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Comment by bennysomething | Hacker News Reader

I could be wrong but should verb be emigrate here? I.e. you are leaving your home country.

You are correct. More critically, your comment shines the spotlight on the fact that such minor nuances in learning a second language mark immigrants. In certain contexts it can be a limiting factor.

I'm a second generation immigrant. My father, in spite of several degrees and excellent engineering experience never accomplished as much as he had hoped because he hadn't mastered flawless English.

The guys I work are mostly speaking English as a second language. It doesn't seem to hold them back (as far as I can tell). I'm just impressed they can do same job as me but in a second language. Hrm on second thoughts maybe that means they are held back! Maybe they'd be working at a faang aotherwise!

Not being a native speaker sure feels like a major disadvantage. Attempting to articulate your thoughts in a foreign language takes substantially more effort, which could have been spent doing actual work instead.

Picture trying to do some fine work while wearing thick gloves. You are not going to perform at your maximum capacity.

Sure feels like, but ultimately it's just an excuse, trust me.

It takes a lot of effort to be a great communicator regardless of which language you are speaking

> Sure feels like, but ultimately it's just an excuse, trust me

Claro que sí, te animo a buscar trabajo en Mongolia. ¿Sigues pensando que el idioma no es una traba?

> Not being a native speaker sure feels like a major disadvantage. Attempting to articulate your thoughts in a foreign language takes substantially more effort, which could have been spent doing actual work instead.

Does it? I just switch thinking to another language, it's not a big deal (as long as you have reasonable fluency). I thought it was reasonably common (all the people I spoke with about it seem to do the same)

When I'm reading HN I think in English, when I talk with my team I think in English, when I talk with my girlfriend or go grocery shopping I think in my native language. It's difficult to use both languages at the same time, but it's rarely the case (e.g. I might continue speaking English and not notice when I started a conversation in a multinational group but then I talk to someone I can speak a more suited common language with) . In terms of work I do, I think I'd struggle with my native language more, as there is no equivalent terminology and I'd have to use English anyway.

I don't mean to be pedantic but the same emmigration/immigration distinction exists in my native language, Portuguese :)

They are not correct. Emigrate or immigrate are both valid ways to frame this question. "Do you regret leaving your home country?" vs "Do you regret choosing to live in another?" Two sides of the same coin.

I'm a native English speaker and would choose immigrate in this situation, since I would imagine the challenges are more significant in terms of adapting to living as an immigrant rather than an emigrant.

Yes, exactly my intention.

Not really: you emigrate from, and immigrate to. I meant immigration, not emmigration, because regretting it or not depends on where you landed as well as where you left.

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