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learning languages

I'm curious about other people with aphantasia and their experiences with learning languages.

I write fiction for a living, so I feel like I've got some facility with at least English. But in my youth, I tried to learn French and German and found that it was essentially impossible for me. Even ASL, which should involve less "translating" since it's still English was utterly daunting.

This may totally be a "me" problem, just another item on the impressively long list of things I'm not good at, but it feels like it might be connected to my aphantasia.

How easy or difficult has it been for you to learn second (or beyond) language?

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Renee Russell
on April 4, 2025

I’ve learned spanish well though fluency feels impossible to me. Perhaps for you it’s that because we don’t have mental imagery our words and way we express ourselves are very important to us. It could feel dangerous to your brain to learn a different word than the one you already use for something. Do you have an “inner voice”? I’ve read that some people don’t have that either, like they can’t hear themselves think. I have a robust inner voice. I will even speak to myself in Spanish sometimes in it

Jamie Mason
on April 4, 2025

I also have a robust inner voice. It’s strong running narration/commentary that I have to wonder doesn’t stand in for the images most people experience. And I think in full, complex sentences not just concepts.

It does make me wonder if the tremendous difficulty I have in learning other languages is somehow tied to the tremendous cost of swapping out my inner narration in translation.

When I took language classes, I could study to get an A on tests and in the course, but it was much more like math to me than language — if that makes any sense. I could never substitute the other language to self-articulate my own thoughts to me.

Jamie Mason
on April 9, 2025

Yeah, it might have nothing at all to do with my aphantasia. I’m probably just terrible at it! : )

Natasha Greenman
on April 7, 2025

I speak 3 languages. All learned as a child. Language learning, for me, doesn’t require visual cues, it’s all auditory, which I don’t have an issue with.

finbarsaunders
on May 5, 2025

I really struggle with languages. I’ve been learning Spanish for a couple of years and it’s very hard. I can read Spanish pretty well but cannot recall even pretty simple words when trying to form a Spanish sentence.

My friend speaks many languages. When I described aphantasia and asked for some tips he couldn’t understand how I could possibly learn a language. He said he sees the words in his mind and can manipulate written words, sentences, fonts, etc. so it’s like he’s seeing a page of notes. It blew my mind!!!! I simply can’t imagine what that would be like (And it didn’t help me at all 🤷‍♂️)