Do you ever forget some words in your native language?

[andre-nunes]

Yes I do, sometimes I know the English word but I can't remember the Portuguese one, that's why I communicate with my brother using a mix of English and Portuguese xD

[brookie]

I definitely get what you mean. When I was a child I used to think in Portuguese and translate, but now it's the other way round. So when you're thinking in English and translating, sometimes you forget words, especially conjunction words, etc. But being around native people always sharpens your language

[LivetoErr]

Of course! I think that's a natural phenomenon of memory. I don't think I've had a relationship with anyone that I haven't heard that person say, at least once, "...what's the word I'm looking for..." Sometimes you get so caught up in the point you're trying to make that some words seem to disappear from your vocabulary, if only momentarily.

[htr693]

Absolutely! It's the funniest thing when it happens.

I remember I was in Spain for about a year, and towards the end, when I'd call my family in Canada, I kept saying small spanish words in place of the english ones. I didn't do it for any substantial words, always things like saying 'pues' instead of 'well', things like that. My family thought it was hilarious.

[Peninha]

lol same here, if I speak English or Spanish for long it's easier for me that English or Spanish words come to my mind than my native tongue ones. I think it's a normal situation, the brain has been more occupied with other languages so when we "think" we do it in another language, it's like it's on cache maybe.

[gocek]

I think it happens to the best of us. I'm not a native English speaker, but I speak English more than my native language. I often forget words in my native language and I get made fun of by my family! :speechless:

[Channa]

Sometimes when I speak other languages so often and with little to no contact with my native people I tend to have problems with remembering certain words in my own language. It's not exactly that I forget them, they are just on the tip of my tongue but it's easier to find them in other language.

Also, I know many words related to my job that I don't know how to translate to my own language, yet I understand them.

Do you ever have situations like this?

Yes it does happen to me, I come from the Caribbean, Jamaica is my country and we speak Patoise. So often times when talking to someone from a different country like: America, when ever they comes to Jamaica we have to try to speak proper English. And so it causes me to speak more Patoise and forget the English words. I hope I answer your question.

[thomas pendrake]

I write professionally and find that I get blocks on words occasionally, usually common words that are not quite technical. At one time we had three professional writers in the house and someone was always running into the problem. The problem often arises when there is a right brain/ left brain conflict. If you are writing or speaking creatively and you need a technical term you might have a word-block.

[myreallife85]

This is already happening to me these days. I have been forgetting how to express certain emotions and words in my native language that I feel bad because of it. Maybe because of using English all the time.

[jfab]

I am so guilty of this. I think we all are. I mean, even if it's your native tongue you can still forget some words in it.

[Bonyi]

I think if you grew up in your native land and knew how to speak the language, it will be difficult for you forget it even if you have not been in touch with them.

[Channa]

Sometimes when I speak other languages so often and with little to no contact with my native people I tend to have problems with remembering certain words in my own language. It's not exactly that I forget them, they are just on the tip of my tongue but it's easier to find them in other language.

Also, I know many words related to my job that I don't know how to translate to my own language, yet I understand them.

Do you ever have situations like this?

Yes, We are only human and human forget, On the other hand I do forget at times some very simple words. And then some words I just don't even try to use if i don't know the meaning.

[Cadence]

Oh yes this happens all the time. Sometimes I really can't remember the word in swedish but most of the time I just like the english equivalent much more and use that word instead even if I know the word in swedish. This leads to me talking a whole lot of "swenglish" basically all the time, not only when talking but also when writing on my blog etc. I guess I do this because I love english and prefer it over any other language..

[surrender2air]

Yes, all the time. Sometimes a word will be on the tip of my tongue but I just can't think of it. It's nothing to be ashamed of though.

[FatesWing]

This has definitely happened to me! The thing that bugs me the most about it too is that it'll be the simplest word ever and I feel stupid afterwards! It only ever happens in long conversations though. Never when I am writing or just making small talk. I'll find myself talking with someone for a while and then bam! My brain goes to mush... Maybe for me it comes from a bit of social anxiety

[Timeisrelative]

Yes it happens more times that I care to admit. Usually when I'm in a conversation with my friends I sometimes can't remember the word in my native language. And I normally just say it in the foreign language anyway because I know they will understand.

[Ninna]

Yes, that happens to me all the time! I live abroad so on daily basis I mainly use English and the local language. In two years time I seem to have started inventing words of my own and thinking in English. Just wonder what will happen when the years go on..

[GoldRose]

It happens to me quite often because I currently live in a different country (orginally from Poland and living in the UK). I also do not have too much contact with Polish people, so do not have occasion to use Polish language.... I find it quite amusing,but a bit scary sometimes....

[fluffyducky]

Yes I do, not only my native language but in all my languages. I go "blahblah that word that means this-and-this", pause for a bit, remember the word, then spout it out and continue speaking. I think I'm getting old.

If I don't actually need it urgently, my wordbank is endless and full of vocab. When I need to tell someone something, woosh everything is gone.

[Hedonologist]

this happen to me too sometimes. Sometimes people will forget the non-slang version of a word, which is kind of similar, because you forget the original word in place of the secondary learned word.

[ericdlee]

If I don't speak or read constantly,  I tent to forget both languages. Now I am losing Korean words, because I don't use it as intensively as before, and also losing English cut I got lazy reading books and newspapers.  OMG.

[angelicagapit]

I often have this problem. Sometimes I forget the translation of my native language and I end up speaking the other language I know.

Sometimes I speak two languages in one sentence and I don't realize it. I speak English and a bit of Filipino, and sometimes I don't realize that I'm actually speaking both languages at the same time. People sometimes get confused and try to understand what I'm saying. They have to make me aware of what I just did.

[Dora M]

Absolutely, it's even embarrassing at times. I grew up speaking German and Serbo-Croatian, but speaking almost exclusively English now for many years, I find myself looking in the dictionary for certain German words. All of my German speaking acquaintances agree that I now have a slight English accent as well.

[extrafancyganza]

I do this ALL of the time; I'm 17 years old and me and my friends all spend a lot of time online where we speak in English, and of course it slips into our daily speaking too. It's a new internet culture, really. What's a girl to do if she forgets her own language sometimes?

[IndianapolisJones]

Haha all the time, born and raised in Minnesota with English as my native tongue, I draw blanks on certain words quite frequently. My parents speak in Urdu at home all the time so I've gotten used to switching between English and Urdu, it's only expected to forget a couple words every now and then.