Sourov DEB

Four Languages in One Head: What Multilingualism Teaches You About English

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by

Sourov
in

CEFR C1-C2  ·  5 min

From my experience:

Bengali at home. English at work. French with neighbours. Hindi when I dream. I didn’t plan to become multilingual — it happened because I moved, because I had to, because language follows necessity. What I discovered is that each new language does not replace the others. They stack. They interfere. They also teach you things about each other that monolingual speakers never see. This lesson is about what happens inside a multilingual mind — and what it reveals about English.

Today's focus: Code-switching, interference errors, and what multilingualism reveals about English structure

Code-switching is the natural alternation between languages in a multilingual speaker. It is sophisticated — not lazy or confused.

Interference errors happen when an L1 pattern enters L2. They come from your strengths, not your weaknesses:

  • French → English: ‘I have 25 years’ (j’ai 25 ans → I am 25). Article omission (‘Go to hospital’ vs ‘Go to the hospital’)
  • Bengali/Hindi → English: ‘She is more tall’ (no comparative morphology). ‘Is it?’ as universal question tag.
  • All → English: Overuse of present continuous (‘I am liking this’ → stative verbs don’t use continuous)

Recognising your interference errors is the fastest path to eliminating them.

Examples in context

‘He is very intelligent, isn’t it?’ — Hindi/Bengali English: ‘isn’t it?’ used as a universal tag (vs English: ‘isn’t he?’)
‘I have 22 years’ — French interference: ‘j’ai 22 ans’ → should be ‘I am 22 years old’
‘She suggested me to go’ — French/Italian interference: ‘elle m’a suggéré d’aller’ → should be ‘She suggested (that) I go’

Try it — click to reveal the answer

▶ Correct this: ‘I am knowing the answer.’ Why is it wrong?
✓ Answer: ‘I know the answer.’ — ‘Know’ is a stative verb (state of mind/perception) and does not use continuous aspect.
Other stative verbs: believe, understand, want, need, love, hate, see, hear. These describe states, not actions in progress.
▶ What language likely caused this error: ‘She asked me that I come early’?
✓ Answer: Likely French or Italian: ‘elle m’a demandé que je vienne tôt’ → English uses ‘She asked me to come early.’ (infinitive, not that-clause)
Identifying your L1 as the source helps you target the specific rule to correct. It’s efficient, not embarrassing.
▶ Is code-switching a sign of poor language ability?
✓ Answer: No. Research consistently shows code-switching is cognitively sophisticated. It requires mastery of both systems simultaneously.
Grosjean (1982) and many others have shown that bilinguals are not two monolinguals in one — they are a unique language system. Code-switching is evidence of competence, not confusion.
⚡ 5-second rule:

Your interference errors come from your strengths — they prove you have a strong L1. Identify them, name their source, fix them. Multilingualism is not a limitation — it is a lens that shows you what English actually does.

Independent project; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification. Cambridge CELTA course completed — 120 supervised teaching hours and four written assignments validated to the required standard.

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