Alcohol and Languages

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הענט
Alcohol and Languages

Postby הענט » 2017-10-31, 3:51

So apparently I can speak Slovak and faux Australian English.
Well it was more like British English, but I tried to imitate my friend who had been to New Zealand some time ago. I have no idea how to do it sober. :)

So my question is: Does alcohol activate some parts of my brain somehow to an extent where I can transform passive knowledge into active speaking?

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Luís
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Re: Alcohol and Languages

Postby Luís » 2017-10-31, 9:21

Maybe you think you can speak those languages precisely because you were drunk? :P
Quot linguas calles, tot homines vales

הענט

Re: Alcohol and Languages

Postby הענט » 2017-10-31, 18:03

My thoughts exactly. :) But apparently I had zero interference from other Slavic languages. Because when I try to speak Slovak I usually mix a few of these in -) ((sr), (ru), (pl) and of course Slovakized (cs)) :)

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Re: Alcohol and Languages

Postby TheStrayCat » 2017-11-01, 0:22

Quite often being too anxious about making mistakes (when speaking a foreign language) is exactly what makes you more likely to make more of them. Maybe alcohol somehow inhibited the self-conscious part of your brain, thus making you feel more relaxed about your speech? :)

For me, by the way, alcohol has precisely the opposite effect - I just feel dumb even after a cup of beer, but of course this might be very individual.

הענט

Re: Alcohol and Languages

Postby הענט » 2017-11-01, 8:09

Yes. Probably. :) I guess it makes the vocab more accessible, but it may hinder my actual pronunciation as you can imagine. :)

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Re: Alcohol and Languages

Postby Babbsagg » 2017-11-01, 22:15

Alcohol does have that effect that cognitive functions are pushed back and intuition takes over.

Now a great lot of learning and speaking a language is an intuitive process. Everyone knows an awful lot about how to speak their mother tongue, without consciously "knowing" it. Even before you know anything about phonetics, you know how your mother tongue sounds and you know how to do it correctly yourself, without ever wasting any thought on it.

I think it's very well possible that you can pick up characteristics of a certain accent without consciously understanding them. And I guess it makes sense that under certain circumstances, being sober/conscious may actually make it harder to replicate it.
Thank you for correcting mistakes!


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