Learning a 4th language has made my brain completely unreliable

[u/max_ramx]

I speak Arabic, English, and Turkish, and I’m currently learning Italian.

Since starting Italian, my brain keeps mixing everything together hahaha. Someone asks me something in Turkish, and the word I need appears first in English, then Arabic, and sometimes a random Italian word I learned recently lol

Even simple words I’ve used thousands of times suddenly disappear 😅

Does this happen to you too when learning multiple languages? How do you deal with it?

[u/sharky9209]

I don't deal with it. If people can't understand me when I mix together random Uzbek and Chinese words in a sentence with Arabic grammar, that's a them problem.

[u/magic_baobab → u/sharky9209]

Yeah, being a polyglot automatically makes me smarter therefore better than everyone else and I have no intention to slow down at their level, even if that makes me functionally illiterate

[u/max_ramx → u/magic_baobab]

This is clearly the only correct polyglot mindset mate 😅 Why use one language badly when we can use four at once lol

[u/Promethium-146 → u/sharky9209]

Never beating Persian with German grammar structure and Lithuanian inflections

[u/max_ramx → u/Promethium-146]

Hahaha at this point your brain has just invented its own language 😂 love it mate

[u/max_ramx → u/sharky9209]

Hahaha exactly mate 😂 at some point everyone else just has to keep up.

[u/GghGaming]

Don’t be afraid to mix languages when speaking/writing. If someone cannot understand you, then they are just a monolingual chud. A true educated language enthusiast can effortlessly understand Chinese words mixed with Arabic roots with German grammar and English pronunciation, and written in Cyrillic.

[u/max_ramx → u/GghGaming]

Exactly mate 😂 if they can’t understand 3 languages mixed into one sentence, clearly they need to study harder lol

[u/calenturian]

/uj I was excited to talk to someone in my second language the other day since I don't get to use it much. I opened my mouth and my fourth language came out 😭

/rj so I just accused them of not knowing the particular dialect I was speaking, and everyone clapped

[u/max_ramx → u/calenturian]

/uj hahaha this is exactly the kind of thing I mean 😭 your brain had one job and somehow selected language #4 lol

[u/Special-Cut-4964]

Gorlami

[u/max_ramx → u/Special-Cut-4964]

hahahha I read that in the exact voice from Inglourious Basterds 😂😂 impossible not to hear in that exaggerated Italian accent lol

[u/Shreviews → u/Special-Cut-4964]

Lo pronuncio correctamente?

[u/indecisive_maybe]

Perfect! You can't be a polyglot unless you can polyspeak. Never return to the monospeak.

[u/max_ramx → u/indecisive_maybe]

Polyspeak unlocked mate 😂 there’s no going back now hahha

[u/Head_Region6610]

I’m only studying one language but I’m still forgetting……ummmm…you know….this language I’m writing in…

[u/shiningseaJUN]

I totally relate. It happened to me too. There must be some kind of “4th language’s law”. Whenever I try to learn 4th language, a strong interference happens.

20+ years ago, I learned Spanish and I could feel that it affected my English so I stopped it.

Now that I am living in France, the French language is interfering my English. I mix up words, I feel weird about my own English. Especially speaking is the problem. I understand just fine. But I can’t blurt out words like i want. French doesn’t affect my Korean or Japanese. Only English. So the similarity between languages may be a factor as well.

I already work in English and watch stuffs on Netflix in English. I get a fair amount of exposure to the English language. I can’t fathom what causes this issue. So for now I just accepted the fact, my English is becoming Franglish.