Bilingualism is part of my course as a Speech and Language Therapist, I will try my best to answer any inquiries you've got (but avoid asking very tough questions:))

What does it mean to say somebody is bilingual?
A bilingual person is someone who speaks two languages. A person who speaks more than two languages is called 'multilingual' (although the term 'bilingualism' can be used for both situations).

How do people become bilingual?
People may become bilingual either by acquiring two languages at the same time in childhood or by learning a second language sometime after acquiring their first language.


I'll put 3 statements at a time and see what you think about them, there is no a true or false answer to any of them, it's just that they've been through some studies and researches.
I'll mention what studies have revealed about this later..


"Bilinguals have to translate from their weaker to their stronger language."

"A child should learn one language properly first; then you can start teaching the other."

"Real bilinguals never mix their languages. Those who do are confused 'semi-linguals'."

Bilinguals have to translate from their weaker to their stronger language
yeap i do agree on that

"A child should learn one language properly first; then you can start teaching the other."
yes i do agree, tecahing a child two languages together will lead to language confusion... and the result of this is mixed language...

"Real bilinguals never mix their languages. Those who do are confused 'semi-linguals'."
well i don't agree since i am multilingual, and i always mix in languages...

another fact: but silent tune pls check it for me..

the dominant language is teh language u speak during ur dreams... and my dream language is arabic during holidays, and english during work( since i mainly use english, most fo my coleagues are foriegn)

Very interesting ST...
You said that you should teach a child one language first then move to the second one, but there are many bilingual schools and children start learning both arabic and english from KG, and they grow up speaking both very well...

As for having a dominant language, it would probably the one you use more often, the one you're more used to, and find it easier to express your ideas and feelings with.

When it comes to mixing two languages, don't you think that this is very common nowadays? You tend to bring different words from different languages, it's probably because you usually speak with what first comes to your mind, regardless of the language, What do you say?

Originally posted by Dr N
Very interesting ST...
You said that you should teach a child one language first then move to the second one

I guess you missunderstood my point in putting these statments.

I'm not saying they're true, these were statments that were open for debate amongst language proffessionals, and most of them were proved wrong actually. Thus, you were right in your point there :)

So regarding this point let me tell you what studies have shown:

"A child should learn one language properly first; then you can start teaching the other."
As in the myth above, this is an old belief based on flawed research. Children who learn two languages in a loving, supportive environment learn them both well. Children who learn two languages in a stressful environment may have language development problems - but so will children learning only one langauge in that same sort of environment.

Originally posted by FaHaD
Bilinguals have to translate from their weaker to their stronger language
yeap i do agree on that

I personally thought what FaHad had mentioned was the case for most bilinguals, but theory-wise and according to studies it'd been proven wrong :confused:

"Bilinguals have to translate from their weaker to their stronger language."
The overwhelming majority of bilinguals can think in either of their two languages. They do not, as some monolinguals assume, think in one language only and immediately translate into the other language when necessary.

Originally posted by FaHaD
"Real bilinguals never mix their languages. Those who do are confused 'semi-linguals'."
well i don't agree since i am multilingual, and i always mix in languages...

[Originally posted by Dr NWhen it comes to mixing two languages, don't you think that this is very common nowadays? You tend to bring different words from different languages, it's probably because you usually speak with what first comes to your mind, regardless of the language, What do you say?

This is indeed a very interesting/confusing issue.
So yes Dr N & FaHaD, you are both right, we do tend to mix between languages intentionally (for effect) or unintentionally (slip of the tongue). This is absolutely normal and nothing to worry about.

According to studies:

"Real bilinguals never mix their languages. Those who do are confused 'semi-linguals'."

Bilinguals sometimes "mix" their languages, leading monolinguals to wonder if they are really able to tell them apart.
Usually, the problem is not genuine confusion - that is, inability to tell the languages apart.
Far more common problems are interference,
when words or grammar from the one language "leak" into the other language without the speaker being aware of it- corresponding to a slip of the tongue.

"code-switching", when the speaker more or less intentionally switches languages for effect - equivelant to mixing jargon or slang in with standard speech.

Many, if not most, bilingual children will use both languages at once during the early stages of their language development. Semi-lingualism is a far more serious, and relatively rare, situation that occurs when a child in a stressful environment is trying to learn two or more languages with very little input in any of them.

Originally posted by FaHaD
another fact: but silent tune pls check it for me..

the dominant language is teh language u speak during ur dreams... and my dream language is arabic during holidays, and english during work( since i mainly use english, most fo my coleagues are foriegn)

I'd probably agree with you in this, it makes sense really.
I mean my dominant language in everyday life would be arabic, however when it comes to discussions about the course with my arabic-speaking colleagues we all tend to code switch into english.
But in both cases our mother tongue is the language we 'if u like' dream in (or in my words, the language you speak within the boundries of your mind).

woow , excellent talk silent tune, indeed.

well organised easy to follow..

thanx about ur effort and i like the information about code-switching since one of my colleagues uses that frequently and he gives excellent talk.

but i am still wondering how language are being studied.. i mean for example, the theory of people translate from weaker to stronger language... this has been disproven.. but how studies are done to disprove themm are thye based on questionnaire studies....

if yes, i think silent tune it will vbe a great opportunity to do such a reasearch on omani populations.. and present the paper to squ college of education.,. they will be intretsed ...and u may get a chanced to be employed there..:gap:

lolz fahad! You should be appointed as a career counsler!

