r/languagehub

I don't necessarily mean in a negative way, after all if someone is learning your native language, they must like it or have a reason, although people can still hate even if it's their choice
But regardless of whether it was an argument or a conversation, have you ever had to do it? and did you manage to respond to their criticism or did they get you?

I'll cast the first stone myself
In Persian's modern alphabet, we don't write the vowels sounds, since they are not words, but different signs that go above or below the words and alphabet, we just don't write them down, we learn them for a few years at school and then just forget about them, we pronounce them but it's as if we have memorized EVERY SINGLE WORD

And for native this never feels like a weird or hard thing, but i've talked to so many people who hated the crap out of my language because of this and i can not blame them, if you look at this from the outside, the language simply feels incomplete
So my defenses fall apart quickly in this case but how do you guys fare in your languages?

I will go first: "Ping me" and "Circle back"

Share them here and maybe they help someone else too!!!

More often than not, people judge something based on first impression and then stick to that judgement, language is no exception either!

Have you ever had this experience? that for whatever reason, maybe the first person you heard the language from, had a weird voice or you associated the language with a something negative
Either way you didn't like the language at first but for some reason you gave it a shot and you fell in love with it?

I used to think people were just too lazy to learn the difference between a noun and a verb, until I realized English actively traps them.

Now I get why it's so frustrating. The moment you think you have it down, "affect" sneaks in as a noun and "effect" shows up as a verb just to mess with you.

What do you think?

I am not saying that this is the case all the time, but in my personal experience in school, college and different English book clubs that i joined, i realized that people make fun of mistakes in English a lot more than mistakes in our own native language!

Which absolutely makes no sense to me because we all have learnt English as a second language while our native language is second nature (pun intended). so if we have to make fun of something, i think mistakes in native language are a better option than a second language right?

But i can remember so many examples in my lifetime where someone made one simple mistake in English and suddenly it became a meme, inside joke and people never let it go, but mistakes in native just flies under the radar and no one even mentions them!

So am i in the minority here and i just hang out with weird dicks or is this a more global thing and people in different cultures notice it too?

I expected Brazilian Portuguese to be a lot harder, but it ended up feeling surprisingly manageable, especially because it seems to have fewer conjugations (in everyday use) than I anticipated. Once I got used to the rhythms and a handful of common verb patterns, it started to click way faster than I thought it would.

What language did you expect to be difficult, but turned out to be easier than expected, and why?

For example for a job or in school, and I'm not talking about just skimming through learning enough to survive! no!!
I mean having to become near fluent in a language that you hated (for any reason) with every cell in your body?

If so, why? and how did you motivate yourself to keep going when it got specially hard!

(e.g., their/there/they're, loose/lose, should of).

Some languages feel stressful at first because learners obsess over accents, grammar, or sounding fully native. Then at some point you relax a bit, focus more on communication, and the language suddenly becomes way more fun to use.

An interesting example for me is French, where many learners get stuck worrying about pronunciation perfection, but conversations often become much smoother once they stop overthinking every sound.

What language felt like that for you? One that became much more enjoyable once you stopped trying to sound perfect all the time?

I'm talking about differences in culture that you figure out only after diving deep into them in order to understand their language even better!
Then suddenly you realize something that's normal in Germany is considered very rude in Iran for example.
So have you seen something like this in your language journey?

Hello! I’ve been studying Dutch for about 3 months now, and am about to finish my A1 level course (I was gifted a course that goes up to the B2 level).

I am currently visiting Germany for 3 months and am staying with a German speaking friend. Most of the trip is me by myself in their city/area while they go to work + weekend trips together. Originally, I was planning on continuing my Dutch studies throughout the 3 months to keep up my momentum.

Essentially, my question is if you would think it’s worth it to switch to studying German rather than Dutch? I feel torn because I do very much like studying Dutch, but I recognize this is a great chance to have a fully immersive experience in the language (though I probably won’t make much progress considering the short time frame). I’ve been here a little under a week and have been able to get by just fine with English and Google translate, but is that feasible for 3 months?

I know I would probably want to go back to studying Dutch regardless, so I see it as time I could’ve spent already improving that rather than beginning a whole new language.

Sorry if this is not the appropriate space for this question, but thank you for your help!

I used to get so annoyed whenever someone corrected me for saying "less" instead of "fewer," and honestly, I always thought it was just peak pedantry.

I don't think it matters, though.

Everyone still understands exactly what you mean if you say "less items."

The only time it really matters is in formal writing or professional settings where people judge you based on traditional grammar rules.

Does it actually matter in real life, though? What do you think?

Personally, when i see (mostly online) tutors that teach their own native language online, subconsciously at least, i gain more confidence in their ability to teach me, but is it just a bias and it's only about the ability of that teacher? and you think no matter what their native language is, as long as they know your target language good enough they can get the job done? OR because of the lifetime exposure teachers have a clear advantage in teaching their own native language to others? and does this factor in your choice if you were to pick a (online) tutor?

I will die on the hill that absolute grammatical perfection means nothing if your reader needs a decoder ring to understand it.

I recently read a sentence that technically followed every single archaic style guide rule, but it was so dense and unreadable I had to scan it three times just to get the point.

To me, the ultimate goal of language is communication, not showing off mechanics.

What actually matters more to you guys: flawless technical execution or immediate, effortless clarity?

Even with different accents or even when natives speak quickly, some people seem to understand them perfectly, but they can't speak that language at all
Is this because of confidence? for example they can't speak perfectly so they don't want to look bad, or is it actually something weird going on in their brain where listening and speaking which you could argue are two sides of the same coin are...for the lack of better word, separated?

You are in front of a the intergalactic council and you've been chosen by everyone who speaks your native language to explain how and why YOUR language should be chosen as official language of the Earth! GO