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Bilingualism is it good? Or is it bad?


KWB

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I consider being bilingual is a good thing, especially in today's society. Of course knowing more than two languages will bring much further in life if you will be using the languages on a normal day basis. If you do not use the language for too long, you will lose the knowledge of it.

As for me, I speak 3 languages fluently and I am lerning a fourth one at the moment.

Also.. in a very TOK world, the way you say one thing in one language can never be undersoot the dame way in another lanuage. This happens to me quite often that I cannot say things in one language the way I mean it in another language. It all goes down to the culture.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am Mexican and naturally speak Spanish as a first language. I started learning English when I was still wearing diapers. By now, I have an equal grasp of English and Spanish (also because I attend a British school and my best friend is Irish so I spend a large portion of the day speaking in English) and this has really opened many doors for me (I debate in English at an International Level and have entered screenplays in British and American competitions). I am able to think in either language (and sometimes dream in English!) and actually prefer reading in English (probably due to my British education).

However, this comes with a handicap. Like pretty much every kid in my grade, we sometimes use English words when we speak Spanish, making us fluent in "Spanglish". Our Spanish A2 teacher is constantly criticizing this to the extent that "Speaks only in Spanish" is one of the criteria he used in our end-of-year reports. Considering that Spanish is most of the class members' mother tongue, this is slightly worrying.

I also speak fluent French and have recently started studying Latin.

I think the benefits outweigh the cost. Maybe we don't speak the Spanish we would if we attended a Mexican school, but being able to communicate almost flawlessly in two different languages is definitely worth it.

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consider being bilingual is a good thing, especially in today's society. Of course knowing more than two languages will bring much further in life if you will be using the languages on a normal day basis. If you do not use the language for too long, you will lose the knowledge of it.

As for me, I speak 3 languages fluently and I am lerning a fourth one at the moment.

Also.. in a very TOK world, the way you say one thing in one language can never be undersoot the dame way in another lanuage. This happens to me quite often that I cannot say things in one language the way I mean it in another language. It all goes down to the culture.

That's awesome. What languages do you speak? And where do you live and where are you from?

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I don't think there can be many bad things about being multi-lingual, as it definitely helps a person feel like they're not just one more person in the crowd, they have something that separates them from everyone else there.

And, every once in a while, when you happen to find someone else who speaks your language, there's that wonderful sense of belonging.

I am Indian, and I speak English, Telugu, understand some Hindi and Tamil, and am learning French. I want to learn many more languages, as it really is a rewarding feeling when you hear someone saying something, and you understand them. You feel the need to go up and join the conversation, and many a time you'll find you can.

I hate to admit it, but sometimes I get English phrases in my head before than the Swedish ones. That's why it's good to study our native language as much as possible... I really envy all of them, there from all kind of exciting countries and I'm merely a plain boring Swede, just speaking Swedish and English comparativley fluently.

It really is quite irritating when sometimes, as a proud bilingual, you get an English phrase in your head before your own native language. I know when it happens to me, I feel like I'm betraying myself and my native land. ;)

You may think you're a plain boring old Swede where you are, but I know many many people (including myself) who would be impressed at your speaking abilities (sadly, there's not much cultural diversity where I live). :)

I am multilingual. I can speak Spanish, Catalan, Kashmiri, English, Urdu/Hindi and French.If your question is regarding the pros and cons of knowing more than one language, then I can tell you that knowing more than one language has tremendous positive effects. Not only does it enable you to learn more quickly other languages because you are more "open" to new rules and structures but I believe it has a positive effect in your cognition too. To a small extent, thought is influenced by language, and therefore, knowing more than one language helps you in understanding situations better as you usually have a more neutral approach to it because you don't think in only one language. It's a difficult concept to explain... ;) But sometimes being multilingual is a tad disadvantageous, because at times you can't find the word to express what you mean in the language you are talking in, in that particular moment, and feel like saying the same word in a different language but obviously you can't because the other person won't understand. It has sometimes happened to me that I've unintentionally "borrowed" a word from another language during a conversation, and puzzled out my interlocutor in the process.

