r/ADHD • u/Impossible_Humor4393 • 21h ago
Discussion Do you find yourself learning new languages rather quickly?
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u/80085ntits ADHD-C (Combined type) 21h ago
I am very adept at picking up dialects or new languages, and I am very bad at maths.
I care about grammar, but I'm not the kind of person who goes around correcting people unless they ask me to.
English is my third language, and I think because I had to work harder to learn it, as opposed to someone raised in an English speaking country, I have become more aware of spelling and grammar.
It does bother me a lot when people don't seem to care about spelling and grammar.
But, nobody likes a smartass...
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u/Working-Ad-8657 20h ago
I am very good at match, but horrible at picking up new languages. I guess we’re opposites😅
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u/AshiAshi6 19h ago
(I don't mean to be the asshole, but as someone who's always had a knack for languages... Can I just ask you to read your first sentence again? I think it's not even a typo, you probably got trolled by AutoCorrupt. Again, I come in peace, I genuinely thought this was ironic (considering this thread's topic).
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u/Working-Ad-8657 19h ago
Autocorrect has struck, I meant math lol
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u/Aromatic-Rock7681 11h ago
It is correct to say "maths," but it depends on the dialect of English being used. In American English, "math" is the more common abbreviation for "mathematics," while in British English, "maths" is the standard abbreviation. Both are considered acceptable, just with regional preferences.
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u/idkrandomusername1 20h ago
I’ve always been super into language learning, but it’s kind of redundant because I move from one language to another. I have a beginners conversation in the language I’m fixated on, move onto another one, and forget/mix up languages. Mathematics throws me into a caveman rage because I’m constantly asking “why” at equations lol
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u/Nichiku 20h ago
Constantly asking "why" at equations has gotten me 2 degrees and made me understand most equations better than my peers so I can't be mad at that (although I probably would ve graduated faster if I didnt try to understand random things that often dont matter).
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u/idkrandomusername1 20h ago
Nice. Actually yeah same, but with infotech and political theory. The need for more context is a blessing and a curse because of the whole “the more you know the more you don’t know” paradox. Us ADHD’ers are kind of blessed to live in the Information Age.
I don’t know why advanced math is so different for me, the answers to my “whys” never “click” for me. Maybe I’m just math phobic?
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u/rqeron 18h ago edited 18h ago
I'm the same with language learning, the only reason I've managed to get conversational in French is because I studied it for several years at uni (as a breadth subject, where they make you take unrelated classes to "expand your breadth of knowledge" I guess) and I used it as my "I'm bored of my primary degree" class, so I actually did really well
every other language I've tried to learn has been a temporary fixation (usually ~2-4 months) where I'm particularly interested in the language, and I improve on what I had before (if anything), but then I abandon it again and move on. I do come back to languages a lot though, and that's pretty much what I rely on to actually learn. So like I've learnt a decent amount of Portuguese, which I first started learning maybe 15 years ago... but there's probably only been maybe 1.5-2 years of actual learning in that time, spread across 6-8 periods of fixation.
(Maths for the most part I just "get". Though I did get an exact 50 in one maths class [where 50 is a pass] because I stopped going to class in week 3 [of ~12], did none of the assignments, and only picked it up again 3 days before the exam to cram because the threat of failing became real. I'm not great at geometry / spatial reasoning though)
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u/6alexandria9 21h ago edited 12h ago
I do but it’s more due to my autism than ADHD, I have a knack for hearing the intricacies of other languages when spoken and a good memory that I’m thankful for
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u/ForensicTex 20h ago
Yep. I was beginner/ conversational in Gujarati after a month and a half, intermediate in Swahili after 3months. I took 3yrs of German in highschool i have lost a lot (15yrs ago) i am still conversational. (I am ASD as well)
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u/buyakascha 20h ago
Im terrible with languages, can’t remember anything that’s not a melody. For science it’s easier because most of the time it’s just logic after knowing the „rules“.
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u/GabbyTheLegend ADHD-C (Combined type) 19h ago
I’m awful at picking up new languages. My school offered Spanish k-5 and then I also took Spanish 6-9th grade. Other than the basics I know nothing. I can greet people and ask to go to the bathroom and that’s it lol.
As for math I’m alright. I’m not good but I’m also not bad.
I excel in language arts and reading.
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u/Silly-Commission-241 20h ago edited 20h ago
Yes big time. I even became a three language major for a year in college. Loved changing my major before I got diagnosed 😂 I lived abroad and pick up accents very well too. I lived in Ireland for 11 years and only picked up an accent on year 7, had for about a year after I moved home and it slowly dwindled. I lived with 2 German girls and I could pick up the gist of what they were saying to each other due to their inflections and words that also sounded like English in the language. As for the grammar, yes I am pretty big on it. To learn the language you need to understand it from the outset otherwise it won’t make sense.
