Mark Williamson wrote:
But it does provide an added benefit.
Regardless of the fact that he has been exposed to Italian since he
was a child, Nuorese is still his first language.
Anyone who becomes extremely fluent in a second language is still
never capable of the understanding and information absorption that
they can get with their native language -- someone whose native
language is German, but speaks flawless English without an accent and
has lived in an English-speaking region for 15 years, will still be
able to understand something in German at a deeper level.
Well that is true upto a point. When you have been abroad for any length
of time like I have, when you return to your homecountry you do notice
that your mother tongue has changed and you find that certain jokes
things to do with language are not as easy as you think they are. So if
you live in abroad it changes your language. I know a Dutch person who
lived in the UK for 25 years, she has an accent and her Dutch is not as
facile as someone who stayed in the Netherlands.
Thanks,
Gerard