I think being bi- or multilingual increases a person's eloquence in every language s/he speaks. I know the feeling well of wanting to express yourself in a language the person you're speaking with doesn't understand, and it drives me insane. Just today, I was trying to think of a synonym for the word "change", but my ability to come up with something usable was blocked by the fact that I could think of a perfect word, but there was a problem. The word was not in English, but my own native language. Had I put it down, I probably would have ended up with this from my teacher: :P =\

My love for my language goes far enough to make me extremely sad that there is no one around who speaks my language. It makes me want to move back to India, where I can speak in any language I wish.

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I feel extremely boring! I'm not actually bilingual, but I have been learning French for 6 months and Japanese for 6 years.

It was interesting the comments some people made about having thoughts/thinking/dreaming in a foreign language. I found that I only thought/dreamt in Japanese while I was in Japan and being surrounded by people speaking the language. Anyone else get that???

As for French, well.... haven't learnt enough of it to properly 'think' it without consciously translating from English...

Re pros/cons of multilingualism? I think that gaining a language contributes and adds to your cultural identity, rather than 'canceling out' one's mother tongue. I wouldn't know though, I'm not bilingual ;).

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I personally have to say also this whole, cultural experience that bilingual people get. You have two different sets of greetings and expressions - a totally different way to approach someone (if you have noticeable differences in the cultures). This type of shift makes you hypersensitive to these and different social shifts in life. You get to respect other cultures more, you learn what is important, you truly learn what it means to have conflicting views of cultures and you become approachable and yet cognizant of approaches.

I think one of the biggest perks is being able to speak a language no one around you cannot understand. I have trouble with shifting to Spanish, in the sense that I say whatever comes to my mind, but people around me understand it. I am used to saying things with those around me not being able to understand. Bargaining and manipulating situations with a language. Its truly wonderful. What a pacifying vacation it can be with family, if you have a feeling of privacy no matter where you go. I think this has some psychological developments as well. As in confidence + other things.

confidence - if you speak freely with family and comfortable role models in your life, then when you are forced in situations of same discussions but of different language, you might find that articulation is easy. All you have to do is translate those previous thoughts.

other things - this applies to bargaining and other types of activities. If you do them around family with a guard-down attitude and confidence, then the same situations in the other language come easier.

Language is also an immediate connection with friends, something very fundamental in common. It's a great way of meeting new friends !!

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I think one of the biggest perks is being able to speak a language no one around you cannot understand. I have trouble with shifting to Spanish, in the sense that I say whatever comes to my mind, but people around me understand it. I am used to saying things with those around me not being able to understand. Bargaining and manipulating situations with a language. Its truly wonderful. What a pacifying vacation it can be with family, if you have a feeling of privacy no matter where you go. I think this has some psychological developments as well. As in confidence + other things.

I agree with you completely. I think it's a privilege when some times when I am able to speak to my family or friends in a language that only they can understand and no one else can. It feels good, especially when I can understand conversations around me, but no one has the slightest clue as to what I'm on about.

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I think one of the biggest perks is being able to speak a language no one around you cannot understand. I have trouble with shifting to Spanish, in the sense that I say whatever comes to my mind, but people around me understand it. I am used to saying things with those around me not being able to understand. Bargaining and manipulating situations with a language. Its truly wonderful. What a pacifying vacation it can be with family, if you have a feeling of privacy no matter where you go. I think this has some psychological developments as well. As in confidence + other things.

I agree with you completely. I think it's a privilege when some times when I am able to speak to my family or friends in a language that only they can understand and no one else can. It feels good, especially when I can understand conversations around me, but no one has the slightest clue as to what I'm on about.

That is another thing! Yeah definitely! I have heard everything from dirty sex talk to doing illegal substances + more just by sitting and doing homework at Starbucks. And for sure, having a friend to talk to so openly and freely was wonderful when I went on university tours. The things we said..should not be repeated :) But a wonderful perk like you already know.

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  • 8 months later...

I live in Long Island, I'm Japanese. (I take IB spanish)

I enjoy being billingual (trilingual if you count spanish) because I can mess with my friends' (and teacher's) head by randomly talking in Japanese.

They think it's cool that I can speak a language that's not taught in school.

