learning languages

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

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.

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 🤷‍♂️)

Have you read the article on the expanded definition of Aphatasia, which is being broadened to include subcategories such as auditory, olfactory, etc.? I have near-global aphantasia, with my only sensory memories/imagination being auditory and spatial. I learned Spanish fairly easily in high school, and I now realize that my auditory memory is the only reason I was able to. Perhaps you have multisensory aphantasia, with auditory memory bring affected/absent. Are you able to hear songs in your head?

Languages are my ‘thing’. I have always found it relatively easy, but have no idea what senses I am using. I don’t ‘hear’ anything, but as with visual imaging I just know what the sounds are, the same way as I ‘know’ what things look like. Just now at 83 I am adding Spanish to the repetoire as my daughter lives there, but it certainly is less easy than it used to be.

Hi, I studied French and German at uni, so I’d say it’s not a barrier in itself. Though I do remember being told to use a mind palace type technique to remember new words and I found this a very convoluted way of embedding new vocabulary (obviously I was not seeing what others could). Instead, I just repeated words a lot (drills) and used each word in context (writing and speaking). Immersion really works! Go live somewhere and anyone will pick up a lot in just 6 months. What they might but be so good at is grammar… I was better at this and realised I was just good at decoding and using structural rules – less interested in actually talking to people!

Haven’t reached 20, and I can speak 3 languages. There are plenty of ways to learn a language, so don’t give up:)
Aphantasia itself, can be a help. It’s really easier to stop overthinking for me with aphantasia, and focus on the words and how they sound.
While learning any of those languages I never felt any difference between me and others.

Haven’t reached 20, and I can speak 3 languages. There are plenty of ways to learn a language, so don’t give up:)
Aphantasia itself, can be a help. It’s really easier to stop overthinking for me with aphantasia, and focus on the words and how they sound.
While learning any of those languages I never felt any difference between me and others.