| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Where/how did you acquire proficiency in your (non-native) source language(s)? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Where/how did you acquire proficiency in your (non-native) source language(s)?".
This poll was originally submitted by Iulia Parvu. View the poll results »
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First at school and at the university and then I lived abroad for 30 years…
| | | | | School/University, but mostly at work | Feb 4 |
Work... because it was where I was really exposed to all sorts of people and accents...
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:58
Serbian to English
+ ...
| Yet another vaguely defined pool question ... | Feb 4 |
When it comes to learning a language, "At school/university" is not "one option". There are in fact TWO possible variants, that make a HUGE difference:
-- "At school/university" in a another country where you learn the language as a "foreign language"
-- "At school/university" in a school or university in the country whose language you learn.
I studied in France - from "école élémentaire" to university. Not quite the same as studying French while living ... See more When it comes to learning a language, "At school/university" is not "one option". There are in fact TWO possible variants, that make a HUGE difference:
-- "At school/university" in a another country where you learn the language as a "foreign language"
-- "At school/university" in a school or university in the country whose language you learn.
I studied in France - from "école élémentaire" to university. Not quite the same as studying French while living outside of France.
You would expect that this kind of "nuances" wouldn't elude language pros ...
You maybe noticed that I entirely avoided using "native / non-native", as one of the surest ways to generate a very "lively" debate is to start a forum thread about "nativeness".
[Edited at 2024-02-04 05:29 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| school (starting at 7), living abroad etc | Feb 4 |
I studies a lot.
Also this is my only talent, learning languages is easy for me
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:58
Member (2008)
Italian to English
[Edited at 2024-02-04 08:06 GMT]
| | | | | School, country, people | Feb 4 |
School in Germany, after that, European School in Varese, Italy (DE, FR, IT, EN) University in Milan, Scuola Sup. Interpreti&Traduttori in Milan, running a translation agency in Milan with three partners, now living and working in France.
[Edited at 2024-02-04 09:28 GMT]
| | | | Ana Vozone 
Local time: 17:58
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| At home, school, friends and music | Feb 4 |
My Mother (Portuguese) was passionate about languages and taught at the American School in Lisbon. So we learnt English as young children. We also had a Swiss lady who would come to our house to teach us French. At school, in Portugal, we had 5 (mandatory) years of French and at least 3 years of English. I chose English and German (and Latin) in my final years at highschool. And then 3 more years of German and English at the Translator School.
Music was also a significant influence in ever... See more My Mother (Portuguese) was passionate about languages and taught at the American School in Lisbon. So we learnt English as young children. We also had a Swiss lady who would come to our house to teach us French. At school, in Portugal, we had 5 (mandatory) years of French and at least 3 years of English. I chose English and German (and Latin) in my final years at highschool. And then 3 more years of German and English at the Translator School.
Music was also a significant influence in everybody's language learning: we had lots of French music from a very young age... but then came the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and French was a bit left behind...
And, of course, I had and still have friends from other countries.
[Edited at 2024-02-04 09:38 GMT]
[Edited at 2024-02-04 09:38 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:58
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| If you want to be truly proficient... | Feb 4 |
...across a broad range of language, immersion in the/a country of the source language is the only way.
There is so much of language that is not represented in formal written texts. I like to use the example of the leaflet of instructions issued by the local government for separating your rubbish into different categories before disposal. It's not the kind of thing you ever encounter unless you actually live in a place, and in a way it says a lot about the culture.
Ditt... See more ...across a broad range of language, immersion in the/a country of the source language is the only way.
There is so much of language that is not represented in formal written texts. I like to use the example of the leaflet of instructions issued by the local government for separating your rubbish into different categories before disposal. It's not the kind of thing you ever encounter unless you actually live in a place, and in a way it says a lot about the culture.
Ditto advertisements on billboards, menus, insurance contracts, rental agreements and so on and so forth - all the mostly uninteresting stuff that is, nevertheless, a large part of the substance of daily life.
There is no substitute for being there.
Dan ▲ Collapse
| | | | Arne Krueger
Germany
Local time: 18:58
German to English
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| Another important factor... | Feb 4 |
...is to get into more than just two languages... I had Italian and French when I was a kid and it is just cool to see how it all sort of flows and interacts with each other. So, proficiency for me is more than just understanding one or two languages. Once you get into other languages, you can see how it all evolved. And that is pretty interesting and fascinating.
