LL-L "Science" 2004.10.14 (12) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 14.OCT.2004 (12) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
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From: Tom Maguire <jmaguire at pie.xtec.es>
Subject: LL-L "Science" 2004.10.14 (06) [E]

From: yasuji <yasuji at amber.plala.or.jp>

>I bilieve that he
>was a bilingual of German and Japanese. But I don't know what would happen
>realy in his brain wheh he will change from German to Japanese or from
>Japanese to German.  Have any one of you ever had  such experience?
>Regards,
>Yasuji Waki,

An interesting question. I live in a part of Europe where people are
naturally bilingual. I have noticed that the signal to change from one
language to another is visual. Whar they look from a person who speaks
one of the langauges to another of a different language they
automatically go into the appropriate language mode - in the split
second of the glance.

However, if we really knew the clinical answer to your question it would
make languge learning a walkover.

Regards,

Tom

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Science

I myself once lived and worked in an environment in which I switched between
four languages (German, English, Hebrew and Yiddish) on a constant basis.
It was hard at first, but with practice it ceased to be a problem.  As Tom
said, all it took was a quick look at a person and the correct switch would
happen.  It even worked when someone else interrupted and another temporary
switch was needed.  I hear similar stories from and about people in the
northern part of Schleswig-Holstein where some people can converse in up to
five modes (German, Lowlands Saxon (Low German), Frisian, Southern Jutish
and Danish).  I am sure that many people on this list have similar stories
to tell.

The way it has been described -- and this holds true in my own
experiences -- is that you tend to associate a person with a language, tend
to keep using the language you used when you first conversed this person or
when you first established your relationship with that person.  In
multilingual situations this tends to work well where most people understand
most languages.  If one or more people do not understand the chosen language
you switch to the language that all parties do understand.  For instance, I
used to sit with one of my friends at lunch speaking Yiddish when his
daughter walked up to us, which is when both of us would switch to Hebrew
for her sake.  If I bumbed into him speaking Polish with his wife we would
all switch to Yiddish, and when the children joined us we would switch to
Hebrew again.  If he left, his wife and daughter stayed with me and one of
my American or Australian friends walked up then all of us would switch to
English, etc., etc.  After a while you no longer think about it.  It becomes
automatic, switches triggered by association.  I have seen the same thing
happen within families.  I have never really experienced problems switching
between German and Lowlands Saxon.  These are two very distinct modes in my
mind.

Knowing more than one language is one thing.  Knowing how to switch is a
totally different skill.  When this skill gets rusty it takes me a while to
switch, and when I want to switch I sometimes switch to the wrong language,
probably the one with which I'm currently proccupied (either because I use
it more often or because I am learning it).

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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