seishonagon
seishonagon

With my (French) wife and kids, we speak in a mixture of English and French that has long annoyed my in-laws. Yet surprisingly, I never spoke English with my (American) mother. Go figure.

BBC – Future – Can you lose your native language?

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In reply to
helgeg
helgeg

@seishonagon Interesting piece. I'm Norwegian, live in Portugal, and speak English with my wife. In my job and with my wife's family I speak Portuguese, and with kids mostly Norwegian. (I met my wife in Scotland, so English was always our common language)

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seishonagon
seishonagon

@helgeg it’ll be interesting to see what language your kids consider their « mother tongue »

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helgeg
helgeg

@seishonagon I guess their "default" language is Portuguese, but they are fluent in English and Norwegian as well. It is quite funny to see the looks on people's faces when we are out and about, as a conversation will span the three languages depending on who's adressing whom.

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seishonagon
seishonagon

@helgeg 🤣 - I know my kids are not mad at each other when they speak English together. Otherwise they’ll bicker in French.

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helgeg
helgeg

@seishonagon I recognize that! When they are mad, their expletives are in Portuguese.

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