ES, EN & FR. It's worth it.
Is speaking more than 3 languages a waste of time? I think a person is only able to speak about 3 languages to a point where they are capable of expressing themselves easily and in-depth, more than 3 languages means that they're average at best in different languages. I myself was raised bi-lingual and I often find myself at a loss for words in my native language whereas people who speak fewer languages seem to have an easier time expressing themselves deeply in their given language. Stuff like writing books to someone who was raised bilingual is very difficult. There are downsides to being multilingual and I have felt some of these shortcomings, not to say that every person is like me and that there aren't cases where the person is able to give very elaborate descriptions of different things easily in all the languages they speak, but I think the more languages the lower the likelihood of such a thing happening occurs. There are cases in my life where I read things written by people who aren't bilingual that have such detailed descriptions that sometimes I feel jealousy of them being able to be that precise with their wording. I want to be able to write about things close to my heart, express such vivid emotions without even putting effort into it, something that I am not able to. I feel a wide range of emotions that sometimes can be difficult to describe specifically, should I take classes or something?
>There are cases in my life where I read things written by people who aren't bilingual that have such detailed descriptions that sometimes I feel jealousy of them being able to be that precise with their wording.
Perhaps you just need to read more in danish? I feel exactly the same, but I think it my case it simply has to do something with not reading enough rather than knowing too many languages.
Sometimes I struggle because I want to say a word of language A that doesn't exist in language B though.
Interesting take.
I think that being multi-lingual puts someone in a place where he consumes written things rather than produce them. Natives are responsible for creating texts that bi-lingual people consume, for the most part. I'm starting to think that this issue is deeper than I am able to convey without seeming like I am putting limitations on the abilities of people that aren't myself. I just find that expressing yourself is somewhat of an art if explored deeply enough, something that I as a bi-lingual person am missing out on, I feel.
I mean the Germanball above isn't really wrong. Language is a skill, and so is writing. Like any skill, one needs to practice it to become better.
Read and write more in whatever language you feel you lack. I'm a monolingual anglophone (I can understand bits of other languages, mostly Spanish), so I obviously consume lots of writings in English and use what I read to help me write.
I see what you mean though, my time spent becoming exceedingly proficient in English means that I have a better grasp of the language than a non-native speaker-- or even other anglophones who really don't immerse themselves in the language beyond simply communicating. That doesn't mean that you are necessarily lacking, though. Just practice.
