Keeping up multiple languages | Ask Benny | Forum

And yes, I read your post. But it didn't answer this question

Hello Aaron,

I have a sort of language log incorporated into my timesheet I use for my work. Each day I make a note of what I've done in each language (not in great detail, just "TV" or "xxx course chapter x, exercise x"). I give the box one colour if it is a passive activity like listening to the radio or another colour if its been 'hard-core' active learning, such as grammar or a drill exercise.

At the end of the week I can see which language I've been focussing on, and whether I've been 'lazy' or not. Sometimes I find I just don't feel like doing a language for some particular reason. Then a few weeks later I find I'll focus on that one more than another. It all evens out in the end, and there's no point forcing yourself to do somethign if you don't enjoy it. Often I find I've missed a language and happily go back to it.

Barbara Sheer mentions this in her book "What Do I Do When I Want to Do Everything?: A Revolutionary Programme for Doing Everything That You Love" when she discusses how to manage multiple hobbies/projects.

Karen

libresco said:

I stick to the question but in another way: how to stop mixing languages if they are not strong enough yet?

I seem to mix "et" (and in French) with "y" (and in Spanish) in the sentences in both languages but never with English "and".

I suppose I know English good enough and it isn't hanging around. But how can I help Spanish and French toddlers in my head to know their place?

Haha I do that too!! (And when I'm really nervous I start doing crazy things like saying tambien instead of aussi, but I mix up et and y all the time)

I learned French as a young child and can speak it fluently, but I rarely actually speak it (like, twice a year for the past 10 years). Almost as soon as I started learning German, I noticed that all my "filler" words--you know those words that you say automatically while your brain is racing ahead to what to say next (like "actually", "yeah, so" or even "or" and "and"), I started saying in German whenever I would speak French! It was really embarassing. Fortunately I noticed that it started to go away after I had the opportunity to speak French for a few days. Now whenever I speak French I have to really focus, and if I start to ramble without thinking, those little German filler words creep back in again. I am trying to speak French more often to stop it from happening.

I have no suggestions or advice; just thought I'd share my experience.