OED
It was a combination of Irish (Gaelic) and Dutch. I was borne in the "deep
south" of Ireland at a time the Irish government and much of the local
population was trying to revive the "native" language. My Irish nanny was
married to a Hollander, so when she wasn't using the local lingo she was
gargling away in Dutch. I now recall perhaps 10 words of Irish, but am
moderately comfortable with Dutch. When my father's business interests took
us to Africa, my "native" language became a mix of English, Xhosa and Shona,
though my parents often used French between themselves for privacy. Next came
a fairly intensive period of German (Jesuit tutor). College was mostly
English; for the past 21 years I have lived in Hong Kong where I married a
Cantonese Chinese and "home" language became a mix of Cantonese and English,
with the kids using Mandarin Chinese to cut father out of the conversation. I
moved the family to Canada in March this year, so I suspect the kids at least
will be adding the local variant on French to the dinner table.
Yes, I am comfortable with English. I once made a fairly comforable living
for some years writing magazine articles in English, which is the language I
mostly think in; it is certainly, because of its richness/depth, my favorite.
Sorry, this has become a somewhat long answer to a simple question. Hope it
makes some sense.
Regds Ric