Asperger's and second-language acquisition

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thuyett
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25 Apr 2012, 2:57 am

First of all, I would just like to ask if anyone knows of any good literature on Asperger's and its implications for second-language acquisition. I have found a few shoddy articles for teachers, but that's about it. I am especially curious about second-language listening. I am both an Aspie and a fanatical language student, and have noticed that my reading skills always surpass my listening skills. I would also like to point out that people often claim that they understand such and such a language, but can't speak it or read it. I personally find that hard to believe, and usually think the person is exaggerating (unless of course that person was raised with the language but doesn't like to speak it, which is sometimes the case). For me, listening has always been hard; both Russian and Spanish sound like a blur of words to me, even though I can read them both quite well. I'm now in the midst of getting to the bottom of this.



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25 Apr 2012, 3:33 am

Hi there, I don't know of any literature as such, but I'm an aspie who loves learning foreign languages and I pick them up very quickly, both written and verbal. In the past I've had foreign languages as obsessive special interests.



OJani
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25 Apr 2012, 3:48 am

I'm not really good at learning a foreign language.

English is my second language, so to speak. I can read it fairly well, but I find it difficult to understand live speech. Everyday conversations and listening to words of most songs are beyond me. I can understand spoken English only when the pace is relatively slow, words are well-articulated, and the pronunciation is familiar (Eastern-US, but not exclusively). Speaking it is very hard to me, I guess I need more practicing. It's much more difficult to find the exact words and expressions real time than in written form. And taking care of the pronunciation and intonation is also a bit difficult.

Anyway, I like English and the culture that comes with it, I see it as a window to the world. It comes handy when things are getting at me here where I live, in this Eastern European country.


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izzeme
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25 Apr 2012, 6:00 am

i didnt have a problem with learning a second language (or the third and fourth, for that matter), and i am able to swithc seamlessly between my primary and secondary language, it actually feels more like a double primary to me.

as for the listening/reading part, i dont notice any extra listening problems in my secondary languages that i dont also have with my primary one (which is, mainly, filtering the words from the background)



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25 Apr 2012, 6:11 am

I pick up grammar and syntax very, very quickly. Expanding upon the vocabulary takes some time, but is not difficult. I know 4 currently, and enough of another half dozen to communicate basic ideas. Reading is always easiest, and my reading comprehension is decent even in languages I have not studied extensively.

I'm HFA though, so not completely relevant to your exact question.


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faerie_queene87
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25 Apr 2012, 6:39 am

I speak a few languages, with different levels of fluency. What I can say is that my listening comprehension depends chiefly on the background noise and the speed. I also find it harder when I can't look at a person's mouth when he or she is speaking - but I am not sure whether this is about attention or about comprehension.
I must say that my biggest issue is remembering the vocabulary in the correct way, because I tend to mix up languages, or because the correct words I'd like to use cannot be directly translated.


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25 Apr 2012, 7:01 am

I am fluent in Spanish, and I taught myself advanced grammar/vocabulary. I am a whiz at reading and writing, but when it comes to speaking/listening, I lag far behind. I'm pretty good at speaking, but I can't watch Spanish TV shows or anything. If people speak too fast and have too hard of an accent, I don't comprehend anything. I truly believe that I am hyperlexic in Spanish just like I was in English. I know that it's the AS.


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25 Apr 2012, 12:03 pm

I picked up French, German and Italian very quickly.

I was top of my class in French and German (also Maths) and almost bottom of my class in English!
- I learned Italian during a 3 week vacation to Italy, aged 19.
- I noticed the grammar structure was almost identical to French and much of the vocabulary
- There was also an Italian girl involved :-)

My oh so sympathetic teachers described me as having a comprehension of nil (although it was a reasonably factual statement)
- But no one seemed to notice the imbalance of being exceptional in foreign languages and very weak in my native language, except me!
- It was the 60s, aka the Jurassic Period!


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25 Apr 2012, 12:28 pm

English is my second language and I am better at reading it that listening to it.


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Mayel
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25 Apr 2012, 12:44 pm

I learned Spanish as a second language and I was a toddler. So there's nothing special about it.
I'm better at writing and reading......Listening is good, speaking is fluent.....nothing to complain about.

Now, English as a third language. I learned it pretty fast and better than most of my peers. I was called the human lexicon since I knew so much words. I am good at reading, I understand nearly everything unless it's highly technical language. I also understand people talking English just as well although very casual speaking or people with some kind of strong accent make it harder for me to understand. Writing is ....well...good...I guess. And talking is okay....

I also learned Latin. Again much faster than most and my reading comprehension was at such levels that my teachers thought I was gifted or something. But it was Latin...it's almost like Spanish and some words sound like German or English,too.....I guess, I'm good at connecting dots when it comes to languages.

Italian.....almost the same but not quiet. I understand it fairly well but I understand texts much much better than people talking. My reading comprehension is far above my speech and listening comprehension skills. The same goes for French and Portuguese. I couldn't express myself well ...or let's say barely....(no matter if it's writing or talking) but I can understand texts most of the time. Listening...well it's okay but it could be way better.

Japanese....mhmm...that's a tough one. I find its grammar to be understandable and words are not that hard to remember. But....writing and reading......I can write and read hiragana and katakana but only around 200 Kanjis. That's almost nothing. Listening....well, it's okay for my level. But unlike with the other languages I can't pick it up quickly. Although I'm mostly one of the best when it comes to exams and homework, it's not enough for my liking compared to other languages. Then again, the first levels of Japanese I've taught myself autodidactically.

