View Single Post
  #16 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 06:22 PM
Disinfo Agent Disinfo Agent is offline
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 7,052
Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by AndreH View Post
It is clear that the words sound the same (so they are homophone), but why do I type the wrong word despite the fact that I know the correct one and very often immediately recognise that. I mean, it happens while I make up the sentences, not wehn typing what some one else is saying.
And why does it happen when typing, not when using hand writing?
Speaking and understanding a spoken language are different skills, located in different parts of our brains. Writing and reading are different still. My amateurish explanation would be that while you have a good level of English in speech and in handwriting, your proficiency in English "typing" is a little behind the others. Or perhaps it has more to do with the fact that typing is a task with lots of unconscious components. So when you're typing English your brain has a certain tendency to slide back into autopilot, and suffer interference from your "German typing" mode.

Just guessing, though. Ask a linguist.
__________________
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.
Reply With Quote