I'm from Gibraltar and like most of us, fully bilingual English/Spanish with neither as a second language as opposed to the Scandinavian example in this very interesting article. From this perspective your point is well made we are difficult to understand for non native speakers of both languages, not least because we flit between both languages mid sentence, but also because when we speak either English or Spanish we tend to dip heavily into truncation of words, colloquialisms, slang etc. As a French speaker to a reasonable standard I also see the flip side of the coin where I will better understand a Moroccan speaking French than I would a native French person. Many thanks for sharing this, language fascinates me
The second-language speakers pay a lot more attention to how and why they say certain words, because they've already passed through the translation filter once. Adding more filtration between brain and mouth catches more inaccuracies.
That sounds like a brilliant name for it. Though it has trouble putting in things that aren't there, as seen below:
By deliberate choice, my parents raised me with English as a first language and Filipino as a second (this despite me living in the Philippines) in order to help me get a leg up. Filipino has a word, "diyan", for something or someplace close to the speaker, but far away from the listener. I can never consistently remember to use this word when it would be appropriate, circumventing the Brita Effect by virtue of needing something added, rather than just filtration.
I can't think of a comparable expression in any language I know. I suspect, however, that one may come to mind the next time I go for a walk or a swim.
I agree, by the way, that much can be lost in the process of filtration. That is, clarity is often achieved at the expense of nuance.
I'm from Gibraltar and like most of us, fully bilingual English/Spanish with neither as a second language as opposed to the Scandinavian example in this very interesting article. From this perspective your point is well made we are difficult to understand for non native speakers of both languages, not least because we flit between both languages mid sentence, but also because when we speak either English or Spanish we tend to dip heavily into truncation of words, colloquialisms, slang etc. As a French speaker to a reasonable standard I also see the flip side of the coin where I will better understand a Moroccan speaking French than I would a native French person. Many thanks for sharing this, language fascinates me
The second-language speakers pay a lot more attention to how and why they say certain words, because they've already passed through the translation filter once. Adding more filtration between brain and mouth catches more inaccuracies.
Shall we call this "the Brita effect?"
That sounds like a brilliant name for it. Though it has trouble putting in things that aren't there, as seen below:
By deliberate choice, my parents raised me with English as a first language and Filipino as a second (this despite me living in the Philippines) in order to help me get a leg up. Filipino has a word, "diyan", for something or someplace close to the speaker, but far away from the listener. I can never consistently remember to use this word when it would be appropriate, circumventing the Brita Effect by virtue of needing something added, rather than just filtration.
Have you encountered something like this as well?
I can't think of a comparable expression in any language I know. I suspect, however, that one may come to mind the next time I go for a walk or a swim.
I agree, by the way, that much can be lost in the process of filtration. That is, clarity is often achieved at the expense of nuance.