I think since last year (or perhaps even longer than that) I feel that my English ability has getting weaker and weaker. I remember when I first moved here and I could express myself in spoken English much more eloquently and quickly than now. These days there are times when these problems occur:
1. I want to say something in English, but my brain only comes up with the object or the meaning of the word in my brain and I struggle to find the English term.
2. More often than not, my brain can only remember the Indonesian term of the word, though sometimes my brain can only produce the image of the object without even remembering the Indonesian term.
3. Sometimes my brain can only remember the Finnish word, though other times it remembers both the Indonesian and Finnish word without remembering the English word.
Of course in most cases in the end I can still come up with the English word, but it takes (a much longer) time for my brain to search for that word - whereas when I just moved here, that word would mostly be the first word that popped up in my head 'coz I had been mostly thinking in English.
Due to the fact that Finnish pronunciation is more similar to Indonesian pronunciation, I also had some bits of trouble after doing the training in the library last year 'coz I realized that my tongue had reverted to "Indo/Finnish" - e.g. when I tried saying some specific English words, the pronunciation sounded more like "Indo/Finnish". I was SHOCKED!!!
To those of you who know and use at least two foreign languages in daily life, how do you make sure that you still nurture the ability to use those languages equally without letting the other one suffer? Of course it'd help if I get to meet different people regularly equally - meaning where I get to interact with different people purely in Finnish and purely in English regularly, but 'coz that's not the case, I fear that my English ability has suffered greatly (esp. compared to the time when I was at the uni, when I was still actively learning about grammar and stuff).
That's my dilemma now. I don't want to completely use Finnish with R2 'coz then I get less chance to practise my English, but I DO need to use my Finnish with him anyway. I've tried forcing myself to think in Finnish every now and then (even if it means I only think of some short phrases or 1-2 short sentences), but that means that those times I usually spend thinking in English have now been converted to Finnish. It would help if I start thinking in Finnish AND also translating those thoughts in English, but that takes time and energy...or maybe I should try translating all my English posts to Finnish? *gasp* That'd definitely be so tiring he he...
Anyway, I'm just trying to find the best way to balance myself inside this bowl of mixed languages that sometimes frustrates me. I have no problem keeping my Indonesian ability intact 'coz it's my mother tongue. It's my English ability that I'm worried about. I want to keep nurturing my English AND Finnish ability - and if possible I want to get better at both. Oh well...we'll see how it goes...
I'm not a competitive person compared to many others. However, I like to compare my tracks by looking back on the past. This is especially true when it comes to learning Finnish.
The other day my Brit friend MC went to the PO and this guy started talking to her in Finnish and she said that it felt SO good to be able to understand each other and to be able to express herself in Finnish.
I've also felt the same way whenever I feel that I understand more and more Finnish than before. For example, a few days ago I went to the flea market and one of the ladies who were there started talking to me in Finnish. We only exchanged a few words, but this time I felt that I understood almost everything she was saying to me as opposed to having to guess the rest that I didn't understand and it felt like a HUGE victory.
Feels like I've been collecting small bronze medals or something, you know? Today at the course a trainee in our classroom, a native Finnish speaker, told me that she had noticed that my pronunciation was more similar to native Finnish speakers compared to my classmates. That felt like winning another bronze medal HE HE HE HE HE HE...
I know I'm lucky in learning Finnish as Finnish pronunciation is more similar to Indonesian pronunciation compared to English, so I have less problem in that area compared to others. :-D
I can't wait to feel that I've won silver and gold medals in terms of learning Finnish HA HA HA HA HA HA...One thing that's weird is that others seem to think that I study Finnish SO much every single day, though it's NOT true. I CAN be a lazy pig, too!!! *grin* There are days when I don't study Finnish at all and I just read Japanese comics online to relax hi hi hi hi hi...
I don't know if it's my aura or something, but I've heard this all too often ever since I was in High School. I wonder why...I remember once in High School there was this boy who didn't believe me whenever I said that I hadn't really studied EVERYTHING (every page that was required to be learnt), so I got angry at him for not believing in me. I was SO annoyed that he thought I was lying. Oh well...
Anyway, yesterday came a Hungarian girl to our classroom. She's been in Sodankylä for a month and she's a voluntary worker. She's helping out in the City Hall and she'll also be involved in Midnight Sun Festival in summer and she's teaching German at one of the schools here. She can't come to our class every day due to her work, but she's interested in learning Finnish. Today she asked me if I could teach her Finnish. I told her that I'd be able to TRY to do that and I could only teach her the basics.
We'll see how it goes, then. I think it'll be good for me to try and teach her all the things I've learnt since it'll be like a repetition lesson for me, don't you think so? ;-D
P.S. I should probably add "writing a Finnish blog" in my To-Do list. I think I'll try to do it when my training and course are done. We'll see! ;-D
JANICE, this one is especially for you he he he he he...I'm just going to write some phrases here:
1. Hyvää joulua! = Merry Christmas!
2. Onnellista uutta vuotta! = Happy New Year!
3. Rakastan sinua = I love you.
4. Nimeni on ....... = My name is ...... (fill in the blanks with your own name).
5. Days of the week:
a. Maanantai = Monday
b. Tiistai = Tuesday
c. Keskiviikko = Wednesday
d. Torstai = Thursday
e. Perjantai = Friday
f. Lauantai = Saturday
g. Sunnuntai = Sunday
6. WC (Vessa) = Toilet
7. Apua! = Help!
8. Hyvää syntymäpäivä! = Happy Birthday!
9. Mitä kuuluu? = How are you?
Kiitos, hyvää = Fine, thanks.
10. Hauska tutustua = Pleased to meet you.
I hope that's enough for now he he he he he...If you wanna hear some Finnish pronunciation, go here: Finnish for Foreigners.
