I am a native English speaker. peterdannock is a native English speaker as well, but Australian English seems to have many differences from US English. I have worked with many people who were non-native English speakers. While they speak and write well and might even be considered fluent, I can still detect subtle uses of language that demonstrate that they are not native speakers.
Sometimes I hear a word or phrase and think, "that's just not how we say it." For example, I was discussing the idea of crispy bacon with a colleague who was from Chile. He was talking about how he prepares his bacon to be crispy and also to avoid making a mess and to catch all the "oil." I've heard of bacon fat or bacon grease, but not bacon oil. It's not technically wrong to refer to bacon oil, but that's just not how we say it.
Another example shows up a lot in IT emails from off-shore groups based in India. When IT grants access or makes a change, they will use the phrase "do the needful." I assume this means go ahead and try doing what you were doing before, or proceed with what you need to do. I get the idea, but it's not how we say it.
When I was on my flight returning back to Arizona from Florida, I watched a millennial girl on her phone. She was swiping and tapping through Instagram at lightning speed. Then she switched over to Messages, flipped her phone sideways, and was cranking out text messages just as fast. Then she switched over to Spotify and changed her music without skipping a beat and was back to Instagram again. I was in awe of this behavior, and then I realized that she is native to the device.
Steve Jobs announced the iPhone fifteen years ago. The younger generation grew up with their earliest memories of using an iPhone or iPad. I've been using the iPhone since 2007, but I am not native to the device the way I am to the Mac.
As far back as my memory goes, I remember computers. My first computer was an Apple II, and my dad got the original Macintosh when it debuted in 1984. I was seven years old. I am native to the Mac and using a keyboard and mouse. Maybe some older person would watch me in awe as I play this keyboard like a fiddle.
No matter how good people get at something, there will always be a gap between native and non-native skills.
This made me feel self conscious for a moment about not being native to
smartphones
.
But then i thought about what the darkside or shadow of that blazing speed was. That ability the way you described sounds so impressive and makes me wish i could be that quick with a smartphone that way.
But then i think of all the people I know who are actually like that. And I know that that speed doesn't come from free. It comes with anxiety and impatience. Basically addiction to
dopamine
from that little device.
Note: this is not to say that every native of smartphones has these issues.
abrahamKim I agree some people's relationships with smartphones are very unhealthy, and it seems there is a correlation between the prevalence of those unhealthy relationships and the nativism of the user.
peterdannock
But then i thought about what the darkside or shadow of that blazing speed was. That ability the way you described sounds so impressive and makes me wish i could be that quick with a smartphone that way.
But then i think of all the people I know who are actually like that. And I know that that speed doesn't come from free. It comes with anxiety and impatience. Basically addiction to
Note: this is not to say that every native of smartphones has these issues.
I'd say i'm native to the paper