Fluency in English and other Germanic languages

While English is, of course, not mutually intelligible with any of its fellow Germanic languages, I am aware they are still closely related.

Thus, as someone who is not a native English speaker, I wonder whether the study of another Germanic language (such as, say, Dutch or Swedish) might in any way affect my fluency in English. I'm asking because that's what happened to my French, which used to be quite good until I spent a year as an exchange student in Italy. Now, while my passive French is still okay, when I try to speak it, I really have to take care that it doesn't come out as Italian.

If anyone had a similar experience with English and another Germanic language, I'd be really interested in your stories. And if you have any techniques to avoid mixing them up, it would be great if you could share them.:-)

<<While English is, of course, not mutually intelligible with any of its fellow Germanic languages, I am aware they are still closely related.
>>

English is mutually intelligible with Frisian, Platt Deutsch and Dutch on a basic level to some degree; even moreso with Lalland Scots.

Although I am a native English speaker, I have a mother who is not. She is a native Slavic speaker, and she learnt German (both Schweitzer & Hoch Deutsch) before learning English.

She oftentimes mixes German into her English, for instance, she will say things like "on the andere side" for "on the other side" etc. Otherwise, her English is very good, and not overly affected.

"English is mutually intelligible with Frisian, Platt Deutsch and Dutch on a basic level to some degree; even moreso with Lalland Scots."

How do you define mutual intelligibility?

That's not proper mutual intelligibility. Just a few words is not enough. If so we could say English and Spanish are mutually intelligible.

La computadora es estúpida - The computer is stupid.
La televisión es interesante - the television is interesting.

You see? Anyone could work it out. But it's not REAL intelligibility. I would say mutual ineligibility is for two people to be able to have a basic to medium level conversation both speaking their own respective languages, or to be able to understand a normal newscast in the other language.

I think you are asking if you will get confused if you learn Swedish since you already know English. I don't think it will be an issue if this is your first Germanic language after English.

If you already know German, some of that may transfer over into Dutch, so you'll need to be careful when writing and speaking, but imo, these kinds of things iron themselves out (are no longer a big problem) after you learn enough of the language.

Unless you are in a multilingual (hotel, language group meeting, conference with many international people) situation, it may not be much of a problem. It could be tough if people recognize your language skills and come up to you at once speaking different languages. I wouldn't hide your skills, but I would recommend slowing the pace of your speech to lessen the chance of mixing languages.

I'm studying Dutch right now and am fluent in German, which has
been a burden when I try to speak Dutch because people always tell me "I sound like a German" and that "German isn't Dutch"...
Languages that are so close are really difficult so separate but I have been trying to write and read as much as I can so that I can distinguish them more effectively.
The other Germanic language that I have studied is Swedish and I don't have much difficulty because it's very different from German, specially the pronunciation.
Deviating from the subject a little, I always mix up Portuguese with Spanish when I try to speak it and it's tough to learn languages from the same linguistic family.

Anyway, keep on studying and you will be able to separate the languages or at least will hear you have an accent from another language which is not yours ;)

Cheers!!!

I'm Dutch myself and learned both German and English. I make mistakes in English syntaxes because I'm very used to the Dutch and oftenly German way. Of course there are also some differences in German compared to Dutch, but they're a smaller problem for me.

Speaking English isn't a big problem at all, and speaking German.. Well, my girlfriend always laughs at me, cause she says I overdo several sounds. But well, I've never heard my German teacher nor German inhabitants laugh about it :).

<<That's not proper mutual intelligibility. Just a few words is not enough. If so we could say English and Spanish are mutually intelligible.

La computadora es estúpida - The computer is stupid.
La televisión es interesante - the television is interesting.

You see? Anyone could work it out. But it's not REAL intelligibility. I would say mutual ineligibility is for two people to be able to have a basic to medium level conversation both speaking their own respective languages, or to be able to understand a normal newscast in the other language. >>

Actually, it *is* proper to state that English does share mutual intelligibility on a basic level with Frisian-Plattduutsch-Dutch. The example you have given above is *extremely* basic (i.e. subject + 'be' verb = simple adjective)

Yet, between English and Dutch it can go much further than this. For instance:

De man is niet mijn vader; hij is mijn broeder.
(The man is not my father; he is my brother.)

Zij zei(de) dat zij tijd had [om] te helpen je het werk doen.
(She said that she had time to help you do the work.)

Dit is het beste ding u in de gehele wereld zult vinden.
(This is the best thing you will find in the whole world.)

Het televisieprogramma is alreeds begonnen, en er zal een andere later om te starten.
(The television program has already begun, and there will be another starting later.)

Wat doe je voor het leven?
(What do you do for a living?)

Op het weekend luister ik aan muziek en ga uit met mijn vrienden.
(On the weekend I kisten to music and go out with my friends.)

Geef me het boek, en ik zal het op de stoel leggen
(Give me the book, and I will lay it on the chair.)

Dit is het beste ding dat u in de gehele wereld zult vinden.
(This is the best thing you will find in the whole world.)


Wat doe je in het leven?
(What do you do for a living?)

In het weekend luister ik naar muziek en ga ik uit met mijn vrienden.
(On the weekend I kisten to music and go out with my friends.)

Zij zei dat zij tijd had om jou te helpen het werk te doen.
(She said that she had time to help you do the work.)
;)

<<Zij zei dat zij tijd had om jou te helpen het werk te doen.
(She said that she had time to help you do the work.)
;) >>

Ahhh, Dank u zeer!

en de wederzijdse begrijpelijkheid bestaat nog! :)

I forgot this one:


Het televisieprogramma is al(reeds)* begonnen, en een ander zal later starten.
(The television program has already begun, and there will be another starting later.)


*Alreeds is very old-fashioned. Just the use of 'al' is enough.

<<*Alreeds is very old-fashioned. Just the use of 'al' is enough. >>

I see...
What about the use of "reeds"? also old-fashioned?

«I see...
What about the use of "reeds"? also old-fashioned? »
Less old-fashioned, but usually we use 'al'. I would never use them except in formal texts.

Thanks for your interesting stories and replies.:-)

<<I think you are asking if you will get confused if you learn Swedish since you already know English.>>

Exactly. My learning Italian has affected my fluency in French to a certain extent, because they're so close, and I wouldn't want to risk my proficiency in English.

However, I agree that it might not be so much of an issue because the Germanic languages don't seem to be as close to each other as the Romance languages (possibly because the don't have a standardised common 'ancestor' like Latin).

I also hope my French isn't altogether lost either - when I'm exposed to French, it does come back after some time, I just initially have to concentrate to avoid speaking Italian. It's probably just a matter of practice.

<<Unless you are in a multilingual (hotel, language group meeting, conference with many international people) situation, it may not be much of a problem. It could be tough if people recognize your language skills and come up to you at once speaking different languages.>>

Yeah, that can really be difficult. It always takes me some time to 'switch'.

<<I'm studying Dutch right now and am fluent in German, which has
been a burden when I try to speak Dutch because people always tell me "I sound like a German" and that "German isn't Dutch"... >>

LOL. I can imagine. Actually German is my native language, so I have no fear of losing my fluency there.*g*

By the way, the examples for Anglo-Dutch mutual intelligibility are really impressive. I hadn't realized they were *that* close.