Getting in a muddle? ¿Nos confundimos?Are we forgetting our own language?
Hola foreros:
Abro este hilo no con el fin de regañar a nadie, sino de puro interés..
Me pregunto si es posible que cuanto más sabemos, más nos confundimos - especialmente con respecto a los idiomas.
Hello forum-goers, I'm opening this thread, not to tell anyone off, solely out of interest.. I wonder if it's possible that the more we know, the more confused we get, especially respecting languages.
¿Qué me hizo pensar en esto? Pues, hoy me encuentro pidiéndole a mi hijo si le suena natural decir "Many people have fear of using a new language". Tuve que preguntarle porque yo misma no pude saber a ciencia cierta, ¡aunque soy nativa de inglaterra! ¿Puede ser que ponemos tanto esfuerzo para aprender español que a veces traemos algunas métodos españoles de la construcción grammatical dentro de nuestras frases inglesas y no nos damos cuenta?
¿Qué piensas? ¿Te ocurrió lo mismo alguna vez?
What made me think of this? Well, today I found myself asking my son if this sentence sounded natural to him -
"Many people have fear of using a new language". (Nicole, I am using your sentence as an example because it's got me wondering so much!)
I had to ask him this because I myself couldn't be absolutely certain, even though I'm a native English speaker. Could it be that we make so much effort to learn Spanish that we sometimes bring Spanish grammar constructions into our English sentences and don't realise it?
What do you think? Does this ever happen to you?
Última palabra... Ojalá que no sea un problema duradero, sólo una etapa...
A final word ... Hopefully this isn't a lasting problem, only a phase...
Corregid mi español por favor. 
4 Answers
The only time I found that I might have forgotten my native language was when I returned from living in Europe. I was able to pour forth in French & German without a pause or a thought, but when I returned home to the USA I found that I would stutter and stammer through English while trying to find the correct word, conjugation, etc. My mother, on the other hand, started to talk with her hands: fortunately, she did not succumb to the lingual technique of shouting at the other person in the absolute certainty that the louder you scream the easier it is for the other person to understand you better. We lived over there for several years and it seriously took us about six months to smoothly speak our own language.
Yes that happens to me sometimes with my Spanish but I've thought that when that happens is because we are really starting to learn the other language because, in example, my English teachers always tell me that I have to think in English to have a better English proficiency, so that's the reason why sometimes we forget things about our own language, not because we are "getting in a muddle" but because we are thinking in both languages and we have to find the way to solve that little issue.
Please correct my English.
But when you insert "a" into the sentence it makes it sound worse.
Many people have a fear of using a new language.
Jejeje...I actually found myself thinking the exact opposite. 
In any case, I don't believe this to be a grammar problem as much as it is an issue with usage. I imagine that "to be afraid" is probably the more common expression to use in English; however, this does not make sentences using the expression "a fear of" incorrect. Perhaps this can be illustrated best by comparing the following two statements:
? I am afraid of flying.
? I have a fear of flying.
In my own experience, either construct would be common and a general formula for each could be broken down into two separate categories based on the prepositional phrase involved:
Verbal
? I am afraid of doing something.
? I have a fear of doing something.
Nominal
? I am afraid of something.
? I have a fear of something.
Of course, the two expressions are not always interchangeable such as:
Infinitive phrases
? I am afraid to do something
? I have a fear to do something.
Interestingly, this last sentence should not be considered grammatically incorrect (compare it with a similar phrase "I have a desire to do something.). Instead, it manifests itself as an error in usage because it simply does not resonate with what is commonly said in English (at least not to my ears).
I suppose that it may be worth mentioning each of these expressions also seems similar if followed by a relative clause.
Relative Clause
? I am afraid that something will happen.
? I have a fear that something will happen.
I have to admit Galsally that I am questioning the grammar myself at this point. I actually did the sentence in Spanish first and then translated back to English, which may be the reason why it doesn't sound natural.
"Many people have fear of using a new language".
In English, it is common to hear:
She has a fear of heights.
But when you insert "a" into the sentence it makes it sound worse.
Many people have a fear of using a new language.
Probably the more natural options would be:
Many people are afraid of using a new language.
(Although according to the game, "afraid" was not the correct word to use.)
or
Many people have fear when using a new language.
You are correct though, I was so concerned about the Spanish sentence that I sort of overlooked the English one. I can also say, I have never thought as much about grammar and the strange idioms we use in English until I started learning Spanish. To me, it is a wonder anyone ever learns English at all. 
