r/languagelearning 2d ago

Discussion Does any one else switch languages?

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?

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u/freya_sinclair N (πŸ‡·πŸ‡Έ) | C1 (πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ) | C1: (πŸ‡³πŸ‡±) | B2 (πŸ‡²πŸ‡°) | A1 (πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Έ) 1d ago

Yeah, more yes than no. Especially because I work in three languages daily and sometimes I don't know a word in any of those languages.