Re: Linguistic Agonies


Ruud Harmsen wrote:
> 15 Nov 2005 11:57:37 -0800: "Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim" <Jdibrahim@xxxxxxx>:
> in sci.lang:
>
> >No, Ruud I speak many languages and all them are equally part of me
> >and my world.
>
> But only those you learnt from the cradle onwards are your native
> languages. "Speaking" is not enough. I speak many languages too, some
> reasonable, some crippled, but I have only one native language: Dutch.
> I started getting acquinted with English and French at age 10, but
> that is far too late to ever reach true native speaker status.
>
> I suppose it is not essentially different in your case, or you must
> have supernatural powers.
>

We only differ in the way of thinking. You believe in what Shakespeare
said:
"The child is the father of the man". But I agree no two languages can
be learnt equally well in all areas. There are for example certain
situations where I feel at home with German or even feel nostalgic when
I am out of Germany although I am not German by birth. Still it is only
one part of me. In an Italian coffeeshop (my favourite) I feel French
(I do speak some French and love the language and its philosophy). In
the evenings when I sometimes drink oriental tea (in small glasses) and
sometimes read the Quran specifically the Meccan Period verses (admire
the language and try to envisage how the prophet lived) I feel I am an
Arab........

.

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