Anyone here speak a second language, and if so, do you mix up the words between English and that language?

[Improviser]

If anyone here who speaks a second language , do you wind up substituting the other language's words when speaking English, or use the accent of the second language when speaking English?

Or, have trouble recalling a word in English after speaking the other language for a while?

How our brains cope with speaking more than one language

Speaking a second or even a third language can bring obvious advantages, but occasionally the words, grammar and even accents can get mixed up.

www.bbc.com

 

[Get a Job]

Cool article!

I speak German as a second language, pretty fluently, but nowadays English takes up almost all of my day-to-day brain space. I do speak almost exclusively in German with my daughter, though, and I often find myself accidentally including English words or phrases. I also have a somewhat of a German accent when trying to speak other languages, especially very unfamiliar ones. It's almost as if my brain sees another language and says, "Ok, well, it's not English, so let's pronounce everything the only other way we know how," even though that's obviously incorrect also.

 

[McLovin]

I write binary so sometimes 01101001 00100000 01100110 00100000 01110101 01110000. But most of the times I don't.

 

[ThetaZoo]

If anyone here who speaks a second language , do you wind up substituting the other language's words when speaking English, or use the accent of the second language when speaking English?

Or, have trouble recalling a word in English after speaking the other language for a while?

How our brains cope with speaking more than one language

Speaking a second or even a third language can bring obvious advantages, but occasionally the words, grammar and even accents can get mixed up.

www.bbc.com

I speak Jive. I generally don't mix up the words with English.

 

[uchusky32]

I've been watching alot of Korean shows on Hulu and now speak English and Korean. I tend to go back and forth.

 

[Umami Zen]

oui

 

[storrsroars]

No puedo a understand how such a cosa is possible.

 

[QDOG5]

I only speak English but I'm can listen and comprehend 90% of the Calhoun language and I can decipher and translate the majority of @ClifSpliffy's posts.

 

[NJHusky]

I can decipher and translate the majority of @ClifSpliffy's posts.

That’s really impressive….but it concerns me that you’ve taken the time to acquire this skill

 

[RichZ]

My 2nd language is jibberish.

 

[Leebo]

I've lived in Japan for 6 years now, and the last time I went home to the US, I bumped into someone and said "sumimasen" (excuse me). That kind of immediate reaction is hard to suppress.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Sometimes, in a state of anger.

 

[8893]

Does capisce count?

 

[storrsroars]

Does capisce count?

Sure, especially if you pronounce it ka-PEACH.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It makes sense to me. My level of Spanish doesn't qualify as "speaking". I do work with English as a second language folks every day, and I haven't once heard one of them substitute German, French, Korean, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Cantonese, etc. in conversations. Maybe the business context is different.

The English language is like the Borg. It simply subsumes everything else. Someday it will likely be the one global language, or at least be the one 2nd language everyone knows. It's much closer to that now than it was 20 years ago. The internet is a global English language course broadcast 24X7.

 

[husky429]

I do not. My dad speaks kiswahili and posts from my account sometimes by accident. Does that count?

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I learned Spanish throughout middle and high school and mix up pizza all the time.

 

[CL82]

I do find that concepts that were introduced to me in a foreign language, certain phrases, etc. tend to reside in my brain in that language. So, when they come to mind they come to mind in the original language and then I translate back to English.

 

[Improviser]

Does capisce count?

I think it is now part of the English language like savoir faire, chutzpah, karaoke, avatar, and wanderlust, to name a few.

 

[Kathy]

If anyone here who speaks a second language , do you wind up substituting the other language's words when speaking English, or use the accent of the second language when speaking English?

Or, have trouble recalling a word in English after speaking the other language for a while?

How our brains cope with speaking more than one language

Speaking a second or even a third language can bring obvious advantages, but occasionally the words, grammar and even accents can get mixed up.

www.bbc.com

I know when they were young my nephew's daughters who were growing up learning both English and Spanish sometimes mixed words - Spanglish. My mom and sister thought that the oldest one had speech issues until I explained how normal it was. Don't notice it now that they are older.

 

[BIGMAC]

I understand and speak sarcasm and Stop fluently

 

[Get a Job]

I do find that concepts that were introduced to me in a foreign language, certain phrases, etc. tend to reside in my brain in that language. So, when they come to mind they come to mind in the original language and then I translate back to English.

I took a job with a German manufacturer of injection molding machines. When I started, I was sent to the headquarters for 14 weeks of training, conducted in German. I had no prior exposure to injection molding, so almost everything I learned in training was brand new to me. When I got back to the states, I realized I had a pretty good handle on the subject matter, but I had no idea what the components and processes were called in English.

 

[NJHusky]

It makes sense to me. My level of Spanish doesn't qualify as "speaking". I do work with English as a second language folks every day, and I haven't once heard one of them substitute German, French, Korean, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Cantonese, etc. in conversations. Maybe the business context is different.

The English language is like the Borg. It simply subsumes everything else. Someday it will likely be the one global language, or at least be the one 2nd language everyone knows. It's much closer to that now than it was 20 years ago. The internet is a global English language course broadcast 24X7.

Since I grew up in a bilingual house, The bigger issue for me is the third language. When I was learning Spanish I would sometimes use the word (usually a noun) from my second language. It really confused my teacher the first time it happened, then she asked if I already spoke another language. She said it happens all the time. If the brain doesn’t know the Spanish word, it uses the non English word it knows.

I wonder how confusing it is for folks that speak numerous languages? I found it so impressive that my RA in college could be on the phone speaking German to his parents, switch to English as I walked by then to Spanish for another student then back to German without skipping a beat

 

[storrsroars]

I wonder how confusing it is for folks that speak numerous languages? I found it so impressive that my RA in college could be on the phone speaking German to his parents, switch to English as I walked by then to Spanish for another student then back to German without skipping a beat

It's an impressive skill to be sure.

I'm reminded of when I was working in Sofia, a Bulgarian con artist (or Russian, or some East Euro polyglot), would hang around some downtown ATMs, trying to start up conversations. He approached me once, addressing me in English. I'm tall, with blue eyes, and I was suspect of his motives, so I pretended to be an Argentinian with only broken English skills. The bastard also spoke Spanish, and better than I did.

 

[B1GEast]

It happens, porque because you can't help it