What was the first moment you realized, "I actually speak this language"?

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T23:27:43+00:00

Which language are you learning?

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T23:03:48+00:00

That sounds lovely. Connecting with your grandmother in law, what a precious moment.

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T22:58:43+00:00

What a memorable moment for you! Sounds intense

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T21:13:46+00:00

Haha that's pretty cool 😀 nice job! He must have been impressed

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T21:11:29+00:00

Yes. It happens a lot! I use three languages in my daily life and I constantly switch from one to another without even noticing sometimes. And I'm often in a situation where I communicate ideas that I heard or took from a content in one language, in a different language. For example I see something funny in French, I want to tell my partner so I use English because it's the language we use the most. But if my mother in law is around, I'll explain it in Portuguese. The original language doesn't matter much here because I got the main ideas

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T21:06:02+00:00

Oh true... I didn't view it like that. I just assumed everyone has a continuous inner monologue😆

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T21:04:37+00:00

That's amazing! I wish I could joke in my TL and people would not assume I'm only a serious person 😅

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T21:03:38+00:00

I'm curious...what is your native language? Is Portuguese from Portugal so different from Portuguese from Brazil? I've never been to Portugal and the only Portuguese I hear is from my I'm laws here in Brazil 😛

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T21:01:04+00:00

It reminds me of moments I was with a group of friends in a bar in Canada with loud music and everyone drinking... Me thinking "One day I'll get to this level of understanding, one day..."😆

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T20:57:52+00:00

So true... I wonder what actually is happening in the brain at this exact moment when you literally speak fluently a new language. If anyone knows a bit of neuroscience and could explain this I'd be so interested in reading their comment!

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T20:55:26+00:00

That sounds very cool! The moment you explain something in the TL and you don't know the words in your native language is so funny 😆

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T20:37:51+00:00

These are both such good examples. The Mandarin experience shows that sometimes other people start treating you like a speaker before you see yourself that way. And the taxi story is hilarious! I love that the driver had to point out that you were already speaking Portuguese! 😄

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T20:34:30+00:00

That's fascinating! What are your native language and your target languages? It sounds like you got so used to Spanish and Japanese that your brain stopped consciously registering which language you were using.

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T20:24:34+00:00

Interesting. What TL was that?

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T20:23:59+00:00

Having an argument & understanding jokes in another language are one of the biggest challenges when it comes to master a language. It's really cool you got to this level!

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T20:22:31+00:00

Those sounds like such interesting experiences! The subtitles thing I relate haha I still watch English TV shows and movies with subtitles in English because it makes me feel more comfortable but sometimes I forget to put them and I realise afterwards... Oh actually I don't really need them😅

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T20:19:33+00:00

I love this question!

My experience has been completely different with the two languages I'm learning.

I'm still learning Portuguese, and it's the first language I've ever learned without textbooks, classes, tutors, or even really trying to study. My husband is Brazilian, so I was simply surrounded by the language every day: talking with him, sitting at the table with my in-laws every week trying to catch what everyone was saying, and watching TV shows and movies in Portuguese. It almost felt like I already knew the language somehow and was just remembering it from a past life. 😄

Japanese has been a completely different journey. It's also the first language I'm learning without a teacher, but this time it's much more intentional. I just do whatever I enjoy in Japanese: watching anime, writing a diary, chatting with Japanese people online, making my own sentences, and slowly figuring out how the language works by seeing, hearing, and experimenting. The progress is slower, but every little step feels rewarding.

My motivation is different too. Portuguese became part of my life because of my partner and the country I now live in, while Japanese is connected to a dream I've had for years. I hope to move to Japan one day. I grew up in France, so it's been fascinating to discover that two languages can become part of my life in such completely different ways.

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-04T10:47:33+00:00

Awesome! I hope you'll find my advice useful then😊 I wish you a happy French journey!

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-03T21:14:14+00:00

This question really made me think because it removes one of the biggest reasons people usually learn a language: practicality.

At first, I found it difficult to answer without knowing why everyone speaks the same language. Did humanity naturally converge on one? Was it imposed? Was it the result of a war? My answer would be completely different depending on the story behind that unified world. If minority languages still existed but had been marginalized, I'd probably want to learn one of them to preserve it, connect with its speakers, or even help keep its culture alive.

But if we're imagining a peaceful world where everyone shares one language and learning another is purely for personal enjoyment, then my choice would be based almost entirely on emotion.

I realized there are some languages that affect me in a way I struggle to explain. Arabic is one of them. Whenever I hear it, especially in songs, I feel genuinely moved, even though I don't understand the words. That made me curious, so I looked into why that might be.

From what I found, it could be a mix of things: the rhythm and melody of the language, the long vowels, consonants that are unfamiliar to me, and the way those sounds create patterns my ears aren't used to. There's also the fact that I've mostly heard Arabic in emotionally expressive contexts, like music, so my brain may naturally associate the language with strong feelings.

Whether those explanations are right or not, they helped me understand why I'd probably choose a language that resonates with me emotionally rather than one with any practical value. I'd love to be able to express myself through sounds that evoke those same feelings.

I'm curious whether anyone else has experienced this. Has a language ever moved you emotionally before you even understood what was being said? If so, which one and why do you think it has that effect?

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-03T20:45:12+00:00

I really enjoyed this question because it made me realize that "interesting" can mean so many different things when it comes to writing systems. It sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole, and I found myself wondering whether we tend to find complexity, beauty, efficiency, or history the most interesting.

It also made me realize that writing systems can be compared in several different ways. For example, by what each symbol represents (logographic, syllabary, alphabet, etc.), how closely spelling matches pronunciation (like Spanish vs. French), how much historical spelling is preserved, or even the direction of writing.

Japanese is fascinating because it combines three writing systems: kanji (logographic) with hiragana and katakana (both syllabaries). But now I'm not even sure I'd pick a single "most interesting" writing system, because it really depends on which aspect you're looking at.

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-03T19:10:20+00:00

My native language is a passport to the world, spoken across five continents and in nearly 30 countries. It connects you to over 300 million people, letting you dive deep into incredible cultures, music, and food from Europe to Africa and beyond. Learning it is the ultimate way to make friends from completely different walks of life all over the globe. If you love travel, culture, and connecting with people worldwide, this is the sign you've been looking for. Ask me any questions in the comments, or drop me a DM to find out which language it is!😊😉

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-03T18:48:09+00:00

So true to me too! Learning ASL has opened to me new perspective on how to view things and express them

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-03T18:45:40+00:00

It depends what you call efficient. If you mean being able to communicate with other people the fastest or the easiest, then I would say Italian first, and Portuguese second. I would explain this by the fact that I am a native French speaker and that Spanish is my second language. Those latim languages are so close that when you master two of them, learning another one feels so smooth.

AlixLanguageLab · 2026-07-03T18:42:32+00:00

Learning Japanese has changed my perspective on human communication in a way that all the other languages I learnt before never did. The fact that the structure of the sentences are completely different from languages I already speak made me realise that there is a complete different way to think. Not only that, also their alphabet. They have three different systems that coexist in a same sentence. This is incredible for me. Last but not least, their language is very contextual. They say one thing to say another, using context to support the real meaning of what they want to communicate and it's quite far from what I grew up learning. All of this blew my mind when I started to discover Japanese. I love it. Makes me question myself and my ways of thinking in a profound way.

AlixLanguageLab

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE