I understand English way better than my own native language.

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>>9545024
you're not retarded. I'm absolutely sure of that.

mildly schizophrenic, perhaps. But retarded? No way.

>>9545024

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting...

>>9545024
I have a similar problem. Until I was 20 I only knew English but now after five years of studying French I understand it on a far deeper level than English. For example, as beautiful as the Moncrieff/Kilmartin translation of In Search of Lost Time is I simply couldn't get through it, but I'm now reading through the novel untranslated without any trouble whatsoever.

>>9545047
I was reading that in my native language, had quite a good time. I'm not sure about the english translation though

>>9545024

Baltasar Gracian (Spaniard, XVIII century) is well known for being almost unreadable in Spanish for his deliberately tortured baroque syntax, while being completely readable in Schopenhauers translation of him.

Modern translations of old works are often easier to read than the original, even if you know the language.

la commedia in inglese è esageratamente semplificata nella traduzione. in italiano quasi tutte le versioni tendono a mantenere la scrittura originale, un italiano di 700 anni fa.

>>9545024

You probably use english more than your native language daily because of extensive culture exchange via internet. Language is like a box of tools and sometimes phrases from languages other than your native language do a better job of describing your thoughts so they pop up in your head more often. My grammar is better with my native language that with my english but there are a lot of english phrases that suit my thoughts better than native ones.

What is your native language?

>>9545024
Read more in your native language. If you watch TV or movies, try to do it only in your native language (even if the dubbing sucks, it doesn't matter), etc. That's what I did, and my skills in my native language skyrocketed, even if I'm a lot worse when I need to write or talk in English than I used to be. To master the particular sentence structure etc. of your own language, you need to steep yourself in it.

>>9545339
This. All languages change. A contemporary translation is always going to be easier than the original.
>>9545047
This is a compltely different thing; you're just learning a language

there could be some dunning kruger going on

same for me. but it's more of a frustration that i can't say what i mean in my native language because it sounds way better and makes more sense in english and vice versa. it's like i have this overflowing source of language, yet when i use one, i am restricted because my brain wants to use both at the same time to get my thoughts across as clearly as possible.

>>9545024
hehe

That's because Portuguese is a disgusting half-language
>>9548621
huehue

>>9545024
Cara, voçe é eu.

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>>9545024
>I understand English way better than my own native language.

I know that feel
I read the Poetic Edda in a swedish translation and had to look at a lexicon every now and then.
I've just finished reading the Epic of Gilgamesh in english and I didn't even have to look at a lexicon once.

>>9545024
You're an ancient Indo-European speaker?

malditos cucks

>>9545347
Esta mierda pasa con el quijote. Pero claro el español antiguo no ha cambiado tanto por lo que leerlo es engorroso, pero sin pasarse.

>>9545024
English translators are better than Portuguese ones.

>>9548689
me suena a que eres un pendejo marca diablo, hijo.

That monolingual feel when after years of study, reading in a foreign language is still painfully slow.

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>>9545024

I am a Spanish speaker and bilingual Spanish-Italian editions of The Divine Commedy are extremely common, try to find a Portuguese-Italian one, and you may also end up learning some Italian.
Basically, reading the original, and only going to the translation when you dont understand something (or to make sure you understood it correctly)