so twelve years ago), and although I was
> conscious of the similarities between Ger. and Sw. while I was learning the
> latter, I wasn't aware that they could interfere with each other until I
> tried speaking German just after a Swedish lesson.  Result: acute total
> German-aphasia.  Two years on, I can once again speak decent German, but
> only as long as I don't think about Swedish at the same time!
>
> Has anyone else come across this phenomenon?
After studying Latin fairly hard for a year or so, I found that my
Spanish, grown rusty, had become Elmer Fudded.  All my [v]s were [w]s.  I
sounded as if I had a hairlip.  But a good five minute conversation was
all it took to straighten me out again.

--Pat


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Prurio modo viri qui in arbore pilosa est.
                        ~~Elvis

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