Madeleine Lautmer 🇮🇩 🇫🇷 🇧🇷 🇬🇧 🇪🇸

#langtwt Language enthusiasts, what do you think about raising your children in your L2 language and not in your mother tongue?

@Stellalanguage Asante sana Mwalimu! Rafiki yangu amesema: ‘Kesho nitaenda sokoni pamoja na mama yangu.’

@MLautmer Vizuri👏🏾👏🏾 Rafiki yako amesema nini ?

Think in Kiswahili.. Nilikuwa... Sikuwa Nitakuwa.. Sitakuwa.. #speakkiswahili #learnkiswahili

@Stellalanguage Asante sana, Mwalimu!

@MLautmer Hongera sana 👏🏾👏🏾

#langtwt Got my test results on my Swahili oral test. I got a 2+ based on the ILR rating scale, which apparently is the equivalent to a B2 in the CEFR framework. Started learning Swahili from scratch on September 30th 2022.

@LanguageLHub Did you also take Spanish lessons, or did you learn it mostly through your travels?

@MLautmer Spanish, I've travelled to those countries the most and met new people who spoke Spanish

#langtwt Multilinguals, which of your L2 languages did you learn to a B1 level the fastest and why?

@mello_sombra Swahili. I started learning in 2022, still studying it every day.

I need a new language to learn. My langs are boring me aside from Tagalog #langtwt

@vardulero Esperanto absolutely counts! Do you know why you learned Esperanto more quickly than your other L2 languages?

@MLautmer Esperanto, if that counts.

@Yoboslicer Do you know why you learned Portuguese more quickly than your other L2 languages?

@MLautmer Portuguese.

@PolyglotZone Interesting! Do you speak any other L2 languages? If so, are they very different to your native one?

@MLautmer Spanish, because it was 2 years of full time university study.

@alex_senoner Yes, I'm wondering whether language similarity is one of the major factors leading to the speed at which one learns an L2 language.

@MLautmer Dutch, because it's so similar to German and it's my fourth Germanic language.

@mohamed_ali_t Do you know why you don't speak French with your family? How would you feel if you did?

@MLautmer I personally never speak French with my family, and often use French to read and write about politics and linguistics. Now whenever I switch to a serious topic, I draw on my French vocabulary. It happens spontaneously.

#langtwt For multilinguals who feel that your personality changes depending on the language you speak, what in particular changes? Do you make different decisions, do you have different feelings, does your behaviour change, etc. depending on the language?

@tonythorne007 @mohamed_ali_t In which languages do you feel you convey more seriousness, levity, warmth, etc?

@MLautmer @mohamed_ali_t You have to adopt the gestures, facial expressions, mannerisms, stances, etc as well as the words. These may also reflect cultural differences such as seriousness, levity, warmth, etc.

#langtwt Have any of you ever prepared for an ILR scale test in an L2 language? If so what did you do to prepare?

@alex_senoner What advice would you give to my friend who feels too shy to practise her L2 language because of her accent?

@MLautmer Not really. I've rarely had people struggle to understand me because of my accent in any language I've learned. When they didn't understand me it was because even I wasn't sure how the word is pronounced.

#langtwt Had a chat with a friend who is too shy to speak her L2 language because of her accent in it. How much does your accent in your L2 language prevent you from speaking it with speakers of that L2 language?

@andymounthood How did you manage to get over the hurdle of being shy about speaking French?

@MLautmer I used to be shy to speak French because I hated to hear myself speak it. French sounded beautiful to me when spoken by native speakers, but ugly when I spoke it. So I hardly practiced conversation. I got over it 20 years later and it's no longer a problem for me in any language

@ExileGregory What techniques did you use to learn to speak Russian with very little accent?

@MLautmer Not at all. Apparently, speak Russian with very little accent.

@KateMcGonigall Great to know that it doesn't prevent you at all. Totally agree that you just need to go for it to improve. How do you feel when you receive criticism or feedback?

@MLautmer Not at all. How will you improve? Practise - criticism repeat lol