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I Speak Genglish
“Oh no,” Senta says, “In three days I’ll have to speak just English again. I won’t be able to mix languages anymore. What a hassle.” Children from bilingual or multilingual environments get used to switching from one language to the other. They speak to one person in English, or French, or Spanish and to the next in German, or Arabic or Flemish. Listeners are sometimes confused when an American girl switches to German, or a Spanish boy begins a new conversation in fluent Dutch. Children enjoy the ease with which they can move from one world to another. They use their linguistic facility to protect their privacy, to swear without retribution, to confuse casual listeners or to affirm their international identity.
We mostly speak german at home but since my husband has been driving this english speaking bus tour he has been picking up more english and he tries it out on me. He has learned all of the cuss and swear words and a lot of American slang from me but now he’s learning more normal english from listening to the tour guide and the passengers on his bus. He even calls me up to ask me what a certain german word is in english so he can impress his english speaking passengers. 😆 He loves learning the differences with certain British english words which are totally different in American english. Now I just have to get myself out of the habit of speaking only german with my husband and start speaking more of my American english with him. 😀
It is funny how me and my boyfriend switch from English to German all the time. Also we use sentences with both languages. I have to say that my English is suffering alot from speaking so much German and also mixing it with English all the time.
We speak German and English in our family (I’m American, husband is Austrian, and our child is American-Austrian.) I find myself forgetting some words in English at times or mixing German into English sentences (lots of English mixing into German– but that’s easy to do since they seem to like to borrow words from English– even when there’s a perfectly good German word for the thing.)
We switch between the two languages at home fairly easily. I think in Gernglish most of the time. My English is definitely suffering, esp. now I talk to people all day who are ESL-speakers. I find myself speaking quite simply. Writing a good letter in English at first was quite an effort. In addition, I share an office now with a French speaking Hungarian, so we speak in a weird mix of german, english and french. I’ve recently resurrected my little Swedish and have added ‘Hej’ ‘Tack’ and ‘Adjö’ to the mix.
I have a headache quite often. :confused:
I grew up with Genglish. And also find that I often can’t think of a word in one language or the other since we change back and forth a lot between the two. Or strangely enough when I am out somewhere and people speak to me in English, I often start to answer in German or vice-versa. I am so confused. 😀
@Silvia wrote:
I grew up with Genglish. And also find that I often can’t think of a word in one langauge or the other since we change back and forth a lot between the two. Or strangely enough when I am out somewhere and people speak to me in English, I often start to answer in German or vice-versa. I am so confused. 😀
No complaints now, Silvia. 😀 I would love to be so fluent in another language that I could get that confused. I studied both French and Italian in school but with no chance to practice I now have a difficult time in both languages. I have only had enough time for a few German lessons over the past few years (not many german classes in New York). When searching my brain for a foreign word I can usually find the right word, but often in the wrong language. . . and the grammar is hopelessly muddled now.
Mary
I would love to be so fluent in another language
Me too 😀 Even though people tell I speak German well, I don’t think I do. I wish I had taken it more seriously in school, but I found it hard to learn German from a Texan with a Spanish surname, who had spent 3 months studying in Germany.
I have only had enough time for a few German lessons over the past few years (not many german classes in New York).
I know any language learning I do in the future will always be from a native speaker so if you find one in New York you will be steps ahead. 🙂
I really wish I had kept up my German and been able to pass it on to my kids. Speaking more then one language is really a plus in live. Maybe I will at least take the Spanish courses I keep putting off.
i think the problem with language learning is that it takes time…
i think it also helps if you have certain situations for certain languages… my austrian bf and i met in france so we spoke french together for 3 months (just friends, plus i never admitted the trauma of german i suffered at school and he always said his english was crap which it was to be fair)…
eventually since we got together we have found a balance – sms and emails always in german – we speak mainly english together, french when he cannot express himself and we always speak german when in austria… plus we both did our uni studies in french… that way we have a routine whereby we don’t lose out on any language…
it does take effort but then becomes natural after a short time – like any habit
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