Any trilingual people out there?

Question

My first language is English. I knew some Italian as a child but couldn't hold a conversation in it till 1994-5, when I lived in Italy. I didn't speak it again until recently..However..I have been living in Japan since 1998 and my Japanese is not bad.
The problem is-I can`t keep all 3 languages active in my mind. I completely confuse Japanese and Italian-when I think and speak!! It is very very frustrating.

Does anyone please have any hints and tips on how to maintain both my foriegn languages???

It is not about studying more..it is about 'keeping them in my head' I am glad I am not the only one with this frustrating and embarassing little problemo (^o^)

Answer 1

♡YES! Me too!
I can totally relate to what you're feeling! (^O^)/
My first language is English as well.
I studied Spanish and speak fluently.
Then I moved to Japan about 9 years ago...
That's when my problem started!
I speak English and Japanese all day-BUT!
I find myself forgetting my Spanish completely sometimes, which is odd, since I speak it better than Japanese.
I have no problem keeping those active, but I get my Spanish mixed in with my Japanese sometimes when I need to use or try to remember Spanish and use it.
What I finally did was start to keep a small journal in Spanish, sing Spanish songs...
It was the only thing I could think of that kept my Spanish "active in my mind" and separate from my Japanese. I also occasionally answer some Q.s on the Yahoo Answers Mexico version. (*^o^*) It helps!
I hope you find a good solution (^_-)-☆ and hope you're enjoying life in Japan as much as I am!♡

Answer 2

I am an English speaker living in South Korea. Until I went to university, I also studied French and Spanish at school, and then when I was out of work for 6 months, learned Italian for fun. When working as an EFL teacher, I also picked up German from my students.
I sometimes have the same problem. I want to remember a word in Korean, but then the Italian word pops up. When I try to speak in French again, I find I have forgotten a lot of words. The solution is, if you want to keep all three languages alive, read a newspaper in each language daily if you can (on the Net or buy them). Language is like a muscle: if you don't use it, it wastes away.

Answer 3

Yes, the only sure way to maintain all your languages is to use them whenever you can. I'm a native English speaker with fluent French and Greek, decent Danish, German and Portuguese and smatterings of various other things and had the luck to work professionally as a translator. But now that I've stopped doing that I take whatever opportunities there are to speak (to friends, to foreign visitors, on holiday), read (newspapers, websites, books) and write (e-mails and letters) in these languages, to keep them alive in my head.

As for confusing Japanese and Italian, one solution might be to adopt a slightly different personality when you communicate in each language. To some extent it happens automatically if you have a good ear for the differences between cultures. So you could try to temporarily "become" a Japanese or Italian person when speaking those languages, using different gestures, facial expressions etc. Different thought patterns will follow and the interference between the two should diminish.

Answer 4

I know what you mean! My first language is English, and I started learning French from an early age because I live in Canada and have relatives from rural areas of Quebec who don't speak English at all. Later in my childhood, I started learning German in little bits and pieces, and I'm still learning it a bit at a time, although much more frequently today. Unfortunately, when I try to speak French nowadays my German has a tendency to get in the way, partly because there's something of an anti-French backlash among anglophones here, partly because I have more of a passion for German than for French, and partly because my relatives live so far away that it's only once in a blue moon that I ever see them at all these days.

As far as keeping your languages active in your mind, these forums are a good way to keep up your practice. There are Yahoo Answers sites in Italy and Japan, and you could post and answer questions there from time to time. You could also check out some of the media web sites in Italy and Japan. You could also do some research on Italian and Japanese recording artists and download or special-order their material--I do the same thing with German artists to expand my German vocabulary.

Answer 5

Listen my friend do you think Italian people look like Japanese, besides you must know that Italian people are easygoing instead Japanese are very private doesn't matter they are young or old. The mentality is different, an Italian wants to have fun all the time instead Japanese all the time would prefer to work.

I speak four languages how do I do, well very simple I am from Balkan area now I live in Italy my girlfriend is German and my best friends are American.

The most important thing is to have an opened mind, if you are smart enough you will get it.

Answer 6

If you are not given the chance to speak a language, listen to it. I am American, so I grew up speaking English. I was taught Spanish, and I now live in japan, so I also know Japanese. As a teacher, I can converse with both the Spanish teacher and the Japanese (host nation) teacher. Until I landed my job at the highschool, I would listen to books on tape in Spanish, read People en Espanol, and whatever else I could do to keep up with the Spanish while I was learning the difficult language of Japanese. I am sure you can get lots of practice with the Japanese by watching their news programs, and venturing off into the country and asking for directions at a gas station (that truly tested my skills), or holding a conversation with the local produce vendor.
Good luck!

Answer 7

I have the same problem. English is my first language, I studied Spanish in school, then as an adult I took up German and French. Each time I'd get curious about a new language, the other one seemed to drop out of my brain. I've tried only focusing on French now so that I can get to a level that it can't possibly leave me. Then maybe I'll pick up the Spanish or German again.

But I have the same experience of confusing two languages. I'm sometimes putting in a German noun when speaking French and that DOES NOT please the French at all!!!!

Answer 8

Hi,
Goodly question - and I will reply in English for now.
I do not "suffer" from Japanese, but learnt a reasonable degree of Arabic, whilst living there for a few years. Also French, in working in Paris few a few more years.
So my personal thinkink is that it is best to live in the country for a while.
It picks up from school stuff a treat.
As for your question about keeping the languages aloft in your mind, I often speak Arabic to my Mother, which she finds amusing, French to my freinds, just for fun, and many of them seem to understand.
The odd word or six to my German friend, etc.
In other words, I keep it all going now & then. It seems to refresh the memory.
Plus I don't think in English when doing that. It seems to help.
I wish I could have a command of Japenese, as I plan to visit next year, and love to try the language of the guest country that I am in.

All the best,
Bob the Boat,
Or > Bob the Brit.

Kaif hal wul loosh lal boosh, habibi (Phonetic in Arabic)
Or - How are your your goats & camels, my friend ?
As for the phonetic - Vro mis menna, sovra goff
In Greek........... I shall not describe.

Answer 9

I speak 3 languages (English, Filipino, Spanish) and can read german. I know what you're talking about although I can't imagine confusing Japanese and Italian since they don't sound remotely alike...
Anyway, the only advice I can give you is to relax and let your brain kick in...maybe you're trying too hard to sound like the locals when nobody expects you to speak rapid fire. That kind of added stress can get your signals messed up.

Answer 10

I know what you're talking about, I have the same problem with French and English (my native is Spanish), I think I'm forgetting French knowledge by seconds... yes, is quite frustrating, I live in Spain, and my way of improve my English is by writting here...

Try to keep in touch with people with those languages as native... (of course speaking in them) and try to watch films in original version of Italy and Japan...