Polish.....I'm just beginning to learn Polish but it's going well. I can read and understand it okay. Much much better than listening to someone talking or talking myself. But I'll wait till I've learned more to judge it correctly.


I don't know any literature about AS and foreign language aquisition.


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25 Apr 2012, 12:48 pm

My mum is Dutch and when my grandma was still alive they'd talk in Dutch together. I grew up around it and I was able to understand a lot of it and even say some Dutch words and sentences. I could also read it and understand most of the text. Don't ask me to spell out words or sentences though. I wasn't that great at saying stuff without really thinking about it first but I'm very good at understanding things.



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25 Apr 2012, 12:52 pm

thuyett wrote:
First of all, I would just like to ask if anyone knows of any good literature on Asperger's and its implications for second-language acquisition. I have found a few shoddy articles for teachers, but that's about it. I am especially curious about second-language listening. I am both an Aspie and a fanatical language student, and have noticed that my reading skills always surpass my listening skills. I would also like to point out that people often claim that they understand such and such a language, but can't speak it or read it. I personally find that hard to believe, and usually think the person is exaggerating (unless of course that person was raised with the language but doesn't like to speak it, which is sometimes the case). For me, listening has always been hard; both Russian and Spanish sound like a blur of words to me, even though I can read them both quite well. I'm now in the midst of getting to the bottom of this.


I'm like you. I've been learning Swedish for 5 years now as I live here. My reading skills are best. Writing and speaking in the middle. Listening skills non-existent. It all just blurs into one long line of gobbledygook.

I think though it may have something to do with the way the language is learnt in the first place. My daughter's conversational Swedish is well ahead of her written and read. Probably because she's picked up most of it from chattering at school.

Also I've noticed that it's very common here that Swedes understand English when they hear it but they can't/won't speak it. I think this is because English is all around. In the music, the tv on the radio. They are exposed to the sound of it before they ever start formally learning it. Then the majority of their use of it is watching films, so listening.



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25 Apr 2012, 1:49 pm

Learning languages has been my special interest at various points in my life. I don't have a problem with comprehension. I do need to listen to longer sentences more than once sometimes, though. I don't know how to read or write in my most recent language, and one I learned in the past didn't really have a written form, but I could read in my second language. I am currently on my fourth, though I have forgotten most of my second, since I took the classes a long time ago and haven't had even one opportunity to use it since. I am also rusty in my third, but I know I could easily become better again. I might take another class in it this fall. Finally, the last one I am still learning, so I don't know that many words, compaired to the others. Also, I learned some Japanese at one point, but it was such a small amount that I am not counting that.

I love learning languages. I get very excited about it.



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25 Apr 2012, 2:17 pm

I think it depends on the person. Aspies and NTs both have the potential to be good or bad at something. You can't generalise and say "all Aspies are good at languages" or "all NTs are bad at maths."

However, what you can say is that if an Aspie takes an interest in learning a language, they will probably obsess about it and learn it to an extremely high standard. I did, and so did quite a few others on here, I believe.

In terms of listening / reading / writing / speaking etc., I don't think you can generalise about that, either. Different people are different, and have different learning styles. Personally I am a good mimic and speaking and listening aren't a problem for me, and neither are reading and writing. However, the problem I had with language learning is my terrible memory. NTs often say "oh, you're so clever, how did you teach yourself?" and I think, "ha! If they only knew!" I am not clever at all. It's not about being clever - it's about being so obsessed and determined to learn that you're prepared to spend years and years of your life fastidiously memorising dull vocabulary lists.

Obviously when learning a language there is an awful lot to learn, and I am not blessed with a quick, nimble, photographic memory - quite the opposite. My method of memorisation involves:

saying the word over and over again out loud, and
writing it down over and over again,

billions of times. :roll: To get it carved into my thick, dull brain.

Reading it or hearing it will not have the same effect. It's no good my brain hearing (or reading) someone else produce the word. I have to be the one "producing" it - either by writing or speaking. If I hear a word and I want to remember it, I repeat it lots and lots of times. If I read a new word and I want to remember it, I write it down lots and lots of times. So, I conclude that I learn by "doing," not by observing.

It's the same on my computer. If somebody grabs the mouse and takes control and starts to "show me how to do something," my mind will go blank and I won't remember anything at all. The only way I can remember it is if they give me the instructions for what to do, and let me carry them out. I can remember ME doing things, but I can't remember other people doing them nearly as well.

In conclusion: the first step to learning a language effectively is identifying your own particular learning style. Oh, and if you have a photographic memory, I am officially jealous of you. :)



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26 Apr 2012, 12:03 am

I've been studying French for five years now, and while I'm not fluent, I can speak it fairly well. Opposite of what most people claim, I can speak it much better than I can understand it verbally, because of the pace at which most people speak. Written is much easier than spoken, but I still write it better than I can read. It's interesting, I'm a better verbal learner than visual (my parents are cursed with my ability to remember and parrot back the lines of movies I've only ever seen once :) ), and yet learning a foreign language by hearing it is not as easy as I would have expected compared to reading it. No idea why this is.


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26 Apr 2012, 8:45 pm

An interesting PhD topic for somebody perhaps?


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