A conversation with myself

I'm an avid reader of blogs around the internet on polyglottery and linguistics, like Hungry For Words, Language Hat, and Spanish-only, and El Forastero . One thing I've picked up is that language learning is a discipline, but one that can be fun. One technique I personally this is very helpful is just incorporating language into your every day life- what I do with Spanish and Japanese at the moment. Like I said in my first post, Spanish and Japanese are the major languages for me right now. They both like to float around in my brain all of the time, and where one is deficient(usually Japanese) the other picks up and takes over, until I really can't say anything and go back to English.

I think making language a real part of your life instead of sectioning it off into class(something easy for a student to do) is much more productive and satisfying in the long run. At the moment, I'm studying Japanese in class at the university, and just trying to practice Spanish on my own, in order to maintain it. I hope one day to simply be able to think completely in the other languages, but I'm not going to wait until I feel ready to try. Language is like math- it takes lots of repetition and practice to understand the concepts. Even if you don't have very much vocabulary(or, in math, know how to solve many kinds of problems), you can play with it, going off what you know. This post on Confessions of a Language Addict expands on a thought that I've been playing around with in my mind.

For instance, feelings:
I'm tired.
つかれています。(tsukareteimasu)
Estoy cansada/o.

Or things you're doing:
I'm going to go eat at the dining hall.
しょくどうで食べに行きます。(Shokudou de tabe ni ikimasu.
Yo voy a comer en la cafetería.

Everyday, instead of thinking these things in English, I try to play around with them in the other languages. The goal is that I don't have to think first in English and then translate, but just know and feel cansada. It's not like I can't say that in English, but it takes out a middle step when you really know the language. Of course, this is just a starting point to say such simple things to yourself. If you only do simple sentences like that, then you'll feel overconfident and not actually fluent. But most people know to know a language, you have to practice in other ways, whether through reading, conversation, or flashcards. And as your proficiency increases, just increase the things you make yourself think in the other language.

But engaging in self-talk can be beneficial in connecting the language to everyday things while going through your regular schedule. The main setback to this is that sometime you start to actually talk aloud(something you need to do to get the accent and pronunciation down), but you're in the middle of the street or on a bus. I've found myself mumbling in Japanese, and then realize where I am and look around to see some funny looks. But that's a risk worth taking. You know you're really not insane. And if you're alone, it's best to say it aloud for your mouth's sake.

Anyway, this is my philosophy. We'll see if it holds true. Are there any really bad side effects to this method?

Primeramente。はじめに/Firstly

Hola!

Yo soy Kelsey, y soy estudiante de relaciones internacionales y japónes, pero me encantan lenguajes en general. Así, yo quisiera hacer una bitácora en y sobre estos lenguajes. En el colegio, yo estudiaba el español, así es el idioma en que pienso primeramente desde el ingles. Tambien he estudiado arabé, swahili, setswana(del país Botswana), francés y por supuesto japónes.　Cuando era niña, yo estudiaba el swahili, el setswana, y el francés, porque vivaba en Africa. Pero de estos solamente actualmente hablo bien el japónes . Yo conozco algunas palabras en los otros lenguajes, pero no son muchas. Así, yo tengo unas lenguas que yo puedo utilizar. Por esto, yo bautiso este bitácora Lenguajes intercambiables.'

こんにちは！

私はケルシーとい国さいかんけいと日本語の学生、でもいろいろ言葉が大好きです。そして、ブルッグをその言葉につくるのがほしいでした。高校の時、スペイン語を勉強して、それから英語の後で、スペイン語ははじめの思うです。アラビア語もスワヒリ語もセツワナ語(ボツワナに）もフランス語ももちりろん日本語も勉強しました。子どもの時、スワヒリ語もセツワナ語もフランス語もべんきょうしました。というのはアフリカに住んでいました。だけどその言葉のなかで、今日本語が話せます。わたしは舌(言葉）がたくさんをつかえます。他言葉にいつかワード知っていて、でもたくさんじゃないです。それでこのブルッグは「ごかんに舌」にせんれいめいをつけます。

Hi!

I'm Kelsey, and I'm a student of international affairs and Japanese, but I like languages in general. So, I wanted to make a blog in and about those languages. In high school, I studied Spanish, so it's the first language that I think in after English. I have also studied Arabic, Swahili, Setswana (from Botswana), French, and, of course, Japanese. When I was a child, I studied Swahili, Setswana, and French, because I lived in Africa. But of these, I can only speak Japanese well right now. I know some words in the other languages, but not too many. So, I have many tongues that I can use. Because of that, I baptise this blog 'Interchangeable Tongues.'


Now, after the intro:

Sorry for the bad Japanese; when I first started thinking in Spanish, I should have figured that I wouldn't be able to translate it all on what I already knew in Japanese. I'm basically going to use this blog to chart my journey in polyglottery and put down things that relate to my study and linguistics in general. I've been inspired by a few blogs around the net, so I thought I'd take a stab at it. I know I'm not far at all, but I figure any practice I can get will be good for me and maybe could help someone else.