Skip to content
+216 26 632 392Skype info@ilestranslation.comAlgeria, Morocco, Tunisia, USA
  • Deutsch
  • Français
  • العربية
Other Languages
Facebook page opens in new windowLinkedin page opens in new windowInstagram page opens in new window
ilès Translation
consultancy – translation – documentation
ilès Translationilès Translation
  • Services
  • Prices
  • The team
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Algiers
  • Morocco
  • Tunis
Search:
Search
  • Services
  • Prices
  • The team
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Algiers
  • Morocco
  • Tunis

When the mother tongue is not Mother’s tongue

Apr122019
Language Learning

There are several people on the web to whom a phrase like this is attributed:

„You can speak 20 languages – but if you cut yourself you speak your mother tongue!“

Of course, that’s true. The mother tongue is the main language of a person, his or her language of the heart. This will not change in life even if you marry a person who does not speak your mother tongue.

You may get fluent in another language, or even several languages; you may move to another country where your mother tongue is not known and not learned; yet your mother tongue stays the same.

I found out that there is one exception,

in which teenagers seem to switch their main language from the mother tongue to another one: when they had several years of schooling in a different one.

They spend 80% of the day in a different language and have to do homework, to deal with their friends and to do many hobbies in a different language. When the home culture of the parents is not your own – then it might happen.

One example: We met a young guy with an American passport in Southern France who had spent most of his life in French-speaking Belgium. Our group of friends was mostly English or German mother tongue speakers and he was asked quite soon to translate from French into English. No chance: he failed completely. No word came out of his mouth.

Two weeks later, someone asked him the other direction: from English into French. No problem, he did it without thinking.

French was his main language, his „mother“ tongue.

Category: Language LearningBy ArneApril 12, 2019Leave a comment
Tags: CognitiveComprehensionsocioculturalSpeakingTranslation

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:How to finish an evaluation to motivate and encourage – Assessment Part 6NextNext post:Artificial Languages and Planned Languages

Related Posts

singer
What on earth is phonetics and why should I need it?
September 14, 2020
Stay at home: Movies about Linguistics and Linguists
May 8, 2020
Why not totally different – GPA from the perspective of a student – 2
October 11, 2019
Why not totally different? GPA from the perspective of the student – 1
July 13, 2019
Top 10 Hardest Languages in the World
June 14, 2019
Rosetta Stone again – my personal experience
December 27, 2017

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post comment

Tunisian Stories as Android App: Click here

Tunisian stories
A Project of the ilès Team

Introduction in English
L'introduction en Français
Einführung auf Deutsch
المقدمة باللغة التونسية
المقدمة في اللغة العربية الفصحى

So far published in English:
The powerful tailor
---
Time heals all wounds
---
The Hanged Man and the Dead Woman
---
The Merchant and the Carrier
---
The Merchant who wrote his will while still alive
---
The Merchant and His Son

Share
  • tweet 
  • share 
  • share 
  • share 
  • share 
  • email 
The blog in 3 1/2 languages
  • Blog
  • What is it all about?
  • The team
Tags
Algerian ArabicCognitiveComprehensionCultural distanceCulture shockDistance LearningDutchEnglishEvaluationFrenchGermanintensiveLinguisticsListeningMethodologyMotivationReadingResourcesRosetta StoneSecuritysocioculturalSoftwareSpanishSpeakingTestingTranslationTunisian ArabicvideoVocabularyWriting
Latest posts
  • Tunisian stories by ilès team
    The Merchant and His Son (Tun. Stories No. 6)
    January 13, 2022
  • Tunisian stories by ilès team
    The merchant who wrote his will while still alive (Tun. Stories No. 5)
    December 2, 2021
  • New words: How neologisms emerge during the Covid 19 pandemic
    October 18, 2021
  • The ethnographic film: a source for language and linguistics, com
    October 9, 2021
Blog topics
  • Aix(5)
  • Algeria(6)
  • Assessment(6)
  • Cultural adaptation(25)
  • English to Arabic(1)
  • Fun(24)
  • GPA(4)
  • Language Learning(42)
  • Linguistics(12)
  • Methods(5)
  • Spanish(9)
  • Translation(8)
  • Tunisian(17)
ANY QUESTIONS? GET IN TOUCH!
Please fill out the form below and one of us will be in touch with you shortly.

 

Submit

ILES LINGUISTIQUE SARL
51, Rue Fernane Hanafi,
Cité Amirouche
Hussein Dey
Algiers, Algeria
Tel.: +213 549 96 09 74
NIF: 001716104475383
M/F: 16/00 B17 - 1044753
CEO: Reda Karim Ben El Kadi, Christopher Adams

Find us on:

Mail page opens in new windowWebsite page opens in new window
ILES LANGUAGES PRIVE
23 Avenue El Ourouba
Imm El Yamani
46000 Safi
Morocco
Tel.: +212 (0)6 75 06 62 41
ICE : 002191041000059
RC : 9439
CEO: Cody Garrett

Find us on:

Mail page opens in new windowWebsite page opens in new window
ILES Tunis SARL
4, rue d'Algérie
(near place Barcelone)
1002 Tunis
Tunisia
Tel. +216 71 354 193
MF : 1305918P/A/M/000
RC : B01130942013
CEO: Shad Stockton, Dr. Arne Kirchner

Find us on:

Facebook page opens in new windowLinkedin page opens in new windowInstagram page opens in new windowMail page opens in new windowWebsite page opens in new window
Copyright and Privacy Policy
Copyright
Images are all from pixabay.com

Privacy Policy
Look here for our privacy policy!

Brochure
Download our brochure in
Arabic - English - French - German
© 2013-2021 ilès Translation Team in Tunis, Algiers, and Safi
  • Home
  • Contact Tunis
  • Privacy policy
Bottom Menu
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT