LL-L "Science" 2004.10.15 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 15.OCT.2004 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
=======================================================================

From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: "Science" [E]

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Science
>
> I myself once lived and worked in an environment in which I switched
between
> four languages (German, English, Hebrew and Yiddish) on a constant basis.
> It was hard at first, but with practice it ceased to be a problem.  As Tom
> said, all it took was a quick look at a person and the correct switch
would
> happen.  It even worked when someone else interrupted and another
temporary
> switch was needed.  I hear similar stories from and about people in the
> northern part of Schleswig-Holstein where some people can converse in up
to
> five modes (German, Lowlands Saxon (Low German), Frisian, Southern Jutish
> and Danish).  I am sure that many people on this list have similar stories
> to tell.

How about dreaming in languages? I always find that if I dream about someone
I know I always speak to them in their own language, whether Scots, English,
Czech, Welsh, French or BSL.

When I'm just dabbling in a language I might sometimes dream that I'm
speaking to someone who speaks that language, but the whole exchange is
restricted to either phrases I know in the language or a sort of gibberish
representing the language.

These days, having gone profoundly deaf, I rarely actually hear anything in
dreams any more. Occasionally someone speaks in a dream and I hear their
voice very clearly in the dream. This usually seems very scary and I can
wake up feeling as if I've had a nightmare!

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

----------

From: Bill Wigham <redbilly2 at earthlink.net>
Subject: LL-L "Science" 2004.10.14 (12) [E]

LL-L Science
From: Bill Wigham
Dear Liste:
      This is a very interesting subject, this switching from one language
to another.
I have often likened it to the automatic throwing of a mental toggle-switch.
Ron spoke of his experiences with people he knew well.  There is also an
auditory signal, it seems.  For example if one hears someone speaking
with a familiar accent there is, for some at least, a tendency to slip into
what is assumed to be their mother tongue.  There are people who react quite
the opposite, however.  A wall of armor glass goes up if they are approached
in a foreign language.

 When living in Sendai, As I may have related earlier, it was very common
for Americans speaking to a Japanese to speak in Japanese (sometimes not too
proficiently), usually the Japanese person would reply in English.  These
conversations were odd but very interesting, with the Japanese usually doing
very well in English even though English sounds were usually more difficult
for them because of the limitations of their syllabary.  However, one one
occasion a conversation was repeated to me entirely in English with no
accent, and no limitations in pronunciation, by a young lady who knew no
English and had no inclination to learn the language.  I was amazed at how
perfectly she reproduced my language effortlessly.

Cheers,
Bill
Westfield,MA/USA

----------

From: yasuji <yasuji at amber.plala.or.jp>
Subject: LL-L "Science" 2004.10.14 (12) [E]

Tom and Ron,

Thank you very much for your interesting replies and advice to my
writing and question on language switching. In my case, my mother
tongue is of course Japanese(maybe the Standard Japanese with some
traces in the westrn part of Kanagawa Pref. and north Japan near
Sendai). English and German I learned at school many years ago as my
second or third languages. Then, when I must speak either of them, I
should switch my language circuit from Japanese one to English or
German one with some effort, because these langues are not my daily
languages, but foreign languages.

Many thanks,

Yasuji Waki

==============================END===================================
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
  http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================