Recently, when I was reading my RSS feeds, I’ve noticed that I avoid reading entries in Italian, despite actually understanding ~60% of most posts from Tutto sui libri e la lettura (where people discuss books and book-related questions). It seems like my “false beginner” self-image actively prevents me from practicing, since I subconsciously assume that reading in Italian will be difficult & it takes extra cognitive effort to even try to challenge this bias.
At the same time, English is my second language, but my reading comprehension is good enough for me to not even notice that I read in English. If I struggle to understand something, it’s usually because the topic is unfamiliar, not the English language itself. My self-esteem won’t be hurt if I read a philosophical treatise (or a math textbook, or the newest paper on phage therapy) and don’t understand much – I already know that I lack the required knowledge, but for some reason it doesn’t scare me.
Previously I was wondering whether I should treat not-so-familiar fields like foreign languages, namely learning to “read & write in” math and biology. But maybe it can work the other way round – treat language learning like trying to access a new field with its own terminology & rules of expressing particular ideas.
Of course, STEM & languages don’t map perfectly onto each other, and I’m not trying to say they do; but maybe uncovering similarities in learning mechanisms across seemingly different research areas can noticeably reduce friction.