Is It Possible To Forget Your Native Language?
The first language a person learns is known as their native language and is usually a major part of their identity, shaping their earliest thoughts and connecting them with their culture and heritage. But can your native language really slip away from your memory?
You can become less competent in your native language over time if you move to another country and start speaking a different dialect or language. The phenomenon is called “native language attrition.”
In certain cases, such as young children moving to another country where a different language is spoken, it is possible to forget your native language entirely.
For example, children born in Korea who were adopted by French families when they were between the ages of three and eight were no better at understanding Korean at the age of 30 than native French speakers who had never been exposed to the language.
If you move when you’re older, you have a greater chance of retaining your native language because you’ll have a much more solid foundation in it.
Research suggests that people are less likely to experience native language attrition after hitting puberty, which is between the ages of eight and 13 for girls and nine to 14 for boys. After puberty, the human brain matures and becomes less receptive to change.
Vocabulary is the most vulnerable part of your native language that can be lost even after short periods of time. It does not always mean that these words or expressions are completely forgotten; it just takes a little longer to recall them.
Grammar is slightly more resistant to being forgotten than vocabulary. For instance, in a 2023 study, Spanish native speakers who spoke English as a second language and had lived in the United Kingdom for over 15 years did not alter the way they used the present tense in Spanish, which differs from that of English.
The good news is that native language attrition is reversible in adults. Taking a trip back to your country of birth can help restore your past knowledge and skill in your native language.
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In contrast, socializing with other native speakers abroad can actually make things worse because people will often switch between languages if they know they’ll both be understood, resulting in a linguistic hybrid.
Additionally, how much of a learned second language you end up forgetting is conditional upon the extent to which you originally learned it. Once you re-immerse yourself into it, you may be surprised by how much you remember.
On the other hand, bilingual people with conditions like dementia may be more likely to confuse languages and go back to using just their native language.
This phenomenon is known as language reversion and can happen even after a lifetime of using both languages.
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