this post was submitted on 12 May 2026
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Are there words that you know in the second language, that you don't know in your native language? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 week ago by Gumus@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/languagelearning@sopuli.xyz
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Can you think of a word or a thing that you know the name of in a second language, but don't know in your native language? And I don't mean grammatical constructs, past tenses and stuff like that. I mean nouns, names of objects, verbs, etc.

My examples (Czech native, English is my second language):

  • Some tools, since I watch a lot of makers: auger, router, mill (as in a milling machine)
  • A lot of math/physics/programming terms: algebraic constructs (groups and the whole hierarchy), sub-atomic particles and terms from quantum theory... So many original english terms in IT are generally used "as-is" that I don't even know if some of them have a czech equivalent. I know some do, but I'd never use them in a conversation.
  • Some exotic animals, but I can't think of any right now...

I know I could easily find the translations. However, I don't usually get into a context where such words would appear in other language than English. And it feels like I've mastered the language when there's a thing I fully understand the meaning of, while only learning abou it in English without the need to translate.

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[–] goldteeth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 week ago

A while back I was trying to figure out what you call a place where butterflies are kept, in the way you'd keep fish in an aquarium, bees in an apiary, birds in an aviary, that sort of thing. I'd spent maybe half an hour going through different permutations of "lepidoptery" to little success; native Spanish speaker thought about it for ten seconds and pulled "mariposario" off the top of his head. I've only just now, in revisting the topic, discovered that it's spelled "lepidopterarium" in English, which is - to put it bluntly - borderline unpronounceable.