In many Chinese families it’s pretty common for people to talk to each other in completely different languages. My New York aunt speaks to me in Mandarin / Hokkien. She speaks to her husband in Toishanese. They speak Cantonese to other people. We all sort of understand each other when we are speaking different languages, but respond in our own language. From time to time we might dip into another language to illustrate a point.
My grandma used to call this ‘chicken and duck talk’
Adults learning languages 'formally' worry about grammar and such, but children instinctively know that the whole point of using a language is to communicate meaning. And I don't think our brains care at all about which language we use for communication. Whatever tool will do the job is good enough. During my 3rd year in the Peace Corps in Senegal I combined French, English, and Wolof in one sentence. That was when I thought it might be time to come home at the end of the school year, before my brain turned to scrambled eggs.
😂
Adrianna Tan
B Kahn