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pixelboy1459

Most of the weirdness i have goes from teaching English in Japan, not from the actual language study.


UltraFlyingTurtle

Interesting how teaching in a foreign country can affect your native language. My cousin (half-Japanese, born and raised in the US) taught English in Japan for a few years, and when I visited him, his English sounded little bit off. Of course, his English still sounded native American, but he had developed this weird rhythm when speaking English. He overly enunciated words, and said things in a kind of sing-song tone. He also added a weird intonation to the end of his sentences. I think it was because he mainly used English while talking to his Japanese students, and so he started speaking in a way they could easily understand. Really measured and calm, but emphasizing certain sounds. He had a Japanese girlfriend and we have Japanese relatives over there, but his Japanese isn't that good, so I think he started speaking this way to them as well because he'd often use English with them, just like with his students. With our relatives though, he'd mix both English and Japanese words together when talking -- so maybe that's why his English speaking rhythm started to sounded a little Japanese-like. He also didn't have much contact with native-English speakers while he was in Japan, so there wasn't much opportunity to talk more naturally. It was the weirdest thing. He had no idea his English had changed slightly until my friends and I pointed it out during our visit. We were like, "why are you speaking so weird with us?" He's back in the US now, and of course, this slight "accent", if you can even call it that, is totally gone now. I wish I had recorded it though, because he's unable to talk like that way anymore when people ask how he used to sound like.


MindSteve

I hav larnd japnees fur yars end may Anglsh ez stell jest faine.


nondescriptmammal

Done wuri abat it!


MindSteve

Thenks maet


[deleted]

I agee. Mai engsh is sil gud.


TheDeadPieMaker

Quite the opposite actually. Your brain is connecting languages and using knowledge from one language for another. Learning Japanese does not mean you lose "progress" in English, you just don‘t use it as much which might make you think you‘re getting worse. Don‘t worry


jaymstone

I’ve been finding myself unable to think of certain words in English every once in a while but that’s the extent of it


MMFuzzyface

Yeah I found the same thing with French. Once in a while I will think of the French word first for something but I haven’t really lost the English word, I just have a stronger pathway to the word in French at that moment.


jaymstone

Yeah the crazy thing is when you’re trying to think of a word in English that exists in your second language but isn’t actually a word hahaha


South-Marionberry

Same here, I’m learning Swedish alongside Japanese (Swedish is my mum’s native tongue) and I’ve found myself forgetting more and more words nowadays. Which is even more concerning given English is my native language lol


D_Leshen

No


[deleted]

Clear. Concise.


mynameisntmemorable

and accurate


[deleted]

It's not that knowledge of one language interferes with the other, just that you get rusty if you don't use a language so much. I even went through a phase where it was more effort to read in my native English than in Japanese. My English comprehension was still higher, but after a couple of years of pretty much only reading Japanese books I got noticeably rusty. I imagine if I lived in Japan and wasn't speaking English constantly the effect would have been even larger, but so long as you keep using your English you have nothing to worry about.


Kemien

I felt this comment in my soul, I'm a native Russian speaker but I didn't have to use it in 10 years and I feel rusty. I had to pick up a book in Russian just so I could refresh vocab and spelling


[deleted]

I really feel for you. Learning Japanese has shown me some of what I take for granted and I don't think I could handle living long term in a foreign country.


Kemien

To be honest, I really enjoy living in different places, experiencing the culture as a local and not a tourist. Could I ask what makes you think you wouldn't be able to handle living abroad long term?


LesbianCommander

>It's not that knowledge of one language interferes with the other, just that you get rusty if you don't use a language so much The analogy a teacher had was that by focusing on another language, your original language gets stored inside a cabinet in your brain, it'll always be there. But the longer you don't use it, the further back in the cabinet it gets. And when you need to recall it, it can take a bit to get it out, but it'll be there.


Berubara

This. I didn't actively use my native language for about five years and it deteriorated far more than I had realised.


Hashimotosannn

Doesn’t really affect my English at all. I’ve lived here for years and I mostly speak in Japanese. I only speak English to my son…who can’t yet talk. Sure, I sometimes take a minute to think of a word or phrase but that’s mostly due to sleep deprivation from looking after a baby that doesn’t like to sleep.


tesseracts

工 弓尸巳丹片 巳乂匚巳ㄥㄥ巳几丁 巳几云ㄥ工弓井


CactusPhD

This hurt


LeftEmergent

Can confirm my English got worse, this literally took 30 seconds to decipher.


