#codeswitching

[cosmogyros]

Guy sitting next to me denglisching HARD on what appears to be a gay first date.

"It's günstiger wenn du [something I missed] aber es ist noch crazy expensive. Kennst du schon? Lemme show you. Es kostet über 500 Euro [something I missed] aber seitdem haben sie NIE eine Preissenkung gehabt. Until now. Finally."

He also constantly flows back and forth between a German and an American accent, so smoothly and confusingly that I can't even tell which is his native language. Sometimes he says the German words with an American accent, and the English words with a German accent. Sometimes vice versa. I had just reached the point of concluding that he must be an American who's lived here for years, but then he said the word "übersichtlich" with such a FLAWLESS German accent that I started doubting everything again.

"Digga, das ist Hammer. Maybe they, like, buy them in bulk or something?"

I'm obsessed with the way he talks. I can't stop eavesdropping.

"Das ist, like, a remake..."

And the funny part is that his date is obviously German and has spoken nothing but German the whole time, although clearly understanding the English.

Update: Okay, the way he just pronounced "cool" in "Das ist cool" was 100% German (Das is kuh-le!) but then the next moment he added, "Dude, that's kewl."

When he speaks English he has the MOST classic gay-American-boy accent. Like, impeccable. Anyone would believe he's a native. I'm leaning towards him being one of those Germans who grew up on American media and internalized it completely (like, I have another German friend who sounds 100% American when she speaks), but the way this guy springs back and forth between the two languages at top speed, multiple times in every sentence, is genuinely blowing my mind. I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster and I'm getting nauseous.

[miyamiwu]

i mean, i did find many about multilingualism in general, but these were in linguistics/sociolinguistics papers and not specifically about the craft of it in literature… or idk, maybe i’m just bad at googling

[thechekhov]

This is such a specific pet peeve that I know is petty but

As a linguistics major who is also trilingual and has real life experience code-switching (changing from one language to another) mid-sentence on the daily, one of the BIGGEST bothers to me in fanfics is when it happens unnaturally. 

I get that we all think ‘wow, a character suddenly speaking in another language is sexy ;)’ but the truth is, there are natural AND also really awkward and unnatural ways to codeswitch, and unless you have first-hand experience, there is a high risk that your sexy insertion of a foreign word in the middle of a sentence is actually making someone who speaks that language natively cringe just a little bit.

And - I want to make this clear - that’s not your fault! It’s a difficult thing to write well. 

But I beg you, if you are using a REAL language in your fanfics (not a made-up conlang), please find a native speaker to check your work, don’t just pick random words and don’t just insert them into the slot where the English word would go. 

[gayassassinscreed]

the problem with learning four languages at once while being fluent in another is that my brain loves codeswitching. so i am over here creating my own sentences in five different languages.

so it leaves me doing shit like: She:kon, unnskyld! Por favor, أين الحمام, tusen takk, ay dios mío, I'm so tired.

which, literally makes no sense, but here we are!

[new-rules-for-english]

Should Writers Use They Own English? by dr. vay (aka Vershawn Ashanti Young) and his related essays are soo worth the read

Summary:

"This paper argues against critic Stanley Fish's assertion that students should not use dialect in academic writing."

[noanswerstrilogy]

I was thinking about code-switching and I need to know something. If you’re Asian and speak English, is your English voice deeper than your first language voice?? Please answer, I’m tryina see something.

[nvara-of-mortains-own]

reposting that popular twitter thread bc it was originally shared by a TERF

[frontpagewoman]