2 language conversations

SexyGreyFox · 25 Jun 2009 at 23:27

Jonny69 said:
Anyone else experienced this?

Yes.
In 1979 I lived in Clermont Ferrand, France for 3 months and the bloke I stayed with (Alain) would only talk to me in English and I could only talk in French.

Liquidfox · 25 Jun 2009 at 23:27

Seen it a few times...
Englishman speaking in German, Austrian in English. Was interesting to watch and listen to

Mr Jones · 25 Jun 2009 at 23:30

Best is a family conversation - I'll speak mandarin to my mum, speak English to my Dad and Girlfriend and then a mixture of English and Mandarin (mushed up together aka Singlish) to my younger brother. Surprised how well and how long they can last over the dinner table actually...

And yes, I have spoken cantonese to a few people and they inturn reply in English. Almost natural to me.

SiD the Turtle · 25 Jun 2009 at 23:40

Pfft you think that's bad. When I try to keep up with the conversation my Mauritian relatives are having with my grasp of GCSE French, a single conversation can slip mid-sentence into Creole, proper French, English, Hindi or Bhojpuri :eek:

Mr^B · 26 Jun 2009 at 00:07

I often hold business conversations where I'll speak English and the other guy will speak German or Swiss-German at the same time. Both our multi-lingual skills are better in the comprehension rather than the oral sense...if you see what I mean.