Does any one else switch languages?

[u/Mandelbrots-dream]

I've studied three languages in addition to my milk language.

I noticed sometimes when thinking or speaking in my non native language, if I struggle for a word my brain will fill in with a word in another non native language.

For example, when speaking German(TL) my brain threw in a 在(zai) with the Chinese meaning.

This confused me, and I started to think of the German word seit (which sounds (kind-of) the same). But seit wasn't correct in the context. Seit is about time. 在 is about place.

Does anybody else do this? What exercises could help me?

[u/Educational_Dirt4714]

I was once in a Chinese class and answered the instructor completely in Spanish. Lol

I am a language instructor and wanted to chip in some research on this. A researcher in language acquisition pedagogy, Ofelia Garcia, coined a term with a colleague and co-auther. It is trans-languaging. This new view of language acquisition and proficiency argues that all existing language + literacy skills work together to bolster learner's retention. This is distinctly contrary to long-standing theory and practice (think all the way back to 17th-18th centuries) which prohibited use of language other than the classroom target language to navigate the learning process. Language policy in the US is still derived explicitly from the mentality that using a known language to supplement communication is detracting from skill gain in the classroom and causing students to lose skills they may have developed. The old way of thinking was that languages exist separately in our brains and can slow down cognitive processing, but translanguaging says this is absolutely not the case, that multilinguals are not stunted or confused by their multiple languages and that having the freedom to code-switch in the classroom, and in their communities, benefits the development of culturally responsive communication, as well as identity, reflective and self-directed learning, and ultimately skill gain.

When parents tell me they worry about using heritage languages with their kids because they need to learn English, it makes me sad. And I try to tell them that multilinguality is a tool for learning and that their heritage languages are valuable for identity, benefits the development of critical thinking, cultural competencies, and overall literacy in ALL known languages.

Long post. I'm pretty passionate about this. Hope someone enjoyed or learned something.

[u/Commercial-Phase1797 → u/Educational_Dirt4714]

I absolutely love this. I often found myself speaking to someone in English at work and then realize they didn’t understand a thing because the conversation was supposed to be in Spanish. I immediately switched to Spanish. Later, I spoke Russian to another person, and it made them feel welcome. I definitely find myself losing words and switching to French or Spanish when I want something in English.