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I think it is helpful to be able to speak multiple languages, but I think the more languages you know, the worse you are at each language. For instance, my Spanish teacher grew up in both New York and Puerto Rico. Every 6 months she would switch from NY to PR, and thus she would switch from English to Spanish. This seems to have affected her ability to speak both, because she doesn't know a lot of words in English and is generally rather dim witted, and the same for Spanish. Much of the Spanish she teaches us is not correct, and we are left to pick through the information to find what is right and what is wrong.

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I know English and Japanese, and am learning Spanish.

In my expierence, when i started learning spanish i almost said japanese terms and words, and by half a year of taking spanish and not checking up on my japanese that often, I start to talk in spanish when i want to talk in japanese. I think bilingualism is good, it is just hard to maintain when you first learn the languages. You have to balance your learning into each language =)

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Bilingualism is good when you put forth effort in staying up-to-date in both or all your languages. I am an American who knows English, French, and is learning Mandarin. I suppose I have had the unique experience of learning French and some Mandarin at school as my parents are monolingual; however, I find myself teaching my baby sister a lot of French because I feel that there are phrases and feelings that just cannot be communicated in English. The same can be said for all languages though. There is not one language that successfully categorises the whole human existence so why not learn multiple then at least you will be able to categorise more of it.

The cultural problem was never a big issue with me even when I studied in France. I think it is all in how open you are. For me, I found it easier to consider myself a world traveler. Perhaps that is because I have grown up in a school environment, which is so diverse I could not put a nationality on it. My French teacher is French but married a Brit who grew up in Holland then moved them to Belarus for a year before taking a sabbatical to Greece for a year. She knows English, French, Dutch, Greek, Spanish, German, and Russian yet feels completely secure in her identity as French. Her daughter who was born in Holland considers herself British. Multiple nationalities or cultures can exist within one person so long as they are all embraced. Half of the young children at my school consider themselves French or Spanish without having ever visited France or Spain and being of American families simply because their teachers are from those locations. Nationalities and cultures seemed to be imposed by the world around us and can be overcome with work and open-mindedness.

Edited by LostinSearch
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Bilingualism is nothing special around here in HK, where most people can speak English and Chinese (although they're usually very bad at English, if it's local schools; and very bad at Chinese, if it's international). I have nothing against bilingualism, but I really don't like Chinese; so even though that was my original language (for... kindergarten?), since primary school it's definitely been English. I can still speak Chinese (Cantonese), but with English words mixed up, and strange grammatical structures (because it's more like think in English, translate to Chinese, speak; and not directly think in Chinese). Sadly, this lack of Chinese proficiency makes living in a Chinese-oriented city so difficult ;)

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In terms of psychological research and stuff, they've actually discovered some interesting things about learning languages.

If a child learns more than one language at a very young age, he or she will not have problems separating one from the other (even to babies, languages sound different!) and will be able to speak them both fluently later on. More interestingly, the bilingual baby actually hits the same 'markers' or milestones of progress in learning languages as a single-tongued child does, and at the exact same time, except it happens in both languages.

With this in mind I'd say multilingualism has no drawbacks. It's more than useful, in a word like ours where different cultures and languages interact every single day, I think knowing at least two - and hopefully more - languages fluently is an essential aspect of experiencing and understanding life.

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  • 2 weeks later...

About the bilingualism and language thing...

I speak Catalan and Spanish without any difficulties, but I still don't speak English very well. I live in Catalonia, and here the main language is Catalan. Since Catalonia is politically part of Spain, we have to learn Spanish too. Unfortunately, people are more concerned about learning Catalan and Spanish, so they don't really care about the English level we have.

And now that I'm finishing IB, I'll have to stay in Spain because I don't speak English good enough to study somewhere else. Actually, I never really thought about how important English was, but my parents didn't do so, probably because of this general concern about Catalan and Spanish.

If I have kids in the future, I think I'll offer them the chance to learn what I haven't learn...

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The problem is how you learn the language though... its best to learn it after learning English or your native language, and then learn the next one but you might forget the first one :P

This is statistically incorrect... as far as learning two languages at once, you progress at basically the same speed as if you were only learning one. Multilingual children have better scores in nonverbal intelligence, greater awareness of grammatical structures, etc. There is no disadvantage to learning multiple languages!

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