Debbie - thank you so much for the info - super helpful
That's really interesting
I think one thing that didn't help with the French/Arabic confusion was going to stay in Algeria for 3-4 weeks (actually was supposed to be a shorter stay but due to Reasons I had to stay longer, including extending my visa twice). Algerians are fluent in both French and Arabic and like to liberally mix the two together, like starting a sentence in French and ending it in Arabic.
The evolution of languages is very fascinating (as I'm sure is evident from this thread) not just the emergence of spoken language but how languages evolved. So it makes me wonder if in the future there'll be an Algerian language that's basically a mix of French and Arabic.
And language confusion is certainly real. Code switching is related to who you are speaking with. Subbing words from Arabic to French is part of confusion. Your brain knows you aren't supposed to be doing English and does the best it can without. This is why it's hard to learn two languages at once and need to use both in similar circumstances. I'll admit I'm guessing a bit here based on experience. It's not a topic I've studied a lot. I just recall it being mentioned and took Spanish and French at the same time in high school and college. (I started Spanish in Jr. High, so was further along, but their similarities both helped and hurt.)
That's really interesting
I think one thing that didn't help with the French/Arabic confusion was going to stay in Algeria for 3-4 weeks (actually was supposed to be a shorter stay but due to Reasons I had to stay longer, including extending my visa twice). Algerians are fluent in both French and Arabic and like to liberally mix the two together, like starting a sentence in French and ending it in Arabic.
The evolution of languages is very fascinating (as I'm sure is evident from this thread) not just the emergence of spoken language but how languages evolved. So it makes me wonder if in the future there'll be an Algerian language that's basically a mix of French and Arabic.