The Dangers of Mixing Languages

THE DANGERS OF MIXING LANGUAGES

I have always been anti-Spanglish.

I don’t know exactly why, but mixing two languages at one time is a big pet-peeve of mine.

And watching “Dora the Explorer” with my kids drives me completely nuts.  Come on Dora, please just pick a language! Spanish or English!

Well, it turns out that I am right!

This fascinating article from the BBC explains how switching back and forth between languages during a conversation makes it hard for your brain to stay on a single linguistic track, when required.

Plus, it can  actually impede your ability to full grasp a new language.

While it is possible, in certain circumstances, to completely forget your native language (check out the BBC article to find out how!), mixing languages is probably not going to have that effect.

It can, however, cause you to lose certain distinctive traits of your native language.

So, let’s just agree to stick to one language at a time!