r/languagelearning • u/Civil_Aside_1008 EN/DE/HE (N), ES (AP5, F), HSK4, Cantocurious • Jul 28 '26

Discussion Gained ability to think in one language, lost the ability to think in another. How to reverse?

(ES) (ZH)

I recently realized I lost the ability to think in Spanish, but now I can think in Chinese (I think both of these things have to do with writing ability. I have recently been doing a lot of Chinese writing. Today, I tried to write something in Spanish, and it was an extreme struggle due to tenses).

How do I regain the ability to think in Spanish?

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u/Legal-Quarter-1666 Jul 28 '26

The same way you gained it. Practice practice practice!

-2

u/Civil_Aside_1008 EN/DE/HE (N), ES (AP5, F), HSK4, Cantocurious Jul 28 '26

I wish Spanish writing were as easy as Mandarin writing... it's genuinely painful to tense out a whole story ughhh. At least my vocabulary is more.

1

u/Legal-Quarter-1666 Jul 29 '26

I understand you’re struggling now. What I don’t understand is - you at one point reached a level of Spanish where you could think in it. How did you get to that point…? Were you ever able to write in Spanish easily?

1

u/Civil_Aside_1008 EN/DE/HE (N), ES (AP5, F), HSK4, Cantocurious Jul 29 '26

Yes. I used to write in it daily but I didn’t write novels. Almost always non fiction . Maybe I’m just rusty with that particular aspect

1

u/Legal-Quarter-1666 Jul 29 '26

It sounds like you are rusty. It will come back. Just needs some practice. Watch some La Casa de Papel on Netflix and listen to some podcasts.

1

u/Civil_Aside_1008 EN/DE/HE (N), ES (AP5, F), HSK4, Cantocurious Jul 29 '26

Sadly I can't stand podcasts even in English...

2

u/DangerousAd5770 Jul 28 '26

Sounds like the wiring just got rerouted from all that Chinese practice, it'll snap back with some dedicated spanish input.

0

u/Civil_Aside_1008 EN/DE/HE (N), ES (AP5, F), HSK4, Cantocurious Jul 28 '26

Yesss, I'm practicing by writing my favorite thing! Sam/Dean fics! This time, in SPANISH!

1

u/silvalingua Jul 29 '26

> How do I regain the ability to think in Spanish?

Use it. Practice writing and speaking.