I have always enjoyed learning languages. I speak Spanish, Basque (Euskera), a little of Italian and a little of Portuguese also. In English, I can read and listen to it very well (Cambridge endorses it) but I am not good at speaking or writing it (Cambridge also says so). How is that possible?
Throughout my life, I have read and listened to a lot of English technical manuals, games, scientific papers, books… that have helped me to have an almost perfect understanding of any kind of text. Listening to series and movies in original soundtrack or attending international congresses has allowed me to learn to listen to it.
However, I've never had the opportunity to communicate for a long time in English. That is why my mind, my neural link, does not work in that language. I am able to understand it quite well, but when it comes to expressing myself, my brain works in other languages and tries to do a "simultaneous translation on the fly”. It often fails miserably.
Why am I not able to write at the same level as I read? —I ask myself. And it's because of that “mental wiring”. So when I want to write in English, my insecurity makes me resort to automatic translators. But sometimes, it's even more frustrating.
Although translators have come a long way, they still can't do a good job. They can't translate local expressions or sayings. And they often confuse sentences, subjects and predicates. But at the same time, I find them tremendously useful to learn to express myself better and to recognize my mistakes.
How is that possible? Let me tell you how I do it. Imagine this text that I am going to use as an example and as an experiment. I have written in Spanish and translated it with a translator. As I said, I don't express myself very well in English, but I do read it quite fluently. So I read the translated text as if it had been written by someone else. The things that I don't understand well, probably have been wrongly translated. So I change them for sentences I understand.
Then I run a spelling and grammar checker (there is very good software for this). And I have my text in English, which I am able to understand and without grammatical errors.
But that's not all: what happens if I put that text in English and translate it back into Spanish? I think this is the most interesting step, and I find it very usefull for learning.
Well, once again, there are absurd sentences that make no sense. This means that I have used some local or exclusive Spanish expression that, when translated into English, loses its meaning. And when returned to Spanish, it has become nonsense.
So I write it down in a notebook (to study it and to learn how can it be said en English) and change it back to a similar expression.
The result is an imperfect text (I'm sure this text contains many errors) and without language flourishes. Let's say it is a much plainer and simpler text than the original. But, despite this, it turns out to be quite understandable.
By the way, I've learned new ways of expressing myself and I detect mistakes I make when writing. So I hate and love automatic translators.
They allow me to learn to write in English using simple expressions, although they make it impossible for me to translate more complicated literary figures (for example, I can't translate the fantasy novel I'm writing here at read.cash because it loses all its literary beauty).
So I hope this text can be well understood (please, Don't spit on my face if I have made some mistakes XD). I just try to make it better and better. Moreover, any comment is welcome.
But, on the other hand, I think that Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world and that there are many people learning it. Then, If that is your case, let me invite you to our 'En Español' community.
I promise you that we are kind to those who are learning and that we will try to help you to understand and to express yourself in Spanish. A kind of “language tandem” that ends in a win-win situation.
With or without automatic translators.
Lead image source: Own creation inspired by the double slit quantum experiment
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We always share our comments and opinions in Spanish, but you posted this in English, so we go. Loucy, I´ve had been speaking English for around 6 years, and one of the most important things to start speaking it a little bit fluent is practicing, yep it´s obvious but it is the best way, the interaction is so important, I know people who get a higher level of grammar than me, but when they have to talk, they cannot! It´s a matter of practice and, see the language as a way to learn the culture of the countries where this is spoken, this way you can learn idioms and expressions that make you speak more naturally.