Since I started studying the Celtic languages, I’ve sometimes found myself moving the things I want to emphasise to the beginning of sentences when speaking English. For example, “Welsh and Irish are the languages I’m concentrating on at the moment.” This kind of sentence structure is common to all the Celtic languages, but can sound a bit strange in English. I’ve also started using the Wenglish (Welsh English) style ‘isn’t it’ as a general tag at the ends of phrases.
At other times I might add ‘or not?’ or something similar to questions in a Chinese sort of style, though that was a more frequent occurrence when I was living in Taiwan. For example, “Do you want a drink or not?” is a normal question in Chinese, but sounds quite abrupt and even rude in English.
Do you find that the languages you’re learning affect the way you speak and/or write your native language?