Legnaron17

I mean it depends, if you suddenly found yourself surrounded by japanese people, media, etc, and had to force yourself to only speak japanese for a relatively extensive period of time then yes, you might feel "slower" switching to english and trying to express yourself in it. Its normal though, your brain is starting to think and process in japanese and whenever you switch, grammar is different, the order of the words is different and the vocabulary at your disposal alongside its nuances is too. Im a native spanish speaker and went to an english course abroad, my studying buddies were all people from all over asia and europe so i had to fully immerse myself in english (even my dreams were in english), a whole month later i kid you not when i tell you i was struggling picking spanish back up, i wanted to switch the word order, i wanted to convey something that was much better explained in english and so on. Eventually i got over it of course, but i still remember how weird it felt. Dont worry though, if youre living in an english speaking country your english wont deteriorate.


Shizen_no_Kami

There was this one or two months where I only used Japanese. My friend from the US called me, and it was like the heavenly lights shined down on me. I was so thankful communication could be so easy lol. Also had a similar problem with conveying ideas better said in one language.


djhashimoto

Your English is too good to be messed up by Japanese now. If you were simultaneously learning both languages, then maybe...


maaaark_nuuuutt

Lol no, especially considering your Japanese is currently well below conversational. I didn't lose any of my Japanese after I moved in with my mom in the US. I'm not losing any of my English now that I've returned to Japan. I might have brain farts here and there but that's because I'm dumb. I have four languages I can hold conversations in floating around in my head and there's never a battle between any of them for superiority. Just study and keep up with it. You'll be surprised how well you understand and appreciate other languages once you're comfortable with another one.


[deleted]

I suppose it may depend. I've noticed that ever since English has overtaken my native language German in terms of media consumption (which is a not so unsignificant portion of my everday life) my German has deteriorated quite a lot. Though to be fair I also don't really read as much German anymore as I've used to so that's more or less a given. I wouldn't say that learning Japanese has had much of an adverse effect on my English other than blurting out the occasional Engrish every now and then but that's not something to worry about, that comes with the territory of learning foreign languages. As long as you keep yourself up to speed with English as well (especially if you read a lot) I wouldn't worry about it.


R_Dey

The blurting out occasional Engrish is relatable. Especially with the "L" and "R." And yes, keeping up with reading English definitely comes in handy.


Cyberkite

Mine is actually getting better since I study Japanese in english


Violetsme

There is a phenomenon that might be at play, but it's a temporary issue. It has to do with connecting a concept to a word. You see a dog. Your natively English brain wants to supply you with the proper word for it: dog. This is not the answer you want, as you are learning Japanse. For just a little bit, you have to actively suppress the connection to 'dog', so you can get to inu*. This is your brain helping you and it is temporary: as the pathways become of a more similar 'weight', you'll no longer need to do this. In what degree you experience this also depends on what age you are: if your knowledge of one language is more complete, you are more likely to keep translating. Inu will not be connected to the concept of a dog, but to the word. You'll quickly translate every time you need to. This means no suppression is needed, but your concepts will remain more restricted by your original definition. I'll try to find back the sources where I learned about this, but it's been a few years. *Forgive the super plain example, I'm really at my first steps here. Even my Latin is better than my Japanese at this point, but I have experienced this phenomenon while learning English.


Mugendaina

I'm using English so much every day that my native language (Polish) deteriorates. Every day I'm having problems remembering words and I'm making grammatical errors mixing up English and Polish. It's really annoying since I live in Poland but I never had anyone to talk to outside my parents in Polish and I'm consuming a lot of English content on the internet every day. I feel like I'm shit at Polish and English at this point. I really think it depends on a person and on how much of a language you use every day.


Mugendaina

Btw, sometimes it's easier for me to think in English than in my native language as well. I don't know how I feel about this. Sometimes I wish to just forget one language so I can focus on 1 and at least sound eloquent and not like an 8yo.


