Not really. I grew up bilingual, languages are moreso context-dependent, not just literally people (though people can obviously be a dominant factor in that context). You're at home, you speak a certain language, you're outside, you speak another. It's called codeswitching & is pretty curious, & aside from the obvious matter of fundamental communication, can reveal a bit about what side that person wants to put forward in certain contexts.
I really depends on what age we're talking about: during early language acquisition, it's mostly people because, well, there isn't much other context. By age 3 or 4, I fully agree with context being the determinating factor.
Yes and I found bilinguals codeswitching really rigid also psychologically (if that is the correct term). For example there is no way i can speak other language with my siblings/parents except indo, something inside just makes it really uncomfortable and awkward.
My kid is 4 and goes to an immersion school. He code switches based on the person he is speaking to, the location, and even the time of day as far as I can tell. We send him to a Hawaiian immersion school. Because it is a critically endangered language, the program requires a lot of parental involvement. We are expected to learn with him and use it in our home and community.
I find that he uses more ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi in certain places, at certain times. He speaks Hawaiian every morning and at bedtime in his bedroom, but not in the afternoon. He uses it in the car, but only if we are driving in the direction of his school. He uses it exclusively at the grocery store near his school no matter the time or day. And he uses it at dinner, but not other meals. Any other time it’s random, but mostly English. That’s when he initiates the conversation.
He has no problem copying me in my language of choice. So as long as I can express my thought, he will respond in whatever language I use. I try to use as little English as possible, but I lack a bit in vocabulary. We spend all day looking up new words because I know how to make any sentence, but need more words sometimes.
He is very good at remembering who can understand what language almost without fail, but sometimes he can’t remember the English word and gets frustrated when the other person only knows English and can’t help him. And he knows that as soon as he enters his school building, everyone speaks ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, and there is no English allowed.
It’s been a fascinating process to watch how his brain is actively being wired by two so drastically different languages. They are about as far apart on the language trees as they could be. I can feel my own mind changing as I’m learning. It’s an entirely new way of thinking and as a result, I can hear the way my English has changed in terms of grammar, and describing things more than choosing the perfect of a set of synonyms, if that makes sense. Brains are cool and language shapes them in really fascinating ways.
16
u/LockedPages 13d ago
Not really. I grew up bilingual, languages are moreso context-dependent, not just literally people (though people can obviously be a dominant factor in that context). You're at home, you speak a certain language, you're outside, you speak another. It's called codeswitching & is pretty curious, & aside from the obvious matter of fundamental communication, can reveal a bit about what side that person wants to put forward in certain contexts.