In one of the EWD's, he reminisced that, as children, they were taught to never begin to speak a sentence unless they already knew how they were going to finish it.
I'd bet these two observations have a causal connection.
I was intensely curious and I spent some time wondering how he did it. One day, out of the blue, he invited me out to lunch after class. We just chatted for most of the lunch, exchanging backgrounds and stories. Then his face took on a serious expression and he slowly and carefully began to explain something to me as if he was passing on some wisdom.
He said that he never spoke a single sentence without fully saying the sentence in his mind. He said he would often think of the words several times in his mind, revising the phrase until he was happy. He would imagine saying the words to the person in front of him and he would imagine their reaction. And he would continue to revise until he felt confident the person who heard the words he would say would react in the way he wanted them to react. If he could not imagine the person reacting how he wanted them to react, he would not say anything at all.
It was clear to me that he was passing along this advice but also that he was calling me out a bit. He was letting me know that I spoke without thinking. I say what pops into my head. It was like he read my mind honestly, he knew exactly what I was curious about and he answered the question I had for him that I never asked.
I wish I could say that I learned the lesson. When I have tried the technique it has rewarded the effort. But I haven't formed it into a habit and I still tend to let my mouth race ahead of my mind.
I used to obsessively try to figure out what to say before I said it. I am socially awkward, and it did not help at all. I love writing because it is asynchronous and I can figure things out precisely and edit my thoughts.
But in social situations it is a complete hindrance.
But second, speaking in a non-native language makes you think harder about what you're about to say. Less colloquialisms, more focus on making sure your meaning is understood, more sensitivity in case you might offend someone, perhaps?
It's not new either; a lot of science and whatnot has been done in people's not-native language, like French, German, Latin, etc. Another factor there is the lingo of the field; I can't simply say "Kubernetes is een open-bron houder orkestratiesysteem voor het automatiseren van de inzet, schalen, en het beheer van zachte waren" without confusing half my native speaking audience.
- "Guidelines for keeping a laboratory notebook" (2019) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19123430#19126809
This is very common in the Netherlands, I think that's why it was a rule of his.
In general, the Dutch education system seems to be against pencils (at least this was the case until recent; I'm Dutch and mid 20s). You're tought to write using a fountain pen, not a pencil. In high school, you're allowed to switch to ball point but absolutely not to pencil. In university, write with pretty much anything you want, but... not with a pencil. If you do take your test with a pencil, there's genuinely a chance your teacher will give you a 0, although most of the time they'll probably be forgiving.
I majored in CS in the Netherlands and every test was done with good old pen and paper. Students still make mistakes all the time, which is why everyone uses a scrap sheet.
“Could of”.
Like “You could of said so”.
It's not unusual for me to think I know how I am going to end a sentence, but then find that I can't get there.