What errors have you made as a result of learning another language.

Question

The criminal word:

"En"

Definition: en,on,at

I can recall a few times that I meant to used the word "on: instead I used " en" which sounds like "in" in english.

Baño

Sí

No (Spanish version)

queso

These are words that I used instead of my native language equivalents in english.

What are some words or things that you say that don't belong in your native or currently speaking language. How have you blended your knowledge of the two languages together? Have you made silly errors in your native language like I have?

Answer 1

I've noticed that verbal tic where expatriate English speakers seem to forget how the interrogative works in their native language and just tack ¿no? onto the end of a sentence with a slightly interrogative tone. eg:

"This is yours no? You're American no?

Today is Friday no? Quite a few tics of that kind develop over time.

I do recall doing this no. :D - Tasear, Dec 26, 2011

¿No es eso la verdad? o Esa es la verdad, ¿no? ;)) - territurtle, Dec 26, 2011

Answer 2

I think I could write a book on "How to baffle a Spanish-speaking interlocutor!"

I rarely speak a sentence in Spanish without inserting a Russian word.

If I were mixing French and Spanish, it wouldn't be so bad -- but Russian

I just keep plugging on, hoping someday I will be able to speak Spanish well enough that I will only slip in a Russian word once a day.

Cool combination of languages. I love your picture. - Tasear, Dec 26, 2011

Thanks, Torielisa!! - territurtle, Dec 26, 2011

Answer 3

Such a phenomenom occurs very frequently in countries where people speak 2 or more languages from young. The languages just gets mashed up to form a 'local slang' that only local people understand.

I, for one, fall into the trap of using a mix of English and Chinese, and yes, recently, Spanish too, in my conversations. It is easy to learn 2 languages concurrently. The real hard work is where I have to forcibly rip myself away from the temptation of writing a Chinese word in an English composition when I 'just happen to' forget the English equivalent of a word I wanted.

Wow, and here I thought mixing up Spanish and Russian was confusing!! - territurtle, Dec 26, 2011

Answer 4

The other day I was in the middle of reading some Spanish articles when the house phone rang. Without thinking I answered with "Hola!"

Luckily it was my daughter on the other end. She just fell about laughing lol.

I live in the southwest of USA. There is a lot of spanish speakers. It's more common to say HOLA instead of hello for english speakers. - Tasear, Dec 26, 2011

That's a great story, Billy! - territurtle, Dec 26, 2011