Back to the topic, ST, I really liked the way you explained it, and it does make much more sense now that you've told us which once were proven to be correct and those that were denied. When you talked about code switching, can we say that those people who tend to speak with themselves in a different language just to show off in front of others is part of it?

You said that semi lungualism is a very rare problem, so does a child for example who can't tell two languages from eachother and would mix up with the words and grammer be considered as such? Because this is what I understood from what you've mentioned.

Intresting topic ST ..
one statment I usually hear and I would like to know it from you scince you studied linguistics .. is it true that you could teach a child anynumber of languages before he is five years old and it will stay with him for ever?

Originally posted by Arabian Princess
Intresting topic ST ..
one statment I usually hear and I would like to know it from you scince you studied linguistics .. is it true that you could teach a child anynumber of languages before he is five years old and it will stay with him for ever?

..and an equally interesting question you've got here Arby, talking about an X age is a circle that goes round and round even between language profs, but definetly you can't specify a certain age (5 as u said) since the language input and the ability to comprehend language differs between a child and another.

I've written a whole essay answering a question similar to yours, I'll try and type some relevant points from it some time later.

Briefly:

Language learning is easier the younger you are when you start, and there are biological reasons why very few adults can learn to speak a new language with a native accent.
However, people can learn valuable language skills at any age. Establishing a bilingual home when your first child is born, if not before, is the easiest for all, but it can be done later if you for some reason must do so.

Originally posted by Dr N
You said that semi lungualism is a very rare problem, so does a child for example who can't tell two languages from eachother and would mix up with the words and grammer be considered as such? Because this is what I understood from what you've mentioned.

I'll have to double check about this and come back to you later :)

Originally posted by FaHaD
woow , excellent talk silent tune, indeed.

well organised easy to follow..

thanx about ur effort and i like the information about code-switching since one of my colleagues uses that frequently and he gives excellent talk.

but i am still wondering how language are being studied.. i mean for example, the theory of people translate from weaker to stronger language... this has been disproven.. but how studies are done to disprove themm are thye based on questionnaire studies....

if yes, i think silent tune it will vbe a great opportunity to do such a reasearch on omani populations.. and present the paper to squ college of education.,. they will be intretsed ...and u may get a chanced to be employed there..:gap:

Thanks Dr FaHaD :)

I think I got what they mean by us not translating from our weaker to our stronger language. Now when you read this for example, do you immediately translate it to arabic to comprehend what i've said? or do you automatically understand it?

Great idea, so I can end up being a researcher in SQU? CooL :cool:..
I'm sure we'll have to do so many researches, studies, questionnaires....etc since it's a very new major, not mention having to translate all assessment procedures from English --> Arabic :weep:

well sister, i directly take it as english form..
and it actually depends on how far u understand a particular language..i mean teh grade.
as an example:

1- i know arabic much much better than sawahili. since i understand little in sawahili... whenever i want to speak sawahili i will us earabic first and translate it to the sawahili.. so this is a stronger to weaker language transition.

2- i am equal in arabic and english.. thus i don't need to translate one to another.

but onething came to my mind is how valid are the researches if they are based under quishionnaire format.. the results of a study can varry from one place to another depending on educational level, socioeconomical status, regional, cultural......
for example india has aropund 150 languages, and some of them use more than 10 languages...

Ok ST I'll wait for your reply!:)

Very interesting topic Silent..

Can you elaborate more in this part:
I'm sure we'll have to do so many researches, studies, questionnaires....etc since it's a very new major, not mention having to translate all assessment procedures from English --> Arabic

What part of it would you have to translate! The phonetic symbols or ?

Originally posted by najah
What part of it would you have to translate! The phonetic symbols or ?

Well najah, I don't think the phonetic symbols would be of any difficulty or in need of translation since the IPA(International Phonetic Alphabet) chart consists of all sounds including arabic sounds (e.g. q resembles Þ and G resembles Û...etc)

What I meant by assessment procedures, are the standardized assessments as in the procedures they use to test the expressive/receptive language of a child (his comprehension, cognitive abilities...etc), whether the child's performance is of an age apropriate level or not!

I hope I am not getting you confused with too many speech therapy terms.

Please let me know if I should go back and explain this in simpler terms :)

FaHaD and Dr N, excuse my late replies, I'm quite busy at the moment but I'll soon be back..

O0o0oh got you.....
No you didnt conmfuse me..its familiar :)
Thanx alot.

floret, I'm sure you've got some valuable comments to be situated in this thread :kewl: