What is your worst/most constant language comprehension...?

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Which part of language comprehension gives you the most trouble the most of the time?
I have no language comprehension trouble that I'm aware. 4%  4%  [ 2 ]
I mishear words a lot. 5%  5%  [ 3 ]
I hear language and I know it's language but often it just sounds like noise. 7%  7%  [ 4 ]
I have trouble hearing language through background noise. 15%  15%  [ 8 ]
I have a low vocabulary of words I understand. 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
I take things too literally. 20%  20%  [ 11 ]
I can spot metaphors and other nonliteral language but can't understand the real meaning. 4%  4%  [ 2 ]
I have trouble noticing language involving double meanings. 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
I go by strict dictionary definitions and can't figure out language that doesn't match the dictionary. 5%  5%  [ 3 ]
I have trouble or it takes time translating language into pictures or other kinds of thought. 9%  9%  [ 5 ]
I spend most of my time far beneath language or idea, with no clue these could exist. When I hear words while in that realm I may hear the tonality and music of the voice, but not the meaning or even the possibility of even a strictly literal meaning. 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
When I hear a string of words, it gets all tangled, jumbled, and out of sequence. Then I have to piece it together. 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
I understand language only by the pattern of what situation I have heard what sequence of words in, in the past. I would have real trouble defining or understanding most single words, or words without context. 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
I understand language easily (or easiER) at first, but the more tired I get the more it sounds like gibberish. 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
Whether I manage to interpret it or not, the very act of trying to understand language makes my brain, ears, or eyes hurt. 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
I have trouble because when someone says a sentence, the more words I hear, the more words from the beginning drop out of my mind so I have trouble holding the whole sentence in my head and understanding it all at once. 11%  11%  [ 6 ]
Other. (Please explain if possible.) 9%  9%  [ 5 ]
Total votes : 55

anbuend
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14 Feb 2011, 5:41 pm

What I mean is which part of understanding language gives you the most trouble most of the time? Try to choose the one that fits the most even if several fit. For instance three to five fit me a whole lot (and three or four fit me less of the time when I am actually in language mode) but I can choose (and have chosen) the one that fits most of the time and seems to be my biggest obstacle to language.

Obviously, even though I tried really hard to remember every single language problem anyone has ever told me plus every one I have ever had that I can remember anyway. But there's no way I got everything. So that's what "Other" is for, and feel free to explain (or to elaborate on any of the other choices).


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wavefreak58
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14 Feb 2011, 5:59 pm

That's a long list.

My language skill has steadily progressed over the years to the point where I am able to hold up OK in most situations and excel in select ones. My primary issues are picking out words in a noisy environment, gaps and pauses when thinking of words, and missing incoming words when someone is speaking to me. That last two are correlated to the amount of thinking I need to do to stay with the conversation. If I am trying really hard to be clear I stop speaking fluidly and if I am listening to something complex, especially if it is new information, I will miss words because I can't process it fast enough. I will also miss chunks of incoming words if a word triggers a tangential thought. If I focus too heavily on listening so I don't miss words, I start hearing the words without the meaning.


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JadeEyes
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14 Feb 2011, 6:11 pm

i have difficulty reading written directions for the same reason. it was actually a bit of a challenge holding my attentioin through this list.
I also tend to take things too literally, especially with people i dont know.



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14 Feb 2011, 6:12 pm

I checked that I take things too literally, but that is not quite it. I tend to miss nuances in people's speech. I can usually get sarcasm, but I often miss it when people are joking. I tend to take jokes seriously, and get confused. I also get messed up by polite expressions, like "let's get together soon," which is just polite nonsense, not an invitation to get together. I had a hard time learning that "how are you" is not really a request for information. I still have trouble with knowing how to answer new greetings; I wish that people would stop coming up with new greetings.


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anbuend
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14 Feb 2011, 6:17 pm

Years ago a guy said "Let's have coffee sometime" so I wrote him back with my schedule and asking him when he was free. He never replied. It took me until very recently to realize he didn't mean it, and all that time I was agonizing about what had gone wrong.


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DandelionFireworks
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14 Feb 2011, 6:21 pm

Wait a minute. I had no idea that people don't actually mean those as invitations! Oh, wow...


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Yensid
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14 Feb 2011, 6:37 pm

A similar thing is "I'm busy" which can mean, I don't want to socialize with you. I've gotten in trouble both ways, when I hear it and when I say it.


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buryuntime
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14 Feb 2011, 6:45 pm

I voted that I mishear words a lot. I will hear somebody talking to me and it's just a jumble of sounds or murmuring with the occasional word that makes sense. If somebody I know responds back to them I can piece together what they said. I don't have too much trouble when I'm not stressed out, which is usually hearing my family.

Just having somebody on voice chat on the computer stresses me out even if I'm not the one talking. I have to devote my complete attention to trying to decipher what they say and I can't focus on anything else and... it doesn't end very well.

I avoid watching anything without subtitles, like the radio, it's just not worth it for me.

I liked the option about dictionary words. I look up words all the time when chatting to understand others. But I don't have a problem like this when reading books. It's just trying to understand what people mean to say to me.



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14 Feb 2011, 7:19 pm

I voted that it takes time to translate language into other forms of thought. While I'm not really aware of what I'm translating it to, it does take time for what people say to process and for me to understand it. I tend to fall behind if they just keep talking and either have to ask for them to repeat or I just zone out.

I realized I'd gotten into the habit of saying "yes" to whatever people asked me, because I felt pressure to answer right away. This has gotten me into a lot of situations I should have said no to. I'm making a conscious effort not to do that now.

I do also have trouble distinguishing language from background noise, but since I try to avoid noisy places, that happens less often than the option I chose.

Actually, now that I read over other people's replies, wavefreak's reply is pretty much exactly my experience. :-)



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14 Feb 2011, 7:30 pm

I tend to take things very literal and I also have a hard time remember tons of stuff. Tell me what to do, I will not remember lot of it. So I ask for things to be written down now. I try to remember to ask or try and remember to bring a notepad with and pen so I can write stuff down. I also feel it's my responsibility too to help myself around this issue.

I also have a hard time understanding directions or instructions so that is why I have a hard time with cooking or making things. If they are simple enough, I will understand it. Even hamburger helper was hard because the instructions didn't seem clear enough for me. Also when I ask where a place is, I cannot remember the directions, it has to be written down and unfortunately I have nothing to write it down with. So I don't even bother asking. Other people seem to remember such as my husband and mother. If they were short, then I will remember like. "Where are the restrooms" "At the front of the store next to the entrance?" I can remember that because it's two things. Front of store, next to entrance.

Another issue I seem to have is I full well know what something means but I take it literal anyway or know people don't mean this or that when they say it but I still take it literal. I know everyone has their own perception of words and what they mean but yet I still take it the way I perceive them than perceive it their way. So no matter how many times I keep reminding myself "five must be a lot to her" I keep thinking "Oh BS" because to me five isn't a lot, it's a few. I am fully aware couple is not two for my husband but I keep perceiving it as two when he says "couple." So I get tricked every time and then get mad. Then just a few minutes ago he tells me he has a couple chocolates left if I want them and I say "Couple as in two or couple as in more than two?"

Another issue I have is I miss words. Like my husband says "Maybe we should..." and I don't hear that word. I hear "We should" and I go "no" and he points out "I said maybe."

While I seem to have a hard time understanding what I am reading, I understand what I am hearing when I am hearing the person speak than seeing words on a screen. Weird isn't it? But I hate voice chat. I cannot understand the person. That means I would have to have everything turned off. No youtube, no TV, turn off the dishwasher, unplug the fridge. That means my baby cannot cry either but except I can't turn him off. What am I going to do? Put tape over his mouth or put something in his mouth to muffle his cries or put him out in my car so I won't hear him cry or put stuff over his face to muffle out his cries? (sarcasm everyone, of course I would never do that to my kid).
Phones, I can hear better but it can still be hard if the person isn't speaking loudly or shouting into the phone. But I still want quiet so it's easier to hear.


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Verdandi
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14 Feb 2011, 7:39 pm

Yensid wrote:
I checked that I take things too literally, but that is not quite it. I tend to miss nuances in people's speech. I can usually get sarcasm, but I often miss it when people are joking. I tend to take jokes seriously, and get confused. I also get messed up by polite expressions, like "let's get together soon," which is just polite nonsense, not an invitation to get together. I had a hard time learning that "how are you" is not really a request for information. I still have trouble with knowing how to answer new greetings; I wish that people would stop coming up with new greetings.


This is me.

A longtime friend pointed out to me the other day that she's seen me get into more trouble online from literal interpretations than I had understood to be the case. I realized I was doing it, but from what she says I do it a lot more than I realize.

I also have the expectation that other people will take me literally, and tend to get really frustrated when they don't.

More later.



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14 Feb 2011, 8:01 pm

I also checked that I take things too literally, but that's not the only thing or the most common now that I fully read it over. I also:
- Misread/hear words
- Have trouble hearing through background noise
- Have too HIGH a vocabulary so I forget words all the time
- Forget the first part of sentences or statements before they end



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14 Feb 2011, 8:45 pm

I forgot about the misreading part. I do that a lot and I hate it. Some people assume I didn't read the whole thing because I misread it or didn't understand what I have just read. :roll:


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14 Feb 2011, 9:23 pm

I tend to have trouble listening to 2 people talk to me at once. I don't like when the teacher is talking at school, and my helpers say "You don't need to do that". I end up not hearing what either of them said.


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Cassia
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14 Feb 2011, 9:24 pm

I voted that I take things too literally. I think it's fairly minor - I generally understand figures of speech and common exaggerations, but I sometimes have difficulty recognizing things as joking instead of serious, and I tend to take things people say at face value (there's a figure of speech...) rather than picking up subtler things that may be implied (like in the example given elsewhere in this thread of "I'm busy" meaning "I don't want to visit with you.")

(Maybe that's what you meant by the option of "I have trouble noticing language involving double meanings.", and perhaps I should have voted for that one, but when I read it I took it as having to do with puns or double entendres.)


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14 Feb 2011, 9:35 pm

It takes me longer than usual to understand people, so I'm in the habit of asking them to repeat things. The problem is that by the time they start repeating it my brain finally finishes processing what they said so I'm sitting there, mildly annoyed that I'm having to listen to something I already know, even though it's unreasonable since they can't know that I already know what they're saying.