How to write bilingual people who grew up monolingual
aka people who grew up monolingual but had, for various reasons, to master the language used in your wip
(PSA: these all come from my own experience as someone who fits into the criteria. i learnt the english language almost as if it were my native, but a) im not raised bilingual b) my experiences are affected by my two languages being english and greek c) bilingual people arent a monolith! im just putting my experiences out there. its better to consider what languages your character speaks and learn about them (for example, some slavic languages are so similar that slavic speakers can roughly understand them even if they dont formally speak them.) as always, do your research, but i believe this is a good place to start.)
that post about how multilingual people won't mix the languages when speaking isn't entirely right. people often do include words from a different language, but they also take into account their audience (for example, i wouldnt straight up speak greek to someone who i know doesnt speak the language, although it should be noted that ive almost done it multiple times and bilingual friends of mine often forget i dont speak their language- again, not a monolith).
the most easy words to blend into a different languages are the smaller ones, like 'why', 'hi', 'what', 'yes', etc.
sometimes sounds also get mixed up. for example, where english uses 'huh', im more likely to make an 'eh' sound, where it uses 'oh' id use 'ah', and so on. it comes much more naturally to me. it's best if you look up those types of sounds in your target language.
sometimes you could transfer a proverb from one language to another. it's not rare for me to say something and then ask "wait, is this a thing i can say in english? does it make sense?" proverbs and phrasal verbs are confusing.
if you have a family member or cose friend who is also fluent in the second language, you often speak to them in it. ive carried whole conversations with my sister in english.
this is more of an english thing i believe, but non native speakers are almost bound to get prepositions wrong, especially verbally. theyre hard, very specific, and oftentimes have nothing in common with our native languages.
sometimes, when the audience can speak both languages, people can randomly switch from one language to another. since there is a variety to choose from, we pick the one that best expresses the idea we have in our heads.
blending goes both ways. i use greek words in english and english words in greek.
many languages have gendered objects, so their native speakers are more inclined to view objects that way. if someone asked me to personify a door, i would most likely view it as a female, or view a mirror as a male. it happens subconciously, and it can sometime transfer to a foreign language.
this is also specific for english, but past participals are hard as shit, and a common slip up is using did + -ed.
non native speakers probably dont have a set accent. some of them dont even pronounce the words correctly or they have heavy foreign accents. even if they do have believable accents, it's very rare for them to have pure american or pure british accents. american is usually the go-to because it is the simplest, but that could change depending on which accent sounds the most similar to a person's native.
non-verbal communication also differs from country to country and is a huge part of how people behave and interract with each other. theres hand and head gestures unique to some places that people use all the time. if you can find them, use them!
sometimes when talking to native speakers it is common to avoid certain words or phrases that we arent sure how to pronounce or what they mean exactly.
language comprehension is much easier than language use. your character could very much understand what people are saying, even if they cant respond fluently.
forgetting the word youre thinking of also goes both ways, and sometimes you fill in the blank with the same word from another language.
verbal communication is the hardest and always makes non native speakers nervous. dont be afraid to have them hesitate when they speak to a native speaker.
some slang and word connotation is simply not a thing all non native speakers know. this also applies to special vocabulary (for example, i have no idea what most flower names mean in english, but i do know the same flowers in greek).
many of the rules that native speakers subconciously know, non native speakers have to make an effort to remember and incorporate when speaking. adjective order, grammar rules, etiquette; those are things we have to learn and get used to at an older age and sometimes it's hard to use, especially when theyre clashing with our native or dont have an equivalent in it.
if theres is a word that is borowed or derived from our language, we will pronounce it the native way. like, even when im speaking fully english, accent and everything, i will say "mousaka" like a greek would. same goes with (ancient) greek names, and sometimes with scientific terms (mostly because i dont know how to pronounce them in english).
finally, as a non native english speaker, i would love to see non native characters mess up the language. dont use baby-speach or old school "savage speak", but certainly do show them having slip ups, backtrack to rephrase because theyre not sure how to pronounce a word, accidentally use their native affirmative word instead of 'yes', and other fun stuff. it just makes them more realistic, in my opinion.
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