Are you bilingual? Help me out!
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I can't answer your questions (as I don't consider myself bilingual), but if you want any advice, I'm studying bilingualism for my PhD right now, so feel free to ask me anything. 
Original post by Moonlight rain
Lmao me too
Absolutely no problem!! Really appreciate the responses xx
Original post by Chopinnocturne31
Oop I just realised my answers were using the 1 to 5 scale the wrong way round 😬 I’ll edit it. Sorry if it messed up any results or anything 😬 @cb40
Original post by tinygirl96
There are benefits to speaking two foreign languages. Research has documented the effects. The benefits vary but include the impressive ability of surviving alone in a foreign country as well. To quote a commonly used example. If you spoke in fluent French for example you could teach your child to wholly master the language from birth practically.
Yes this is what I've found so far. Lots of studies go into how bilingual children have a cognitive advantage in completing some tasks, but really wanted to get some primary research as I think your experiences are invaluable!!
1. 1
2. 1
3. 2
4. 1
5. 5
6. N/A
7. English, Cantonese
2. 1
3. 2
4. 1
5. 5
6. N/A
7. English, Cantonese
Original post by PhoenixFortune
I can't answer your questions (as I don't consider myself bilingual), but if you want any advice, I'm studying bilingualism for my PhD right now, so feel free to ask me anything.
That's amazing, did you do a BA in Linguistics by any chance? And if you could point me towards any recent research or anything you find interesting that I'd be able to get access to that would be great! Really appreciate it
Original post by cb40
Hiya, I'm doing my EPQ on the effects of bringing a child up to be bilingual. If you were brought up speaking two or more languages, it would be really helpful if you could answer my survey. All names will be anonymised!
Please rate your answers, 1 is strongly agree, 5 is strongly disagree
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
1 2 3 4 5
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1 2 3 4 5
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Thank you so much! I'm happy to answer any questions <3
Please rate your answers, 1 is strongly agree, 5 is strongly disagree
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
1 2 3 4 5
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1 2 3 4 5
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Thank you so much! I'm happy to answer any questions <3
1.5 - definitely not aha it didn’t make a difference tbh, what made it difficult is that my parents don’t understand english and don’t have a clue how the UK education system works + aren’t able to offer support
2.3 - i think i had a greater understanding of concept of masculine/feminine verbs when learning french at school while everyone in my class were confused by it
3.5 - not at all, polish is a pretty useless language - maybe if i knew French or German
4.1 - Yes! i get to communicate with my whole family and it’s also a cool conversation starter when meeting people
5.5
6. -
7. I also speak Polish
Original post by cb40
That's amazing, did you do a BA in Linguistics by any chance? And if you could point me towards any recent research or anything you find interesting that I'd be able to get access to that would be great! Really appreciate it
I actually did my undergrad in Speech and Language Therapy, but it did have a large Linguistics component.
There are some great talks via Abralin ao Vivo, as well as any books by François Grosjean, Ellen Bialystok, or Colin Baker. I've tried to pick authors which aren't too heavy-going for beginners to the subject.
I'm not bilingual but my parent can speak multiple languages and has a degree in linguistics. Through this i know there was a study done similar to this topic. A linguist had children and she spoke one language to her child whilst the father spoke another (i.e to see if they would pick up fluency in both languages). Apparently the outcome was that the children could speak both languages but in each language had dimished vocabulary (i.e had the same variation of vocabulary of a monolingual person but split between the two languages). I have no idea if this outcome is true or not and if it is it was a study done a long time ago so do your own research as theories may have changed and updated.