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Dan Lucas wrote:
...across a broad range of language, immersion in the/a country of the source language is the only way.
There is so much of language that is not represented in formal written texts. I like to use the example of the leaflet of instructions issued by the local government for separating your rubbish into different categories before disposal. It's not the kind of thing you ever encounter unless you actually live in a place, and in a way it says a lot about the culture.
Ditto advertisements on billboards, menus, insurance contracts, rental agreements and so on and so forth - all the mostly uninteresting stuff that is, nevertheless, a large part of the substance of daily life.
There is no substitute for being there.
Dan
In 1985 when I decided to move to Brussels, I spoke a rather good French but I was pretty ignorant of a lot of everyday stuff. So, in the beginning my food shopping was always done in the supermarket where I could see what I wanted without having to ask for it.
| | | | Iulia Parvu
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:58
Member (2022)
English to Romanian
+ ...
| A combination of factors | Feb 4 |
1. By watching TV shows (from the age of 9).
2. Through self-study (from the age of 12).
3. By living abroad (from the age of 33).
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| Same here, a combination of factors | Feb 4 |
I learnt French and Italian at school first, then I had the opportunity of winning a scholarship to France so I started seriously practicing it. Then I had an aunt who lived in France and i went to live with her for some time and naturally I became proficient in it and learnt not only the language but the culture of the region too. As for Italian, I learnt it at school but those days, the TV that we had was in English or Italian channel as we didn't yet have national TV, so it was kind of easy a... See more I learnt French and Italian at school first, then I had the opportunity of winning a scholarship to France so I started seriously practicing it. Then I had an aunt who lived in France and i went to live with her for some time and naturally I became proficient in it and learnt not only the language but the culture of the region too. As for Italian, I learnt it at school but those days, the TV that we had was in English or Italian channel as we didn't yet have national TV, so it was kind of easy as I had daily practice. I just loved the Italian music scene and followed every program with music and bought any magazines which dealt with Italian pop singers. Like this, it was easy learning and practicing the language. ▲ Collapse
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Dan Lucas wrote:
immersion in the/a country of the source language is the only way.
It certainly helps and it’s the best way to learn, but it’s not essential for translating.
For the same reason that I can understand US English despite never having been there. I just wouldn’t translate stuff about baseball.
| | | | | My mom told me I used to read a dictionary as a kid | Feb 5 |
We had two relatively small dictionaries, one blue and one yellow (the latter being eaten by our guinea-pig Kusha much later in life), and no access to anything else that could be helpful for language learning. Don't remember reading a dictionary though, I must have been too little. My first foreign language was German, but the method by which it was taught eventually diverted me from really mastering it (my only accomplishment being that I read the first part of Faust). My formal learning of En... See more We had two relatively small dictionaries, one blue and one yellow (the latter being eaten by our guinea-pig Kusha much later in life), and no access to anything else that could be helpful for language learning. Don't remember reading a dictionary though, I must have been too little. My first foreign language was German, but the method by which it was taught eventually diverted me from really mastering it (my only accomplishment being that I read the first part of Faust). My formal learning of English began in the ninth year of school, so I don't know how, even then, I considered myself to be the best out there. I've never traveled to any English-speaking countries but had English-speaking friends in my time (so I ended up being the only person with zero travel experience in my advanced English group in university). We had an American teacher who taught an optional course on American history and culture, and the crowd who attended the first lecture had only me left when the lecture count hit three. People would just go home saying things like "Does America even have any history or culture?"—so before long, there were only two of us talking... no, not about American history and culture, but about religion (he was a Baptist pastor). I was defending the teachings of a cult which I have been lucky to escape later. We had a lot of imported cults back in the nineties. It then seemed to me that those teachings had been maligned for nothing: they got all the points right except that nobody cared to understand it. We're all supposed to agree with everyone else, at all times, and only a teenager like me could explain how this could be achieved. How, then, did I acquire proficiency? No idea, it just happened, and who knows if I my claims about proficiency are not exxagerated (I wasn't supposed to share this, was I, it's bad for self-marketing). Oh, and at the time of those lectures I still believed that "goodbye" was a suitable leave-taking method. I kept saying this word as he ket wishing me to have a great day ▲ Collapse
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