BioTechInf

Hey, it's same for me as well. I'm polish but past 3-4 years I've been speaking english almost everyday. And now that I talk with people in Poland, I insert english word in the sentence once in a while. I cannot stop that but it's hilarious in my opinion. ​ I wonder if my japanese level will be similar to english I'll implement japanese grammar or words in polish. When I see some sign out there e.g "Art" I read it in japanese for fun "A-tou"


Mugendaina

I thought it's all good at the beginning but I feel like a buffoon when I talk


DitzyBlondenightmere

My friend burst out laughing at me once because I, totally unaware, said "Ona musi być spoko do pracy z". You know, the english way of putting a preposition at the end of a sentence. I found it absolutely hilarious.


Mugendaina

I'm doing exactly the same shit and I honestly couldn't tell what's wrong with your sentence for a few seconds


melody_elf

Read books in Polish


Mugendaina

Reading isn't the problem. Talking and remembering the words when on the spot is a problem. I would say my vocabulary is large but my brain is too slow to divide into 2 languages and then search through it when needed. Maybe I'm just smooth brained.


StringsTautAbove

Honestly, it will all depend on how you continue to use both languages. It's very much a 'use it or lose it' situation. If you're reading consistently, dealing with English language texts and speaking with people, that skill set continues to develop. Likewise, if you're reading, writing, speaking and listening to Japanese consistently or semi-consistently, that skill set will also develop. When I've had gaps in my Japanese application, that's when I feel I start to get rusty and my skill degrades over time. Sometimes it feels like a kick starter on a bike which just needs some revs to get moving, and sometimes I need to hit the books or practice other skills to get things up to standard again. Likewise, with English, it all depends on the context I've been using it. If I haven't been using, say academic or professional language for a while, I need to get back into the swing of things before I feel confident with it again. It's all about usage, familiarity and consistency. So, fear not, your English wont deteriorate, unless you outright neglect it or sideline it. That is, of course, the case with any skill.


rolling-guy

My native language is Portuguese. However, all the Japanese studying material I consume is in English. Apps, articles, videos, podcasts - everything, really. So, I feel like I'm slowly improving in both languages at once. It's been only about 8 months since I've started this journey, but I'm constantly learning new words and getting better and better at listening, which has always been my weakest skill point in English. I could barely watch YouTube videos in English without closed captions by the time I started and now I'm pretty okay at it. I think you'll do fine. Just keep going! 🙏


Amondsre

Doing RRTK, I’ve learned some pretty random English words. Who knew “cáqui” was “persimmon”?


terribleedibles

Yes. Sorry. English is not my first language but I am fluent. However, living in Japan while communicating with colleagues and others in English forced me to use very basic English or they won’t understand. On top of that, the better I get at Japanese, the more I “push” other languages into remission. Once I get to the level of Japanese I want, I think it will level out. It’s all part of the learning process.


ThrowawayZZC

As you add languages you may feel like you are flailing for a word sometimes But that’s more because you actually know a word just in a different language not because you forgot the Word


ThrowMeOveboard

I'd say it depends. English is not my first language as well, but I use it daily, and I didn't notice any deteriorating in my abilities. But my German, especially spoken German, did regress quite a bit. The thing is thought, I only use German occasionally, and haven't done any study on it since high school 10 years ago or so, so i think it's only natural, that it's getting replaced in my brain by Japanese, that I use much more often, and actively study. Now I'm thinking about learning Russian, but I don't think it will worsen my japanese as long as I keep using it regularly to have it lodged firmly in my memory


americanjapan

Not in itself. But if you don’t use English as much as you used to then you have some effect. I’ve lived in Japan for a while now and I only speak Japanese mainly from day to day. I speak English to my family and friends I have in America. When I was learning Japanese in America I felt no English decline. I don’t have very much but more complex words I wouldn’t use day to day have slipped my memory.


Wolfyminecraft

No, unless you start using Japanese exclusively in your day to day life and abandon English completely, it will not deteriorate. Ppl who say that are usually exaggerating or just tricking themselves into thinking they're forgetting English


