Is it possible to forget your native language?
My situation is similar to Meesh's: I didn't speak English very well until I started going to school, but thereafter used my first language next to never until my early 20's, when I decided to relearn it.
At that point I could understand its "standard" dialect (which my parents speak) perfectly but had trouble with the local idiom, similar to acquaintance of the 4:28 guest, but having spoken so little I could barely form sentences. When I tried to speak I had a terrible Anglo accent.
It was an interesting experience studying a language in which I had native proficiency in certain aspects, and far from that in others; I found that learning the latter was no different than were I learning it as a second language.
So with regard to the question of whether or not it's harder to relearn a forgotten language, I would say that it depends on how much is remembered; and if it's none, then it would be just like learning a completely foreign language.
Sorry about the errors in that post o.o
I heard that Obama's father was Indonesian and moved with him and his mother from US to Indonesia when he was a child. There Obama studied in an Indonesian school, in Indonesian I guess. Does Obama still speaks Indonesian or forgot it?
I myself, having been brought up in three different countries (before I was 15), I was heavily exposed to 4 different languages. Twenty years later I still speak them extremely well although the most native is always the language of the place I live in. The reason why I still have an excellent knowledge is because I had linguistic training after that (I'm a qualified international interpreter) so that keeps my languages up to quite a high level. The first few days in a country I sound really good but let's say that only 95% native. After a fews days that language comes back very strongly and the others seem to lower slightly, the more so the longest it's been since I've been heavily exposed to it.
I agree that people who have been brought up in different languages tend to speak more standard and far less slang. Slang is also very much regional even within the languages themselves. I don't feel at ease using slang although I usually understand most of the slang used around me and I do tend to sound "literary" although people might think it's due to social background.
The fact is even more interesting when living in bilingual areas where two languages are heavily used (this happens in parts of Europe: Catalan and Spanish for instance or North America: French and English in Quebec). If you happen to be fluent in both languages there's always one where you have less interference. It's the one you use most, of course.
i found this post interesting. my uncle married a german lady almost 50 years ago and they have lived much of their life in the united states. they use german at home but with everyone else they use english.
my cousin is almost 50. she has not been to germany since she was 17. her husband and children do not speak german. she understand everything that her mother says to her and when she speaks german she does so with the accent she used as a young person in europe. but her german is rusty and there are many times when she will not remember a word. i i am speaking german and i ask her a word i am unsure of sometimes she will have to ask her mom.
there have been many cases of people forgetting their first language. the two main things are
1 how long has it been since you used the language?
2 what was your proficiency when you stopped using it?
in other word if a ten year old leaves germany and come to the us as (as the two younder cousins did at 10 and twelve) the vocabulary they do remember is that of a child. so naturally they will not be able to talk about mechanics and computers and politics, etc. in german. they never learned those words in german.
but what they do speak comes our pretty effortlessly.
hope this explanation helps. i find this topic intriguing.
Quick reply: If I'm not mistaken, Obama is half African, not half Indonesian.
HE has an Indonesian parent, his father I think.
Wikipedia must be wrong then.
<It's Kenya, my friend.>
Me importa un huevo cómo se escribe en inglés, que yo estaba escribiendo en castellano.
OK I re-read Wikipedia and according to it, his biological father was from Kenia. His parents divorced and his mother married an Indonesian . Then Obama moved to Indonesia and learnt Indonesian. Wow, what a multicultural man Obama is from so many points of view.
Multicultural !~ good president.
>>
in other word if a ten year old leaves germany and come to the us as (as the two younder cousins did at 10 and twelve) the vocabulary they do remember is that of a child. so naturally they will not be able to talk about mechanics and computers and politics, etc. in german. they never learned those words in german.
that's a lot of topics! I can't talk anything about mechanics in any language, though (um, what is mechanics in Chinese? lol).
But politics must be very obvious. Pol. system may be a bit more complicated and specialist, but what's more, as I said, a person like this would probably have missed a lot of important events, the knowledge of current affairs, of the native land.
I'm kind of more interested in the cultural knowledge. Essentially, a language has a lot of cultural information that you have to get used to, and you must have got used to a "complete" native language. Having learnt a language for many years, I'd certainly be lost if I were thrown into any Anglophone place immediately.
"Multicultural !~ good president."
Nobody is talking about how good he could be as a president. He is simply a man educated in a multcultural environment and I was wondering if he still speaks Indonesian.