code-switching.

or whatever exact term it's supposed to be according to the linguistics theory (i once took a module in developmental psychology about the psychology of language but it is all almost forgotten)

When i was in jogja, on a daily basis i was amazed by how effortlessly and flawlessly the locals could code-switch from Javanese to Indonesian, and also constantly puzzled by the content of their conversation, since i have only a basic knowledge of Indonesian and hardly any of Javanese.

I always wondered how and when to determine what phrases to speak in Javanese, and which to speak/use in Indonesian-

but these i suppose, would come naturally with practice

(which i very much lack, sadly)

Then again, i suppose it's nothing much to be amazed about-

Studying the bilinguals in Singapore-

Myself as an example,

i'm highly aware of how i can suddenly switch from speaking in English to mandarin in mid-sentence, or use particular Mandarin words though my conversation is largely in English (over vice versa).

language is such a spectacular thing.

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When English-Chinese bilingual thinks of the concept 'happiness', and when in a social situation in which speaking chinese is required, perhaps he/she would then access the root word 快乐, which is tied to the english equivalent 'happy', and select it and use it in the conversation.

For the concept of happiness, perhaps one would have the following linguistic connections (assuming one knows english, chinese, indonesian and japanese):

'happy-快乐-senang-嬉しい'

However, the equivalents in the multiple languages are not usually accessed simultaneously. I remember reading in the psychology of language that,

for bilinguals/learners of multiple languages, it is not an uncommon thing that they think of some words/concepts in specific languages, and when they are required to/wish to speak in another language they translate that equivalent or access the root word in another language linked to the first thought of language.

Usually the first language that you 'think in' or 'think of' is the first language you've ever learnt/been taught, or the language you are most proficient in, but there are exceptions.

For myself,

if i am tired, i would think, 「疲れた」(Japanese)

if someone says something really annoying/meaningless, i would say 'borliao' (hokkien dialect, singlish) or ‘无聊’ (Chinese)

if i talk to some of my friends, i like to call them 'kawan' (Malay/Indonesian)

if i exclaim something, i either say 'aiyo' or 'wah lau' (singlish)

if i am feeling sleepy and yawn, i would think, 'ngantuk' (Indonesian/Malay)

if someone needs encouragement, i would say, ‘加油！’ (Chinese)

if someone asks something and i am in disbelief, now i would say 'Sunggu?' (Indonesian)

(previously i would have said 'really?' or 本と？)

when i reach home, i would say, 「ただいま！」(Japanese)

i am neither extremely proficient in Japanese nor Malay nor Indonesian,

so perhaps, i guess thinking/speaking like this,

makes me a little strange?

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泣いてた。

何か不思議な感じ。。。

私も欲しかった、誰と一緒に、不思議の恋をすること。

そのと時、私はそう思った。

i still remember the first time i watched this movie-

and the music playing in the background during the scene when Mio was reunited with Takumi, the field full of endless sunflowers, her in simple white dress, her determined eyes-

(and how embarrassingly tears had welled up in my eyes as i watched it)

i don't really believe that love can last a lifetime-

but sometimes i would like to believe so?

some movies bring tears to your eyes every time.