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I wonder what it would be like to learn English as a foreign language, except it's my first language. I know a language sounds different to a native speaker than foreigners and will never really get to know what English sounds like to outsiders, but wish I could.
You can hear what it sounds like to non-English speakers though this song made by Italians:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcUi6UEQh00
It's not as great as it sounds. English is my second language and learning it was one hell of a bitch. And also when you're not sure if you're saying something correctly or even using the right word. But, what can make it harder or easier is whatever your first language is.
If you'd had the choice to have a first language, any first language you wanted that isn't English, what would it be?
Japanese. I'd like to be able to watch anime in the original language without the subtitles and fully understand it. I also wonder if Japanese people like watching English language cartoons and what it would be like being Japanese, watching a cartoon dubbed or subbed from English and wondering what it would be like to have started with English.
Mandarin, i'd guess. Unlike Japanese, Chinese is one of the "harder" languages if i remember correctly.
And i'd like the most complicated and elaborate language i'd be interested in as my first language...hoping to pick up on the others faster(even if they are not related to mine). *shrug* i think you should make a poll out of this ^_^
I've always wondered this (and about how we sound). I was amazed by an Italian acquaintance saying she loved the English language because of the flexibility of it and also because of the humorous slang words like "faff".
I think it's normal to wonder about one's own language in general.
I picked up and "started" to learn a number of languages over the years...most of them only incredibly basic things, mind you, but i often know how their grammar works(basic), how articles are handled(basic)...
To me, english is a foreign language, and a rather "simple" and streamlined one.
Less articles to take care of(the), lots of short oft-used "words" (a, it, is, be, to, I, my, as, of... just to list examples in these post)), a grammar that works rather similar to that of my own language, but with less special cases(also the case with irregular verbs, which there seem to be fewer of)...
Quite simple time forms, too, as in, they are easy to build and combine. Now, i know i do make plenty of mistakes, but i think i'm quite fluent and able to get my point across ^_^
English is one language in which it's "easy" for me to think because it feels so simple.(that is, i don't think in my native language and then translate, but rather directly think in english)
hope i could give you a little insight, even if it's just my personal view(thus not very representative).