Filling in words from another language Thread poster: Edward Potter
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Does anyone else have this happen to them?
When I attempt to speak in a language in which I'm not fluent, I fill in words from another language in which I am on about the same level.
Example: I'm trying to say "I know" in Indonesian but cannot find the word. I end up saying "xero" which is Greek. I'm probably about 6 months away from basic fluency (with diligent study) in both languages.
Another example: A while back when I was dabbling in Dutch I would ha... See more Does anyone else have this happen to them?
When I attempt to speak in a language in which I'm not fluent, I fill in words from another language in which I am on about the same level.
Example: I'm trying to say "I know" in Indonesian but cannot find the word. I end up saying "xero" which is Greek. I'm probably about 6 months away from basic fluency (with diligent study) in both languages.
Another example: A while back when I was dabbling in Dutch I would have French come out when I couldn't remember a word.
Another example: Whenever I attempt to say things in German I have Dutch pop into what I'm saying. For example I'm always saying "ik" instead of "ich" because I can't think fast enough to remember the right word in German, even if it is very similar. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Yes, it happens | Oct 30, 2021 |
I used to make my Italian teacher mad because on every lesson Spanish words kept coming right out of my mouth. Worse still, because I lived for 30 years in Belgium, when I’m really really tired only French words come to my mind and I can’t remember their Portuguese counterpart (by the way, I’m Portuguese). Oops!
| | | | | Known phenomenon | Oct 31, 2021 |
This is called "second language interference", although it might not be specifically the second language that messes you up.
If I try to speak French, it's Greek that gets in the way, not my first language, English. Especially when there are small connecting words (like "mais" and "με") that sound the same, but mean quite different things.
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 11:03
French to English
Oh totally! I get the impression that French and English, my source and target, each have their own compartment in my brain. Then the three other languages I have had a little tuition in, but can barely speak, seem to be all lumped together in an "any other languages" compartment. So yes, I was trying to speak to the mother of a Spanish friend but I could only remember half the words I was looking for in German.
What is peculiar about German is that I remember very little vocabular... See more Oh totally! I get the impression that French and English, my source and target, each have their own compartment in my brain. Then the three other languages I have had a little tuition in, but can barely speak, seem to be all lumped together in an "any other languages" compartment. So yes, I was trying to speak to the mother of a Spanish friend but I could only remember half the words I was looking for in German.
What is peculiar about German is that I remember very little vocabulary but the grammar seems to be intact in my memory. I attribute this to the sheer beauty of the logic. Whereas in Spanish, the grammar is rather woolly, like, I know there are two different verbs to translate "to be" but I'm likely to get it wrong every time. ▲ Collapse
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 13:03
Member
English to Turkish
| So this is different than | Oct 31, 2021 |
what some snob, uppity corporate people seem to suffer from when they interject English words in their conversations to show off their super-duper English?
[Edited at 2021-10-31 10:49 GMT]
| | | | Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
| I just forget the word altogether | Oct 31, 2021 |
I feel like the more you read, the more you'll confuse your vocabulary and suddenly forgot any related term in your mental dictionary.
As it happened right when I was writing this post. It took me 15 bloody minutes to remember the word 'vocabulary' in all languages I speak. 
[Edited at 2021-10-31 18:24 GMT]
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 11:03
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| I never do that, not randomly. | Nov 1, 2021 |
I actually speak with what I know. Unless for instance I speak with a German person and can’t remember a word, I will then use an English word because I know this German person can understand it/can speak English. For instance I won’t replace it with a Chinese word randomly.
[Edited at 2021-11-01 23:51 GMT]
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