There are a lot of threads on tsr about this (we had a prolific troll who used to troll about 'what language do bilinguals think in' but a lot of genuine people responded giving honest experiences) so have a quick search around and im sure you will come across some stuff
There are a lot of threads on tsr about this (we had a prolific troll who used to troll about 'what language do bilinguals think in' but a lot of genuine people responded giving honest experiences) so have a quick search around and im sure you will come across some stuff
Original post by CoolCavy
I'm not bilingual but my parent can speak multiple languages and has a degree in linguistics. Through this i know there was a study done similar to this topic. A linguist had children and she spoke one language to her child whilst the father spoke another (i.e to see if they would pick up fluency in both languages). Apparently the outcome was that the children could speak both languages but in each language had dimished vocabulary (i.e had the same variation of vocabulary of a monolingual person but split between the two languages). I have no idea if this outcome is true or not and if it is it was a study done a long time ago so do your own research as theories may have changed and updated.
I can attest that the cumulative vocabulary outcome is true.
The one parent-one language advice that professionals tend to give out is a bit outdated now though, as it oversimplifies the language acquisition process.Original post by cb40
Hiya, I'm doing my EPQ on the effects of bringing a child up to be bilingual. If you were brought up speaking two or more languages, it would be really helpful if you could answer my survey. All names will be anonymised!
Please rate your answers, 1 is strongly agree, 5 is strongly disagree
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
1 2 3 4 5
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1 2 3 4 5
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Thank you so much! I'm happy to answer any questions <3
Please rate your answers, 1 is strongly agree, 5 is strongly disagree
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
1 2 3 4 5
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1 2 3 4 5
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Thank you so much! I'm happy to answer any questions <3
Hey, I'm also doing my EPQ on this topic! Finding it very interesting but struggling to get started on the main body of my discussion. How are you finding it?
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
3
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
2
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
2
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
I struggled at primary and high school because my home languages only had one word for eat/drink (consume), so in school I would say 'I want to eat milk' (I think I fixed this by primary 3 or 4). Similarly, during high school while taking languages like Spanish and French at GCSE/A level etc (in Scotland), my translations were awkward or clunky because there were a lot of English idioms that people would have picked up at home that I didn't know. Really simple ones like 'the pot calling the kettle black', or 'that takes the biscuit'. I remember during a translation I thought it was 'that takes the basket'...
Growing up, I've also always struggled with the sensation of the word being at the tip of my tongue, but being unable to recall it. This is quite common in bilinguals/multilinguals. During university, I was studying 3 foreign languages. I remember feeling that my home languages and English were getting worse since I wasn't using them much. However, as I've grown older and become much more disciplined and adept at my languages and learning methods, I've found that my home languages + English have skyrocketed and that I've become able to consistently maintain that at a high level, all the while continuously improving upon my foreign languages which are already at an advanced level.
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
I grew up multilingual. 3 languages at home + English outside of home. I then studied 3 languages at university. I guess that takes me to 7 languages.
3
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
2
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
2
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
I struggled at primary and high school because my home languages only had one word for eat/drink (consume), so in school I would say 'I want to eat milk' (I think I fixed this by primary 3 or 4). Similarly, during high school while taking languages like Spanish and French at GCSE/A level etc (in Scotland), my translations were awkward or clunky because there were a lot of English idioms that people would have picked up at home that I didn't know. Really simple ones like 'the pot calling the kettle black', or 'that takes the biscuit'. I remember during a translation I thought it was 'that takes the basket'...
Growing up, I've also always struggled with the sensation of the word being at the tip of my tongue, but being unable to recall it. This is quite common in bilinguals/multilinguals. During university, I was studying 3 foreign languages. I remember feeling that my home languages and English were getting worse since I wasn't using them much. However, as I've grown older and become much more disciplined and adept at my languages and learning methods, I've found that my home languages + English have skyrocketed and that I've become able to consistently maintain that at a high level, all the while continuously improving upon my foreign languages which are already at an advanced level.
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
I grew up multilingual. 3 languages at home + English outside of home. I then studied 3 languages at university. I guess that takes me to 7 languages.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by cb40
Hiya, I'm doing my EPQ on the effects of bringing a child up to be bilingual. If you were brought up speaking two or more languages, it would be really helpful if you could answer my survey. All names will be anonymised!