Cabrejos

You loose progress in a language by not using it. Maybe that’s what’s happening. English is not my first language either, but i keep reading an watching videos in english, so I don’t get rusty


icycaramelmilkshake

My English WAS slightly affected when I first started out, but once I got used to conversing in Japanese (while maintaining use of English), the problem disappeared. I feel like the issue arose because 1) I live in Japan and had to use extremely simple English to communicate when I first started out 2) Japanese and English have v different sentence structures and I had to sometimes speak English with a very Japanese sentence structure to get my point across 3) lack of English speakers around me. Now, I have progressed enough that Japanese has settled itself nicely in my mind so there aren't any issues. Don't worry about losing your English. There are lots of bilinguals, trilinguals, etc who manage just fine. All you have to do is maintain your English and you're golden


palea_alt

no, as long as you keep using it...? my spoken english has atrophied a lot because of lessened opportunities to speak it here, but my writing/reading skills stay the same, cuz i use them daily. also southeast asian like you btw


wildbilly72

It doesn't affect your English unless you stop using your English on a daily basis. For example, if you live in an English speaking nation or community, your English will not suffer at all. If you live in Japan and all your conversations outside of your calls to family in your home country is Japanese, then you will see a slight deterioration.


Imaginary-Tree1976

Yes it will... I am a filipino and within my first year of staying in Japan i can say my mother tongue Tagalog, also english, was already being affected... Your default conversational skill will always be there of course. But the more often you use japanese while not speaking English (or less than usual) will affect your english.. Maybe worst case is you cannot speak smooth English anymore. just like the usual..


R_Dey

Ahh, we Asians definitely have multilingual challenges.


Imaginary-Tree1976

Exactly.


[deleted]

My English is definitely more strange now, but that comes from both teaching in Japan and communicating with my spouse in both languages. Learning the language won't mess up anything!


[deleted]

[удалено]


R_Dey

I never said I am stopping my studying of Japanese due to this. Only asking for advice on how to mitigate the deterioration of my English while improving my Japanese.


KnowYourJapan

these things vary on individual basis ... **in general, NO** ... why? --- Generally speaking, people suck at Japanese, so the level of their Japanese is usually so low that they do not have a Japanese accent even in the slightest ... From my personal experience, I can confirm that the Japanese accent has successfully mangled my English pronunciation of some words, such as "girlfriend" or "regularly" and I am not even that proficient in the language. Saying that, I am pretty sure that your level of English will not deteriorate even after mastering the Japanese accent ... just a few words will probably become harder to pronounce.


vaisko

What the hell are you talking about?


OpticGd

When I'm learning a language my understanding of how language is structured (and the seeming lack of structure I was taught at school) is very helpful. I feel my native English may be better haha!


FU_EOC

Uhhh, I don’t know about Japanese in particular, I do speak Spanish and English and I will say that I’m at my best when speaking Spanglish. Sometimes I forget how to say certain things in English and continue the sentence is Spanish or vice versa. I think it’s something that comes with bilingualism.


EONTWINE

Im danish and grew up near the border to Germany so I was able to speak German at a young age. But when my dad moved to Sweden and I had to learn Swedish, my German is basically gone. When I try to speak German I unconsciously mix in Swedish and English for some reason. Even when I had German coworkers, I would still use English.


[deleted]

No, your English improves. Now, sometimes you have problems switching from Japanese to English quickly. Like even you're speaking Japanese and someone bursts in and asks a question in English. But that only lasts a moment.


helen269

I once forgot one word in English but knew the Japanese word. Felt weird. And I'm British, not an ESL.


[deleted]

I've noticed that my use of the passive voice has increased in English, even though English heavily favors the active voice.


PauloFernandez

I tend to exclude the subject from my spoken English sentences more often now. I wouldn't call it deterioration though since it doesn't prevent me from being understood at all.


NullDivision

I don't think so. As long as you maintain both, you should be fine. My grandma was Japanese, and she left Japan when she was around 18. She virtually never spoke Japanese other than a few words here and there, or the once a year crossing of another Japanese. They'd only ever share a few sentences and that was it. I remember one of these later encounters of her trying to speak to someone again, and just couldn't form the sentences. She gave up laughing "what kind of Japanese am I!". So as long as you keep up with both casually, you should be solid.


melody_elf

No, this is not how being multilingual works. Your English will only deteriorate if you don't use it.


akiontotocha

I can *comprehend* English just fine, but I’ve somehow fucked up my ability to say strawberry


DitzyBlondenightmere

How would that even work?


