langauge learning?

[gardenmom5]

I'm doing duolingo Spanish. (not my only source, but main one right now.)  for reasons I'm not going into, I need to learn Spanish and hopefully develop reasonable fluency.    despite being sick, I've managed to work at what I thought was a fast pace (started in Jan, and I'm halfway through the third level.)  I'm also doing stories concurrently.

has anyone else, when learning a language - been freaked out because they can translate a sentence even though they feel like they don't understand the language?   some - I can feel "whoohoo, I'm doing good".   but there have been some, I feel freaked out for translating it correctly the first time.  (don't get me wrong, I've had units I felt like every other question I got wrong.)

 

eta: this doesn't count spoken.  I'm happy if I can catch any words at all . . . .. Spanish is fast . . . . 

Edited March 2, 2020 by gardenmom5

[Renai]

Because you are exposing yourself to so much language (immersing yourself regularly it sounds like), your brain is getting the "gist" of what is being said even if you don't understand every word. It is a normal process, and one to be celebrated! And input always goes before output, so it is also normal to understand but not be able to formulate a good answer. Think back to our babies - they understood a lot more than they could speak in the beginning.

Keep up the good work!

[Ottakee]

Yes.  I can translate the written better than. I could ever speak or understand spoken Spanish.

  Sometimes I will actually catch myself thinking of something super simple...and I am thinking in Spanish.  It might just be a noun or simple phrase but it surprises me.

[Chris in VA]

I think our brains are wired to try desperately hard to understand language, and to make sense of our world in general. I think it is to help us stay alive.You know how people are always seeing Jesus in the clouds or toast or something? (Well not always lol) Our brains seek understanding, and finding patterns and pictures would help with that.

Same with language. You can probably find and remember those words that have a lot of meaning to you in English, or sound/look like English, or have been associated in your mind with something else easy to remember. And your ear will get used to the patterns and cadences in Spanish, too, as you gain more proficiency. 

I speak about 15 words of Arabic, but in church, I can follow our priests when they pray in Arabic if I have the written English in front of me; I mean, I know where they are, approximately, because of the repeated words, cognates and place names (never pronounced exactly as Eng but close enough) and pauses/breath patterns. 

Good luck on your Spanish journey! 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Chris in VA

[wintermom]

7 hours ago, Chris in VA said:

I think our brains are wired to try desperately hard to understand language, and to make sense of our world in general. I think it is to help us stay alive.

I agree with this! I know when I was immersed in Norwegian language while living in Norway, I used every possible means available in the moment to try and grasp an understanding. "Borrowed" words in particular were really helpful (e.g., kiosk, cantina, etc.). And the more languages I study, the more patterns and similar words my brain recognizes.