What language do you speak best? (Hypothesis: There are many French & German speakers in the Fediverse.)
Boosts appreciated!
French15%
German28%
English30%
(Other)25%
Replying to @rauschma@fosstodon.org
@rauschma I had to check the definition of "native language". Conclusion: By the literal description as given by dictionary.com, German does qualify as that. However, given that it is also considered synonymous to "first language", I am not entirely sure what the actual intent of the dictionary editor was, as I would not consider it my first language...
Generally, the use of the terms "native language" and "first language" in English seems very fuzzy and ill-considered.
@wfk True! I thought they were the same, but "first language" seems like an overall better/clearer term.
Replying to @rauschma@fosstodon.org
@rauschma for me, German is "second language" by a very thin margin...
Things get confusing when you are born in one country, grow up in another, live on a site with a third language in active use, your parents natively speak one language but have been using another on a daily basis for years.
It seems that many implicit assumptions of many (monolingual) native English speakers start falling apart at that point.