This could be a really random question and not make sense so sorry in advance, but some brackground, I was looking up the word "destiny" in a language I'm studying and as I was reading the definitions I started thinking about how I'm just able to understand my native language, which I know sounds fairly dumb 'uh of course you can?' but it's not something I really put much thought into especially comparing it to how I feel understanding something in a language I'm learning.
I was wondering how others would describe the feeling of understanding a word in their native language vs a foreign language, and if anyone's managed to get to a level where they feel no difference.
In my native language (English) when I read a word on its own I don't feel anything in particular, I simply just understand the word as it is. I guess the closest comparison I have would be traffic lights, if I'm driving and see the light is red I'm going to stop without thinking, and when it turns green I'm going to start driving again. I don't need to think "oh it's green I should go" I just know it means I can go.
However, when reading in a foreign language, for example German, although I don't need to translate in my head to understand something, there's still a vastly different feeling I have when reading a German word vs an English one. I still feel like I have to put effort into understanding it and although it's a very small and barely noticeable effort, it's still an effort nonetheless.
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