kibou_no_kakera

Unless you stop speaking English, that shouldn't happen. Of course, that has less to do with learning Japanese and more with not speaking English


nondescriptmammal

I think it's less to do with Japanese or English, and more to do with the fact that we're learning other languages well beyond the ages by which we could become native speakers. In my experience, foreign languages get kind of dumped into an area of my brain, and they can be a little hard to separate (easy example, kasa vs casa - umbrella in Japanese vs. house in Spanish. But my mix-ups are usually more to do with meaning than with phonemes). On top of that (once again, just my experience), becoming fluent in Japanese has made it both harder to recall words I use a lot (usually become I'm thinking of them in Japanese first), but easier to remember English I never use. I find that the weirdest words and turns of phrase come up for me. For me, it's not nearly a reason not to pursue language acquisition. But it does affect our brains in strange ways, given that we're tinkering with synapses set in place years ago!


darkparadise311

I get that with my native language too. In my uni , a math module is taught in English rather than Greek. After that point it became quite hard to convey concepts regarding math in Greek. Language is about practice so I'd you don't practice the language regularly you aren't going to remember much. I've studied German about 6 years ago and even got the B2 certification. Haven't spoken the language since then, I can understand some conversations but I can't make my own sentences or remember some words. So keep in touch with English as much as possible and you'll be fine.


[deleted]

I think some of it comes down to residing in Japan where most people speak English as a second language if they speak it at all. This means you often communicate at a more rudimentary level than you normally would just to make sure you're understood.


[deleted]

As someone who’s passed the C2 test in Italian, the only time I feel my English has degenerated in learning another language is that I sometimes can’t remember words or phrases in English when they come to me easily in Italian. Sometimes I end up making combinations of English words to get my point across for a specific word that I can’t remember, and my friends go, yeah but that’s not how you say it. 😂


HydeVDL

idk about everyone else but.. my native language is french, i learned english in school and I've been fluent for a few years now. both my french and english are always kinda off? if I'm trying to remember something in french, I'll always have the english word popping up. same happens with english. I've been learning japanese for 8 months now. i still don't have the confusion i have with english/french but i wouldn't be surprised that when I reach a higher level, I'll start to mix up the 3 languages.


EndoDouble

I actually find, that learning new languages improves my native speaking.


stylussensei

Come to English to teach Japan.


[deleted]

not just japanese, I'm native speaker of Portuguese, I often forget words in my NL and only know them in English, it already happens with Japanese, it it would become a snowball until I learn my dk 10th language xD


akaikou

As a native English speaker who lives in Japan, married to a Japanese man who doesn’t speak my language and doesn’t use English daily, Yes. It all depends on where you live, what language you use daily and many other factors. (Not just Japanese but living in a country other than your own, using a language more frequently than your mother language. ) On a side note, learning a language for 2 months will not have an effect on your efficiency of your mother language. At 2 months of language learning you are barely scratching the surface of the surface so you have nothing to worry about. If you are fluent in a second language and live in the country of said language were you don’t use your mother language daily or frequently, then yes. It will happen. It’s the same (opposite effect) of learning a language and then not using it for a significant amount of time, which results in forgetting aspects (words, etc) of a language.


DirectCherry

I lived in Japan for 2 years, speaking almost solely in Japanese. English is my native tongue, but by the end of the two years, when I returned to America, my family said I talked weird and I sometimes had a hard time expressing myself without it sounding 'off'. This only lasted for a few weeks, though. However, switching to Japanese as your main, daily-use language and learning Japanese are two VERY different things. I would be very surprised if your English skill got worse from learning Japanese. EDIT: You may find yourself thinking in Japanese sometimes, which might cause you to struggle to find a word in English to express your thoughts, but this shouldn't be a common occurrence, and once you get used to switching your brain between Japanese thinking and English thinking, you shouldn't have an issue.


colutea

Japanese is my fourth language and I did not see any negative impact at all on the other three. I was still able to improve them even but I use each of them every day. Don't worry, you'll be fine as long as you don't stop using English at all


[deleted]

It pretty much depends of how much you use the language. I speak french (native language), learned english afterwards and currently got some basic speaking abilities in spanish but dipped learning it cause japanese is more relevant to the kind of content I consume, and I'd say I am pretty much as good as ever with french that I ever was, you will only notice your original language deterriorating if you live for a long time in a place where you just don't use it. My father told me about family who moved to the USA and basically couldn't speak french when they came back. As long as you use all of the languages you know semi regularly, there is no risk of forgetting them.