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I have a question for bilingual people. Do you feel like the other languages you speak, apart from your native one, feel more blank? I’m not sure if that’s the right word for it, but I’ll try to explain.
I used to think this was just a lack of practice or skill, but I haven’t noticed any changes over time. There are words in my native language that I find much more difficult to say than in English. The first things that come to mind are apologizing or saying "I love you." If it’s something serious, I find it much harder to express in my native language because those words have stronger associations and emotional connotations in my brain.
I wonder if it’s just me or if there’s an explanation for this.
@Caoimhe I obviously can't speak for everyone here, and I'm also not trying to generalize and stereotype all English speakers, but I truly believe your disconnect regarding those types of words might be because in English speaking countries, we use the words "I love you" and "I'm sorry" very flippantly. you bump into someone at the grocery store, you might be quick to say "I'm sorry." you might be quick to say "I love you" to a close friend or a sibling, even if you're not really feeling love at that moment, because that's just what you do. I think other languages take those types of words more seriously than english speakers do, and that might be why you're feeling a little bit of a disconnect in that regard. I'm by no means a linguist, and I don't study languages at all, but I have Spanish speaking friends, and I do know that they take emotionally charged words like "I'm sorry" and "I love you" very seriously and they're not just quick to throw them out there.
@Caoimhe In a way, I feel that, but I also feel the opposite. I also feel like my native language is polite and formal, but not polite and too formal forced-ish like English always saying, please, sorry, love you, etc. It's as if the words, when said not out of habit of politeness or because you have to be formal, but because you mean them have more meaning to them somehow.
@Caoimhe I get that too as I speak Polish natively