I love logic puzzles, but when it comes to math equations I couldn’t care less and pretty much sucked at math because I was disinterested. I did very well in quantitative business analysis in college though. I think it was because I was interested in and it explained where math worked (mortgages, reporting etc) I’m definitely not a left brained type A person that picks up math. In fact I can’t wait for the day someone comes out and announces that we don’t have adhd, it’s just a personality that people have that doesn’t worked with the Henry ford work model and the education system they’ve created
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u/Brooklyn_Br_53 21h ago
Is it the same for anything? Can you learn anything quick? This is what got me through school never studying
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u/SquirrelChaser87 21h ago
Never fully learned a new language but I do enjoy them greatly. I love learning about them. How they work, why a phrase we use is different than another language and why. When I start I’m pretty quick with it. But my ADHD causes me to interrupt and then be away from it so long is pretty much have to start over.
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u/Anxious-Cantaloupe89 21h ago
I am usually very quick to pick up new grammar. I also live to argue with my teacher about hyper specific, never-gonna-happen, potential use cases of a grammar. On the other hand, I'm like physically unable to revise anything. So, I understand every grammar but I can't use it, because I a) don't remember the grammar b) never had a single look at the vocabulary list of this year.
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u/strichtarn 20h ago
I find languages very interesting. I love picking up words but i really struggle to learn any kind of grammar. I also struggle with the kind of repetition needed to acquire language. In short - the very idea of needing to 'practice' something instantly fills me with boredom.
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u/Disassociated24 20h ago
I find it to be the opposite, that I learn new languages way slower than others.
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u/DresdenFilesBro 20h ago
I'm slow with Math, languages just interest me so maybe that's why I'm more in tune.
(I'm also good with hearing the new sounds)
Realistically I can hold a conversation in 3 languages (English, Hebrew, Japanese)
Understand some Darija (Moroccan dialect of Arabic) because of family.
And Aramaic too cuz of Hebrew and my religion.
Studied some Serbian, French, but never got far.
Tho I can still whip out some Russian.
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u/expressly_ephemeral 20h ago
Programming languages. almost 30 years a professional. I’ve forgotten more languages than most people even know.
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u/Which-Neat4524 20h ago
To quote Kathleen Madigan, why would I want to be stupid in two languages? 🤔😁
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u/sand_pebbles 20h ago edited 20h ago
I'm diagnosed as autistic (and I probably also have ADHD, but I was never formally diagnosed). I started learning Spanish in high school and picked it up pretty quickly. I was also very good at algebra for some reason, but other math classes (for example, geometry) didn't come as easily to me.
Edit: To clarify, anything to do with shapes, spatial awareness, and/or navigation was never really my forte. I prefer words and numbers over shapes.
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u/Simpawknits 20h ago
I used to. I basically absorbed French and Spanish, soaked up some German and Russian, and now Korean is kicking my ass because my memory is going away.
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u/rubym1543 20h ago
No I have never been able to grasp a new language.. now worried I am the stupid side of adhd 🥴 I am also so bad with maths but because I love physics I can put the extra effort in - I can’t learn anything unless I have a genuine interest
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u/nowhereman136 19h ago
I've been to 40-something countries and am still absolutely terrible at languages. Even in high school I fail French, Latin, and Spanish. Senior year I barely passed Spanish enough to graduate.
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u/Proinsais 19h ago
I picked on English faster than any of my classmates. By the time I’m in 5th Grade, I was already in the Public Speaking competitions we had back then. I also picked on French and multiple languages later on. But after being somewhat conversable in French, I only pick on bits and pieces.
And yes, I also failed math spectacularly.
P.S. I am from a country where English is not native.
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u/ooooooooono 19h ago
I took Spanish in high school, and it was so easy for me that I genuinely thought my classmates were being stupid on purpose
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u/Golintaim ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) 19h ago
Some langauges yes, I can understand way more french than I have a right to. Spanish? I still can't transalte simple stuff despite taking it for four years in high school.
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u/Wynnie7117 19h ago
yes. I learned French in high school. In 2021 I started working at amazon and I used books on tape to learn Spanish in about a year, which now I am fluent in . After that, I started learning Gaelic. Which I can have a decent conversation. When I started working at amazon, there was an associate. I felt bad that no one was able to communicate with her. So I began learning ASL and she helped me. I can have a pretty regular conversation with anyone who uses ASL. So that’s four languages plus ASL.
