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Totally Random… about Languages
Thursday, 10 March 2022 11:12So up in my mind, I'm planning ahead for the upcoming ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
glimpseatmyday post (speaking in other languages), and I was ruminating about many things.
I keep saying Portuguese is technically my "mother tongue" but then I went to an English school so I've forgotten all about Portuguese. I can still speak it, I probably could survive in Portugal, but I'm not sure if I would be able to make a living in Portugal, as I have a severe lack of confidence when I have to speak in Portuguese. I always kind of get the feeling like, the Portuguese I manage to speak is not "real, true" Portuguese as it is written. It's probably because in Macau we follow the Portuguese Law and most (most? Many?) Portuguese in Macau are lawyers, so I get this impression from the language.
Anyway, today I found the perfect post to explain my feeling. This image below (snagged off Facebook), is probably from a housing estate in Hong Kong. Or Singapore. But I'm leaning more towards Hong Kong because this sounds more Konglish than Singlish. ANYWAY. My point being.... in the below notice, all the English is correct. However, in a "proper document" or "notice", you wouldn't write it like that... it's more legalese or whatsitscalled.
And that's what I feel like when I have to speak in Portuguese. Maybe what I say is correct but it's not the way proper Portuguese is said.
And then, my mind goes a mile a minute when I'm in rambling mode. I was thinking about how my mind jumbles Japanese and German. Because "Japanese" is my first "foreign language"... hard to explain... I grew up speaking English, Portuguese, and Cantonese, the first real "foreign language" I had to learn and put effort to it was Japanese. So when I think "foreign language", I revert to Japanese. So, many times when I'm thinking I have to say something in German (as in "foreign language") then somehow I'll either say it in Japanese or build the sentence in Japanese grammar (whatever little bit I remember of it).
Like, I was thinking how to write "the book I'm reading now is..." in German, and what came out was "Jetzt yondeiru hon wa..." super eye rolling on my part when I noticed.... (German)Now (Japanese)the book I'm reading is.....
glimpseatmyday post (speaking in other languages), and I was ruminating about many things.I keep saying Portuguese is technically my "mother tongue" but then I went to an English school so I've forgotten all about Portuguese. I can still speak it, I probably could survive in Portugal, but I'm not sure if I would be able to make a living in Portugal, as I have a severe lack of confidence when I have to speak in Portuguese. I always kind of get the feeling like, the Portuguese I manage to speak is not "real, true" Portuguese as it is written. It's probably because in Macau we follow the Portuguese Law and most (most? Many?) Portuguese in Macau are lawyers, so I get this impression from the language.
Anyway, today I found the perfect post to explain my feeling. This image below (snagged off Facebook), is probably from a housing estate in Hong Kong. Or Singapore. But I'm leaning more towards Hong Kong because this sounds more Konglish than Singlish. ANYWAY. My point being.... in the below notice, all the English is correct. However, in a "proper document" or "notice", you wouldn't write it like that... it's more legalese or whatsitscalled.
And that's what I feel like when I have to speak in Portuguese. Maybe what I say is correct but it's not the way proper Portuguese is said.
And then, my mind goes a mile a minute when I'm in rambling mode. I was thinking about how my mind jumbles Japanese and German. Because "Japanese" is my first "foreign language"... hard to explain... I grew up speaking English, Portuguese, and Cantonese, the first real "foreign language" I had to learn and put effort to it was Japanese. So when I think "foreign language", I revert to Japanese. So, many times when I'm thinking I have to say something in German (as in "foreign language") then somehow I'll either say it in Japanese or build the sentence in Japanese grammar (whatever little bit I remember of it).
Like, I was thinking how to write "the book I'm reading now is..." in German, and what came out was "Jetzt yondeiru hon wa..." super eye rolling on my part when I noticed.... (German)Now (Japanese)the book I'm reading is.....