Please rate your answers, 1 is strongly agree, 5 is strongly disagree
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
1 2 3 4 5
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1 2 3 4 5
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Thank you so much! I'm happy to answer any questions <3
Please rate your answers, 1 is strongly agree, 5 is strongly disagree
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
1 2 3 4 5
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1 2 3 4 5
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Thank you so much! I'm happy to answer any questions <3
1. 3
2. 4
3. 4
4. 1
5. 5
6. Good luck hope this helps
7. English, French, Spanish, Arabic
Original post by izziebhayes
Hey, I'm also doing my EPQ on this topic! Finding it very interesting but struggling to get started on the main body of my discussion. How are you finding it?
Yes me too!! I think it's a matter of refining the separate titles for each section? Althought I'm yet to do that lol. Are you off to uni doing something Linguistics related?
Original post by cb40
Hiya, I'm doing my EPQ on the effects of bringing a child up to be bilingual. If you were brought up speaking two or more languages, it would be really helpful if you could answer my survey. All names will be anonymised!
Please rate your answers, 1 is strongly agree, 5 is strongly disagree
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
1 2 3 4 5
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1 2 3 4 5
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Thank you so much! I'm happy to answer any questions <3
Please rate your answers, 1 is strongly agree, 5 is strongly disagree
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
1 2 3 4 5
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
1 2 3 4 5
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
1 2 3 4 5
6) Any comments you would like to add?
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Thank you so much! I'm happy to answer any questions <3
2
1
1
1
5
English and Mandarin Chinese.
1) I believe that being brought up bilingual has helped me in school.
4
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
2
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
2
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
4
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Cantonese, English, Mandarin
4
2) I believe that I have an increased ability to learn because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
5
3) I think that I have been given an advantage to succeed in life because of my linguistic knowledge.
2
4) I am happy that I was brought up with this ability.
2
5) I feel disadvantaged because of my ability to speak multiple languages.
4
7) If you are comfortable disclosing, what languages can you speak?
Cantonese, English, Mandarin
1: 4, 2: 4, 3: 2, 4: 1, 5: 5, 6: -, 7: Hindi & English
1) 1
2) 1 (especially in other languages, science to a certain extent)
3) 1 (increased opportunities to study in more than one country)
4) 1
5) 5 (why would it be a disadvantage haha)
7) I was brought up speaking English and Greek, I can read and speak both fluently although I don't write much in Greek so my spelling isn't as good as my English spelling, but I'm trying to improve it. I think the fact I spoke two languages helped me in my language learning abilities and my understanding of grammer, e.g it was easy to wrap my head around the different definite articles/genders in German and how adjective endings change depending on the gender because it's the same in Greek. My Greek also helped a lot in science etymology as the names of things often derive from Greek, e.g "polysaccharide" literally means "lots of sugar" so it meant I wasn't easily confused by any of the terms. I have quite a solid base of German knowledge as I took it for GCSE and achieved a 9, and I'm currently trying to learn Welsh as am planning on studying in Cardiff.
2) 1 (especially in other languages, science to a certain extent)
3) 1 (increased opportunities to study in more than one country)
4) 1
5) 5 (why would it be a disadvantage haha)
7) I was brought up speaking English and Greek, I can read and speak both fluently although I don't write much in Greek so my spelling isn't as good as my English spelling, but I'm trying to improve it. I think the fact I spoke two languages helped me in my language learning abilities and my understanding of grammer, e.g it was easy to wrap my head around the different definite articles/genders in German and how adjective endings change depending on the gender because it's the same in Greek. My Greek also helped a lot in science etymology as the names of things often derive from Greek, e.g "polysaccharide" literally means "lots of sugar" so it meant I wasn't easily confused by any of the terms. I have quite a solid base of German knowledge as I took it for GCSE and achieved a 9, and I'm currently trying to learn Welsh as am planning on studying in Cardiff.
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