Do you have a birthday today?

There was a shield on the door saying personal only

No, ich han hüt nöd Geburtstag, and of course German, French or Swiss German doesn’t interfere with my English after over 30 years living here - am still a Brit (I suppose)

My French creeps into my English, my English creeps into my Czech, my Russian creeps into my French, my German cteeps into all of the above. Since long time and for evers.

Arnaque.

Congrats!

I’m not sure what this thread was about, but will go with it. I find it really hard to speak “proper” English after over 30 years here. My job, which primarily entails writing many pages of English documentation delivering my results to people with the attention span of a goldfish requires it.

Daughter doesn’t like it when I speak German, and I just mix-in all kinds of German and Swiss German in my daily life (and if I’m missing a word I’ll throw in my French). The most irritating however has been in the past couple of days, when I’m watching a German Krimi with English untertitle, and I’m reading only the sub-titles. Get what I mean, oder?

Yes. I sometimes can't remember the English word for something quite normal. And for stuff that's specific, like Gemeinde, I just use the German. Sometimes I read SwissInfo and they do translate to the appropriate word - which actually makes it quite difficult with things like schools... I know FMS, not the English equivalent.

However, I've adopted the word "performant" = "Well performing" (for example a performant computer system). It's technically not English, but there isn't an appropriate English word so I've nicked it from the Germans.

Everybody needs a break sometimes..I don't like switching from my regular NYC accent to SF or southern stuff. It happens without me wanting. C'est la vie. Speak German with your girl, you deserve her working on your correct speech a lil

Do you have today Birthday?

Yes. I no longer speak my mother tongue properly, nor English. My German has plateaued at B2, but has been creeping into my other languages.

At home we mostly speak English and pepper it liberally with German, especially when speaking about school and when we don't recall English terms in the moment. Sentences like "It does have Nachteile, but overall it's good..."

I mix, but only as a joke, so I often send "happy compleanno" to Italian friends!

My daughter will use Italian when she can't remember the English, especially when cooking (her job) despite 5 years of living in the US.

Tom

She's started saying the above instead of "Is it your birthday today?" and wonders if others do the same/similar.

Been thinking about this- and yes, and no. Words creep in, because there is not a direct/accurate description in the other language/s- (Bac or Matu is not the same as A'Levels, and Chrismas Cake is not really 'Gâteau de Noël, etc, etc) - but no changes in word order ever, I don't think.

Ain't pas de shei$$e Sprachen sind mescolrano tra loro dans my discours. And neither of those is my mother tongue.

"Do you have a birthday today?" is a direct translation from German: "Hast du heute Geburtstag?".

In English, you would instead ask: "Is it your birthday today?"

"You become money from me"