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I don't want to say "you should never listen to a non-linguist about anything involving language", but like... man, people are so wrong about language. If you are learning a language and want to know how it works, don't ask a native speaker! They don't fucking know! Ok, they do, but not in a way they can convey to you. They'll tell you some wrong shit!
"How does this grammatical construction work in your language?" — you'll get the wrong answer
"How is your language different from English" — you'll get the wrong answer
"What is unique about your language" — you'll get the wrong answer.
"Oh ho ho, I am the exception, I am a very educated person in general and I would never—"
Wrong. You don't know shit. Language doesn't work like that. The things you think about language are wrong. "I always heard it was—" wrong. "I always figured it was—" wrong. Oh my fucking god you guys you would not believe how furiously wrong everyone is about linguistics all the time. It's wild.