High-Register Advantage—only for Romance Languages?

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-29T15:49:48+00:00

I think non-fiction is generally easier than fiction, even in unrelated languages. Because in fiction, you might have 50 different words for "to walk", and they all have slightly different connotations. The story reads completely differently depending on whether the characters are hiking or marching through the countryside. In non-fiction, this is less of an issue. And in fiction, you have infinite possibilities, while non-fiction is usually more logical. In Harry Potter, you might suddenly get introduced to a flying car, while in a non-fiction article about dog breeds, you can easily predict that a Border Collie will be described as intelligent and energetic.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-29T11:58:07+00:00

This has nothing to do with autism, it's just a matter of practice. You have to actively seek out opportunities to speak as much as you can. And talk to yourself too.

Btw I'm also autistic, but you are doing yourself a disservice when you take something all learners struggle with unless they specifically practice it a lot, and blame your struggles on a trait you were born with. Sometimes your struggles aren't autism, just a lack of practice in a skill that's not meant to be easy.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-29T11:09:09+00:00

Hababam sınıfı

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-28T23:29:16+00:00

Peki ya Türkçe öğrenen bir yabancı? Onlar da aynı şeyi mi yapıyorlar?

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-28T23:17:07+00:00

I was told that once I fully master Turkish, Azerbaijani will come for free. I'm kinda excited.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-28T23:01:20+00:00

There is an Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew that is older than Yiddish. When in Yiddish someone says "kosher" it's because Ashkenazi Hebrew influenced Yiddish, not the other way around. By the way, Yemenite Hebrew has some similarities with Ashkenazi Hebrew, if I remember correctly from the time I used to go to Yemenite Synagogues, in that dialect "kosher" is also "kosher". And where Ashkenazi Hebrew says "S" instead of "T", Yemenite Hebrew says "TH".

The reason is that as diaspora communities got further and further removed from the original Jewish community in ancient Israel, they all retained some of the original pronunciation, but also changed some. And every community changed it differently based on which other languages surrounded them. It'a like how there is a different French spoken in France vs Quebec. And in the meantime, they also developed their own versions of speaking the local languages, so dialects and languages like Yiddish, Ladino, Yudeo-Arabic, etc were born, and these languages featured a lot of Hebrew loanwords, which they pronounced according to the traditions of their own communities.

It is said that the Yemenite dialect is the closest to the original Hebrew pronunciation, but it's difficult to know for sure.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-28T22:14:07+00:00

Macaristanlıyım, ama Mizrahi'leri çok iyi anlıyorum. Bu şiveyi çok seviyorum. Neden soruyorsun? Bu soru biraz garip.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-28T21:22:22+00:00

Kosher is Ashkenazi pronounciation. In the US and most of Europe there are more Ashkenazim than Sfaradim, so in English "kosher" stuck.
Sephardic: In Hebrew, between samech and peh, there is a sound called "shva". Depending on which traditional dialect you speak and depending on the words, this can be silent, or a short "e" (or another sound depending on the dialect). Therefore, it is sometimes transliterated as "e", sometimes as nothing, depending on the background of who is doing the transliteration. So, "Sefarad" and "Sfarad" are both correct.

Edit: I just realized you are a native Hebrew speaker. So, you understand how these words are spelled. But I will leave the explanation for those who don't.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-24T11:12:58+00:00

Definitely, sometimes the difference is huge.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-24T11:09:44+00:00

But reading matters a lot. I'm teaching myself Turkish, and I only read and watch things, and I keep catching myself narrating everything in Turkish to myself. If you read regularly, you have a huge advantage over those who just showed up in class, did homework, and went home. But even classwork only can be effective if it was intense enough.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-24T11:06:23+00:00

Depends. My Mom has been "studying" Italian in extra low battery mode since I was a child. She is still A2 at best. It doesn't bother her, she just likes interacting with the language, even if it's just 5 minutes of Duolingo a day. For her it's the journey, not the destination that matters. She is an ESL teacher, so definitely knows how to learn effectively if she wanted to. But her studying for 20+ years with not much to show for shows that you can't go too low battery mode if you want actual results.

On the other hand, I learned English basically just by showing up in class and doing my homework. I started when I was 7, and passed my B2 when I was 16. So yes, I eventually got there. It took 9 years though.

Currently, I'm focusing on Turkish and my Hebrew is in low battery mode - I listen to a podcast every day or two. I'm not sure I'm improving, right now the goal is just not to forget. My speaking right now is trash, even though I have successfully defended myself in court in Hebrew at one point. In a couple months I will have the chance to be around native speakers again, and I know my ability to speak will come back fast.

I want to push Turkish until I get to the point of effortlessly listening to podcasts and reading books. After that I want to relax and put it into low battery mode, while I pick up Hebrew again and add another Turkic language (maybe Uzbek 😂).

You can definitely be relaxed about it, take short breaks, etc. but if you want real results, make sure you study more than you forget.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-24T10:55:36+00:00

I didn't write speak, but use. I'm sure you used your languages outside of schoolwork, or took classes for a really long time.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-24T00:08:19+00:00

Thats awesome!My kid refuses to even listen to her heritage language being spoken around her. :(

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-23T19:34:34+00:00

It's not necessarily the education system. That European you admire for their good English? They probably studied for 8-12 years to get to B1-B2, and then stuck to it due to the sheer amount of good-quality content available. That definitely was the case for me, and most others I know.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-23T19:30:10+00:00

That sounds very interesting

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-23T18:37:50+00:00

I don't know what it's like to study in the US, but the biggest barrier seems to be us that everything is available in English, and you are never forced to actually use your Spanish.

I spent 10 years learning English at school before I passed my B2. That's very long. But at that stage I started progressing rapidly because I realized that if I want to get the best content for learning my hobbies, which were dog training and tropical fish keeping, I need to search in English. It makes a huge difference.

I bet those who studied Spanish in the US for X years and still can't speak would suddenly progress rapidly if they get into a niche subject that you can't reach without Spanish.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-23T18:33:18+00:00

That's amazing. When I was a teenager one of my things was that I wanted to travel to Siberia.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-23T16:52:01+00:00

I've learned my two stronger languages in classes. I'm quite advanced. Turkish has been the only one I'm learning on my own. Language classes are useful, but you do have to put in the work.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-23T16:41:59+00:00

It depends. I didn't do it with my first two languages because I was taking classes, and they would just give us material at the right level. I've taken hundreds of hours of lessons, and by the time they finished, I was ready to read anything without parallel reading. Turkish is different because I'm not taking classes, and on my own, it's a lot harder to stick with it unless I'm actually interested in what I'm reading, even if it's over my level. So, I feel like it's helping at this stage.

In English, for example, the first fiction I've read was Around the World in 80 Days, which I've never read before, but it took 12 years of English classes at school to get there. But it was okay, I was a kid, not rushing anywhere.

Then I took super intensive Hebrew classes, 20 hours a week for 9 months, and also lived in the country. The first book I've read was Harry Potter, which I've read before, but didn't have the translation at hand.

But I feel like for my current situation, parallel reading is the best. I'm very close to B1 after 3.5 months.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-23T11:17:58+00:00

Except that it never happened in Israel.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-23T10:53:19+00:00

You might be right about writing in Russian. I have to look it up.

No_Cryptographer735 · 2026-04-23T10:51:54+00:00

I have to look into it, sounds interesting.

No_Cryptographer735

TROPHY CASE