i do not remember but it was youtube
- English: Games, TV and books.
- Japanese: My teachers, TV and books
- Hungarian: my parents
- Swedish: society/people in my immediate surroundings outside of home
Most? Probably where I was raised and my lived experiences.
Well, whatever media I consume in one way or another, digital or not, absolutely has a tangible effect on how I speak for a while due to my autism.
I mean, it’s been a few years since I discovered Skippy Adventures in Bushtown and I’m still saying “goodonya” ( or however it would be spelt ) in similar fashion to how Skippy does.
Similar thing to how I watch this certain English speaking German youtuber and despite me not speaking basically any German have picked up a few words/phrases that have been added to my autistic sound tic thing.
Stuff like that.
Years back I experienced some form of Aphasia due to a combination of head injury and depression. I was in denial at first but finally admitted something was wrong when I struggled for nearly 10 min to remember the word “deli” and had to resort to calling it a “meat kiosk”. As it turns out, my already wacky vernacular and limited social contact had masked what was actually a pretty serious condition and while I still understand everything inside my head, I was entirely unable to find the language to communicate some of the most basic things.
I had to teach myself English from the ground up, researching words, building associations. In the process I found out I have no inner monologue, Anendophasia it’s called, I can see everything clear as day in my mind but I don’t hear it, sometimes music and tunes but not coherent. Closest I get is kind of like subtitles, like when you’re incredibly focussed on each word in a book.
Having to relearn communication from the ground up and with the aforementioned tricky caveat to learning, I went about it in the way I found easiest which was rabbit holes, hyper fixation, and enjoyable media. As such, my mannerisms and vocabulary are incredibly distinct when spoken and it writing it ocillates between flowery and academic. No doubt obvious in this post… People frequently get confused by my accent, it’s clearly not local but close enough that it’s not foreign. The best descriptions I’ve ever been given were “if a posh cartoon was pretending to be every midwesterner at once” and “like an Eldrich being making fun of Nebraska.” It was intentional to come off that way, it’s just where I landed as I practiced words in my head. Though apparently I can’t escape the Kansas pin/pen problem, they sound identical to and from me.
So now my vocabulary is wackier than ever. While it wouldn’t seem likely from this post, I’ve had time to meander here and in conversation this post would be summed up as something along the lines of :
back in the day I had bonk and the big sad, totally wiped my English. Called deli’s the meat kiosk and couldn’t name fruits. So I learn mah words from scratch, picked up a few shinies and a pinch for being’ bombastic, now you got what you get! Talkin’s just gettin’ the point across and I’m tickled pink when someone gets it and still has to ask.
Books, theater, movies in that order.
My education changed who I am and how I talk.
So much so I ‘code switch’ now. I hate it so much, but if you don’t, people hate you.
(Most) people walk around living in a fantasy in which they’re the smartest person in every room. The quickest way to make someone not like you is to ruin the illusion of that fantasy.
and on the flip side, they think you’re a stupid worthless piece of shit if you don’t talk ‘smart’ like they do.
Books. At one point I started to recognize I really enjoyed learning larger words and enjoyed the voice in my head. I found I preferred to take my time and think about what I’m going to say, no matter who I’m talking to. It also helped me sus out who actually wanted to talk to me vs talk ‘at’ me.
Maybe it’s slightly unrelated, but I’m entirely sure only about origins of my English: the way (and even the fact) I speak it is heavily induced by the EN VTubers, apparently. I’ve learned spoken English mostly from watching them! Only they were cool enough to arise my interest. So they are indeed Connect the World.
In terms of accent - most was from my parents and surrounding kids when I was growing up, of course, but a did also absorb a fair bit of BBC English from spending a LOT of time watching the Beeb back then too.
In terms of vocabulary, and grammar to some extent, reading. I read a lot back in the day - and still do, really, although the call of the phone has had an inevitable effect.
IRL, I mostly speak similarly to coworkers and those I organize with.
