Please tell me I’m not the only one who finds texting harder than speaking in another language
Posted by Extra-Fix5341@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 15 comments
I moved to northern Italy and speaking Italian is manageable for me now.
What still gets me is writing in it.
In person, if I say something slightly wrong, I can fix it with tone, facial expression, or by immediately rephrasing. But with texting, every message suddenly feels permanent. A message to my landlord, a reply to someone from work, even a simple business message can turn into 10 minutes of rewriting.
The hard part is not exactly vocabulary. It is tone and phrasing correctly.
In English I know how I want to sound. In Italian I often know what I mean, but what comes out feels slightly off. Too formal. Too blunt. Too stiff. Not quite like a normal person would actually send it.
Imagine, this became such a recurring part of life for me that I ended up making a small iPhone keyboard tool to help fix phrasing and tone without leaving the app I was already typing in.
Mainly posting because I’m curious if other expats have the same problem. Did writing everyday messages in your host language ever end up feeling harder than actually speaking it?
blackkettle@reddit
The same way AI written or edited posts always read slightly off I guess…
Extra-Fix5341@reddit (OP)
English is not my mother tongue, didn't want to have a horde of people criticizing the wording. instead got this, wow
blackkettle@reddit
I dunno how everyone feels about it but as a native English speaker it’s always obvious, and the feeling is pretty much literally what you just described. Personally I can understand why people do this but it’s way better to specifically point it out at the beginning or end of the post. Otherwise it just makes people think you’re a bot.
Extra-Fix5341@reddit (OP)
Im sorry, but what's exactly wrong with ai edited / translated posts? why does it create such trigger? or just the fact that it could be written without the "soul" ? and if so, how do you know exactly?
I geniunly shared a story of my expat life and how I deal with my problems and get hate for it.
blackkettle@reddit
I just explained that. It gives the impression that it is written by a bot. Which is actually the case for the vast majority of these posts which are overrunning many subs.
No one is giving you “hate” either. I specifically said I understood your motivation for doing it based on your explanation and only suggested that you clearly state you used AI to write it if you don’t want it to come off as written by a bot.
Extra-Fix5341@reddit (OP)
Thanks, will use it next time. And im not referring hate from you, im referring to the fact that someone (im comment section) thinks that I made this post just to share the link, when i just shared something that i created based on my problem and thought that it might be useful to others.
DutchieinUS@reddit
So you wrote this whole post to draw attention to the fact that you created an iPhone keyboard to solve your ‘problem’?
Extra-Fix5341@reddit (OP)
Nope, the problem is real. I did move to northern Italy, and this is something I deal with all the time. I built the app because of that problem, not the other way around. I shared it because I was genuinely curious whether other expats have the same issue, and if it helps someone here too, even better. I know how it looks, but dont be so cynical please =)
DutchieinUS@reddit
I am not saying it was the other way around? The fact remains that this post is to draw attention to your app, simple as that.
You’re not the first and won’t be the last who does this here.
Extra-Fix5341@reddit (OP)
Im sorry you're seeing it this way tho
winery_bound_expat@reddit
oh 100%. I'm not even in Italy yet, still in the planning phase, and the texting thing is already showing up in my iTalki sessions. my tutor will say something sounds totally fine when I say it out loud but the second I type it she's like no that reads too stiff. the tu/Lei thing alone in text messages gives me so much anxiety. speaking you can kind of smile through a mistake but in writing it just sits there staring at you
Hot_Catch6440@reddit
In Italian specifically, they take 100 words to say what an English speaker would say in 15 because they are often so indirect. Practice, practice, practice and have someone look over your more important communications.
Extra-Fix5341@reddit (OP)
Yeah thats true. And its very annoying sometimes... those roundabouts about one simple topic
fat-wombat@reddit
It takes me like 10 business days and some anti-anxiety meds to write a text in greek, so I understand 🥹
Extra-Fix5341@reddit (OP)
The "10 business days" part killed me haha. Greek texting sounds brutal, ngl. If you want, try it: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ai-for-keyboard-grammar-check/id6756539825 . hope it helps =)