2 min readfrom Language Learning

Is my experience with reading common?

Our take

Is my experience with reading common? This question resonates deeply with many language learners who find themselves navigating a spectrum of written materials. For instance, as a French learner, you might confidently engage with accessible resources like French Wikipedia articles, cooking blogs, and news sites, comprehending about 95% of the content, albeit at a slower pace compared to English. Yet, there exists a mysterious "second tier" of texts that seem to speak an entirely different language. These materials present complex grammar, nuanced sentences, and a host of uncommon vocabulary, leaving you grasping at straws with only 50% comprehension. This disparity can be perplexing, as it feels like a sudden plunge into the depths of a language you thought you understood. You're not alone in this experience; many encounter similar challenges on their linguistic journey.

My (TL) is French. At the moment, I feel that there are a lot of resources that I can read no problem. For example, I can read the French Wikipedia articles for whatever I'm looking for, I tend to prompt AI in French and read its responses in French, I can read cooking blogs and certain news sites. It does take me a little bit to do it, and I'm not nearly as fast as I am in English, but I get more than just the gist of the article, probably 95% of the words and almost all of the meaning. It is as though if English suddenly went away tomorrow, and these were all that I had to use in my daily life and job, I'd be slow but fine.

HOWEVER! There seems to be like this...second tier of written materials that is just like, "F you, we're speaking *French* and you are absolutely not someone who does that". I can't really explain it other than to say that when I try to read one of these resources, it's almost as though the language is totally different. I get maybe 50% of the uncommon words, the grammar is intense, the sentences are nuanced, and effectively I have no idea what they are saying. I kind of don't get it - I feel very confident with many of my resources, but then I see these other ones and it's as though I haven't studied the language at all.

submitted by /u/crono760
[link] [comments]

Read on the original site

Open the publisher's page for the full experience

View original article

Tagged with

#creative language use#placeholder words#language evolution#philosophy of language#humor in language#word meaning#French#reading#resources#Wikipedia#AI#meaning#cooking blogs#news sites#English#comprehension#gist#uncommon words#grammar#nuanced sentences