how to realistically write a bilingual character

sanerontheinside:

remux:

• no one who speaks 2+ languages ever “randomly” switches in the middle of a sentence. like that just…….. doesn’t happen? 
• the only times people will get confused and mix them up is when:
• a) they’re in an environment where they have to alternate between speaking two languages often/quickly, and the brain can’t keep up and messes up.
• b) they’ve been in an environment where they have to speak/hear one language for a long time, and when they change settings it takes them a moment to not instinctively go for the other language.
• c) they’re hearing one language (music, radio, background chatter) and trying to speak another 
• interrupting themselves in the middle of a conversation because they can only remember the word they wanna say in another language
• having the perfect idiom/expression for a situation but it doesn’t translate as well
• having the perfect word for a situation but it doesn’t even fucking exist in that language
• if ur character is out in public with their family, i can guarantee u that they’ll talk shit about people around them in their native tongue
• calling their significant others pet names is a conscious choice. it doesn’t just “slip up”. it may come naturally with time, but saying a word in another language is something you like… immediately notice
• swearing is complicated and i’m not getting into it rn 
• anyone who has ever picked up another language has been pissed at specific vowels and pronunciations and this is the gospel truth
• [forgets a word] [attempts to explicitely describe the thing they’re trying to say] [forgets a word while trying to explain themselves] “oh jesus christ nevermind”
• will know how to speak a language but not know any of the mathematical/scientific/biological terms because they went to school in a different language and no one learns, like, algebra in a second language unless they studied in multiple languages.
• [knows a word but they’ve only ever read it and they have no idea how it’s pronounced]
• there’s probably more stuff that i’m forgetting rn but that’s like, the main bits. thank u for ur time

If I’m tired I might slip an accidental word of Russian in a sentence of otherwise sensible English. This is followed by an immediate moment of wait wtf was that sentence right why does it seem funny why are people looking at me funny. It may take a minute to figure out what I did. Most listeners, also, will generally not quite realise that wasn’t English, and will be wondering what the heck word was that. Unless they also know the other language, in which case they understood you regardless and are laughing at you.

This also tends to happen to me when I’ve been reading in Russian or watching movies or speaking to someone in Russian. But not always. Sometimes you are just that damn tired. The Russian word is usually a well-used, familiar one, so you can get stuff like ‘put on the чайник [kettle]’. Or it can surreptitiously replace a verb or descriptor.