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ESL speakers, when did you learn English? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 days ago by wendyz@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

31 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I suppose I can speak both American and Queen’s English, though I grew up with the latter (my dad is from England).

I learned starting at 3 years old 😊

Now, I am onto a third language of Galician, which is spoken in my country. Maybe I will even learn a fourth for my Japanese girlfriend but her close/immediate family all speaks English.

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[–] baduhai@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

When I was 10, I moved to another country and started studying in an international school. I essentially only spoke Portuguese (my mother tongue) with my parents and my brother, which meant I was fully immersed in English for a huge chunk of my formative years.

English isn't technically my mother tongue, but it might as well be. I write better in English than I do in Portuguese, because that's the language I wrote in in school. My Portuguese is flawless, and nobody would ever say that is isn't my mother tongue, but in some situations my English is just better. I consider myself to have two mother tongues, even though I'm technically an ESL speaker.

I have also not been able to replicate my level of English in other languages. I'm fluent in German, and I have no difficulty with any aspect of the language, be it reading, speaking, writing or listening, but it's really clear that it is not my mother tongue.

[–] wendyz@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

English is basically like my mother tongue too! I learn at age 3!