Bilinguals

[A.K.L.]

Dear bilinguals, please, tell us your stories!
How have you become a bilingual? What language is your native? What language is your favourite and why? What language do you speak in your dreams? Do you speak both languages with equal fluency? Is it easy to be a bilingual? What do you think about being a bilingual?  ...

[asil]

Dear bilinguals, please, tell us your stories!
How have you become a bilingual? What language is your native? What language is your favourite and why? What language do you speak in your dreams? Do you speak both languages with equal fluency? Is it easy to be a bilingual? What do you think about being a bilingual?  ...

Спрашиваем-отвечаем
 
So far to the best of my knowledge no-one's been able to define the idea of bilingualism. I guess what people in the USA, Canada, Australia and other countries which are built on immigration consider bilingualism might be different to the ideas of the 'old Europe' (England is an exception) and Russia.

What I consider the most essential characteristic of bilingualism is the ease with which a person can switch from one language to another without interfering with the meaning or flow of ideas.

BTW, you don't have a favourite language, you just use different languages in different situations and contexts without making conscientious decision and even without realising it.

A lot of people also refer to code switching as one of the most relevant indicators of bilingualism but I don't feel this is appropriate as most migrants do this quite regularly but are far from being bilingual (take my mum for example )

[A.K.L.]

Thank you for your answer.   

Is it possible to say what is your first (native) language?

 

[asil]

Is it possible to say what is your first (native) language?

Russian of course!

[dyadya zu]

It is very interesting for me as for a philologist and a man. As a philologist I try to understand "the meaning of meanings", the psychology of understanding. As a man I have another reason to be interested in this problem. I'm not a bilingual; my English is very far from perfect. But my son is a real bilingual. He has been living in the USA for many years since nine years old. Now he speaks Russian as well as English. It is very interesting and a little bit strange to communicate with him. Discussing one group of topics he prefers English, discussing another - Russian. He knows Russian and English "names" for different subjects and animals, but some of them are imagined to him "in Russian", others - "in English". May be it is impossible to imagine the hole world in two languages. Our language is closely linked with our memory and our life.

[A.K.L.]

Asil  how old were you when you began studying English?

[asil]

Asil  how old were you when you began studying English?

Let me put it this way: I was lucky to understand pretty early into my studies of English that if I wanted to be able to make heads and tails of it so to speak, I needed to take initiative and not to rely on the standard Soviet approach to learning a language. And all this happened thanks to a book that I read when I was in Year 8.

However, I was able to really evaluate my skills when I had the first more or less permanent contact with native speakers, and this happened when I was already teaching English. Before that it was like feeling your way in the dark.

[A.K.L.]

like feeling your way in the dark.

I think it is a common feeling for those who don't have an opportunity to communicate closely with native speakers...

Have you ever forgotten Russian words? Do you sometimes feel like it’s easier for you to express your thoughts in English?

[asil]

It depends.
We speak Russian at home, of course. Well, mostly . But when we speak about school or work it's a funny mixture of whatever comes to your mind first. The language in which you function is dominating, though. This means that when you talk about personal relationships at work, you usually speak Russian but when you talk about actual work and projects you're involved in you speak English.

On the other hand, there's a huge group of Russian words that sort of drifted away from my active vocabulary and became passive, for different reasons.

Then, there are words that I just don't know in Russian. These are banking words (I left Russia when 'sberkassa' was all we knew about banking), computer jargon, car related words (we didn't have a car in Russia) and many other things that I learnt in English.

However, there are words that I know in English but never use. These are the words mostly related to everyday family life. Even my kids say 'chainik' and not 'the kettle', 'skoworodka' and not 'the frying pan', etc

[gvenet]

Hello everybody!

[trurl]

Hello, all bilinguals! I hope, my message will not removed as previous at this topic.

[A.K.L.]

Hello everybody!

Hello! Welcome! Are you a bilingual? Please tell us about your experience!

[A.K.L.]

Hello, all bilinguals! I hope, my message will not removed as previous at this topic.

Dear trurl! Your massage was not removed, it was just replaced. You can read it here: http://forum.study.ru/index.php?topic=15981.0

Please post your messages in appropriate topics. This topic is devoted to questions which are connected with bilinguals. Feel free posting any messages connected with bilinguals here.

[A.K.L.]

It depends.

It's extremely interesting!  Thank you VERY much! 

And what about the language of your thoughts and dreams? 

[asil]

It depends.

It's extremely interesting!  Thank you VERY much! 

And what about the language of your thoughts and dreams? 

I don't think we dream in a language. I'm pretty sure we dream in images. But anyway, the pattern is the same.

[A.K.L.]

OK... In what language do you talk in your sleep?

[asil]

OK... In what language do you talk in your sleep?

My husband says that if I do (which doesn't happen often), then it's in English. It's the same thing again: all depends on your 'functional' language.

[A.K.L.]

I think you are right. My husband says that sometimes I speak English in my sleep. It happens when I have to "use" English all day long.

How do you feel poetry?
Do you need rhymes?

[Milika]

A.K.L., is it connected with what language does someone speak in?
Asil, do you like rhymes? It's just interesting...

[asil]

Asil, do you like rhymes? It's just interesting...

Do you mean poetry or rhymes?