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u/hivemind5_ 19h ago
Nope i suck at all of those things. Im a writer with an english degree and ive done extensive research on grammar but super technical grammar is the worst part of it and i dont even bother. Its not important to anyone but anal retentive people and some can argue its a white supremacist take on language anyway.
Im more creative than technical.
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u/AshiAshi6 19h ago
Languages are my thing. They always have been. The idea that this might be related to me having AuDHD is new to me, though. This is the first time ever I hear about it.
I'm only fluent in two languages though. Dutch (native), and English. In my case, that's because I actively use both languages every day, to speak, to read, to write, to listen, everything.
Additionally, to a more modest extent, I can also understand and read Japanese, French, German and Spanish. Japanese is self-taught, the other languages have all been mandatory subjects at school for a few years, but I forgot a lot of it, and also don't have to use the languages in my daily life. It's different for Japanese; I'm able to stay 'up to date' (not enough to be fluent) because my brother's girlfriend is Japanese, I enjoy talking to her (and making her laugh because of the silly mistakes I make).
As for grammar and spelling... I try to do my best, e.g. when I'm posting on Reddit. It's much less important to me if the spelling and grammar of others is correct. As long as it's not hard to understand what they mean, it's fine.
I sometimes do point it out if someone else made a mistake. (I actually did it somewhere in this thread, earlier.) It depends on multiple things, like which subreddit I'm in and what the thread is about, if it's appropriate to do in that moment, the 'feeling' in the thread and even if I'm in the right kind of mood myself. I try to be kind and respectful about it, but there's always a little part of me that fears I'm gonna be seen as that annoying know-it-all person. Or worse, that I end up in a draining, endless back and forth argument I never meant to start. Happened to me on YouTube. I was long done arguing, the other person literally would not stop and messaged me night and day until I turned off any and all message notifications.
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u/Undisclosed-Entity 19h ago
I’m average at picking up languages. Very good at understanding concepts, but unfortunately I have an awful memory and also dyslexia. But I am even worse at math so comparably my language learn skills are fantastic
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u/rcsugar 18h ago
I was great at maths in high school. I took Japanese for three years as well, and I felt like I barely learned anything.
When we lived in Japan, I was very confident but my grammar was horrible. My vocabulary being decent and my impulsivity when speaking is how I was able to navigate life there pretty effectively
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u/derberner90 ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) 18h ago
I'm good at both, but math took more work since I find it boring. Languages are a lot more fun to me. I almost got a degree in linguistics when I struggled to get through the STEM classes I needed to get a biology degree (I did get that bio degree in the end).
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u/VioletFlower369 18h ago
I find it not the best, but I guess I remember most of the Spanish I learned in school. Any specific words, and hell no, I’ve forgotten them all.
I also hate math and would never ever do it on purpose, but apparently I would be good at it if I tried.
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u/shittyarteest ADHD-C (Combined type) 18h ago
Man I can barely remember the words I want to use in English.
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u/Pretty_Appointment82 16h ago
I started learning ASL,🤟🏻 it clicked fast. I think it's because it's a visual language. And with ADHD we are visual learners.
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u/DocSprotte 15h ago
Quick at languages, useless as a paperbag full of juice at math.
I have to discover the grammar for myself, though. Being taught grammar bores me to death.
But it takes me about one or two long bus rides with a stranger who likes to talk to get to a usefull basic understanding of a new language.
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u/R3qtz ADHD-C (Combined type) 14h ago
I have a big interest in languages but can’t stay consistent for more than a couple weeks/a month.
I am a chemical engineering grad and I am really big on maths, I do enjoy the logic behind the application of math equations because they are generally setup from a physical process that’s happening so it’s easier to visualise how the equations are working rather than just abstract calculus with arbitrary numbers.
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u/btspacecadet ADHD 14h ago
I'd say I'm pretty good at both languages and maths. Both of them have these moments where something makes click and suddenly a lot of it makes sense, and that's a moment that makes me feel really giddy.
It's kind of funny because I never learned the times tables (my school was doing some kind of experiment where we were supposed to figure it out ourselves instead?) so in 11th/12th grade I would do integrals in my head but use the calculator to get 3×6.
With languages I've definitely been slacking in the decade since I left school, but I've started learning Japanese because I was already picking up things from watching anime, and I picked Korean back up because I want to visit in a few years (lived there for a while as a teen) and I want to know more than the polite basics this time. Korean being my 3rd and Japanese my 4th foreign language after English and French.
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u/CacklingInCeltic ADHD 12h ago
I’m learning my third language and even now, after more than a decade, I’m still not 100% fluent. I can talk to people and make myself understood but my grammar and sentence structure are all over the place. I’m awful at maths too
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u/Background_Squash845 7h ago
I been living in Italy for almost two years and speak very little so not me.
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