September 13, 2003
Bilingualism
Reading this article over at kottke.org made me think of one of the main things I know I’m going regret in years to come - I don’t speak enough Swedish to my children.
Part of the problem is that switching between two languages mid-conversation is too easy - I start sentences in Swedish only to discover thirty seconds later I unwittingly switched to English.
It seems that certain triggers toggles the switch, a reply in English to a Swedish sentence would switch me back to English, unless I was concentrating. Certain words and concepts belong solidly in one or the other language and can’t be easily substituted, so an English term or phrase slips in, and bang, the Swedish is dropped.
I find that I have to think to keep speaking in Swedish. As soon as I switch the autopilot on, I’ll be lost, and back in English.
mrT is expanding his vocabulary by about five words a day at the moment. I made a conscious effort and spoke only Swedish to him this evening. He seemed to understand me, unless he was just humouring me, of course. When he replies, he replies in English, but his acceptance of the second language brings some hope that all is not yet lost.
I will keep on trying harder.
Posted by Nicklas at September 13, 2003 11:31 PM