I practiced 4 languages for 4 hours and learned 4 lessons
I host a language exchange.
This is a chance for people to get together and practice speaking different languages. Here is the lanyard that I wear each week.
Today I practiced…
I practiced Spanish, French, Mandarin, and even a little bit of Ukrainian! It was fun. I haven’t spoken so many languages all at once in a long time. Here were a few things that stood out as I practiced.
Mixing languages.
Many language learners will relate. Sometimes, languages get jumbled. You try to speak French and one random Spanish word you once learned in the third grade with Señora Sanchez comes out instead.
I have practiced switching between my five fluent languages (English, French, Spanish, Mandarin, Gujarati). I rarely mix them up. However, today I had met a Portuguese speaker. I have studied this language before and, if I focus, can communicate to some degree.
But today…nope. Every time I tried to speak Portuguese, Ukrainian came out instead. Every. Single. Time. Lol.
I’m fluent in Mandarin.
I’m not sure if I’ve spoken Mandarin at all this year and yet I felt at ease when conversing today. I literally had the thought, “Oh. I’m fluent in Mandarin. Cool. I didn’t realize that.” When I’m actively studying languages, I often focus more on what I don’t know, not what I do know. After such a long break, I was able to fully appreciate just how far I have come.
I’m friendlier in other languages.
There are regular attendees at my language exchanges. Sometimes we speak in English and sometimes in another language. Today was the first time I realized just how much more I tend to connect with them in my fluent foreign languages (French, Spanish, and Mandarin). My best guess as to why this happens is that I have to be more present when speaking to them.
Fluency is situational.
I noticed this with Ukrainian specifically. My Ukrainian tutor, for example, doesn’t speak a word of English to me. Therefore, when we have class I mirror her and speak entirely in Ukrainian too. However, at my language exchange the person I practiced with spoke to me in English more than Ukrainian. I always tried to reply in Ukrainian, but my brain would jam up. I kept drawing a blank and my brain wanted to communicate in English.
I was rather embarrassed, to be frank. I mean, I spoke Ukrainian like someone who has been learning for a few weeks. I’m better than that, by a large margin. Sure, I’m nowhere near fluent. But I watch shows in Ukrainian. I can have 45-minute conversations with my tutor. I’ve been praised before. I’m essentially at a high beginner (ish) level, not a pure beginner.
Ah well! Live and learn, as they say.
I’m looking forward to my future events! They’re fun, I get to work on different languages, and it serves as an organic, natural form of marketing for the Calgary Language Nerds 😊
Thanks for reading!
Azren
Calgary Language Nerds owner
https://azrenthelanguagenerd.com