Do You Speak a Second Language?

Are You Bilingual?

October 15, 2010

Speaking two languages rewires the brain for the better, but only if you speak them fluently. How so? Say you grow up in a bilingual home and constantly switch back and forth, never knowing which language you'll use next. This primes the brain for higher thinking, allowing you to focus on a goal, take actions to achieve it, and ignore distracting information in the process. Over all, it makes you most likely to succeed.

While I have eight years of Spanish on my transcript and am not afraid to make a fool of myself with my best attempt at French, I'd never say I can say speak another language. Would you?

Source: Flickr User sardinista

38 Comments

catita85 2 years 26 weeks

My native language is Spanish and I speak, read and write in English- i´m bilingual. I learnt it a very young age throught my 12 years of school.

KadBunny 2 years 30 weeks

Yes. :) English is my second language. Tagalog is my native tongue.

2 years 30 weeks

Farsi/Persian and English!

foxie 2 years 31 weeks

Arabic & English.

Burkina 2 years 31 weeks

5 languages here.

cheer4veggies 2 years 31 weeks

Yes, im fluent in American sign language and know a little bit of french.

amber512 2 years 31 weeks

Unfortunately, no. I keep trying though!

French Kiss 2 years 31 weeks

I'm good in english, but unfortunately it's not enough to say i'm biligual =( However i try my best to improve my knowledge. My mother tongue is French, and i also learned a bit of spanish (5 years, enough to understand someone that speaks slowly, and not to be too lost in a spanish speaking country)

cotedazur 2 years 31 weeks

I speak French and English fluently, but I didn't grow up in a bilingual home - I learned French as an adult. I really wish that I'd had the opportunity to learn more languages, or to start at a younger age. The language education at my schools was really sub-par.

RoaringSilence 2 years 31 weeks

I'm fluent in German and English. I lived in Germany until I was 23, now I live in the states. My American born husband always jokes that I speak/write better English than he does. I have also studied French and Latin for 7 years, as well as some Spanish and Italian.

2 years 31 weeks

I speak French and English. I'm french Canadian from Quebec's province. Welcome to Quebec.

Katie Sweeney 2 years 31 weeks

Si! Despues de vivir en España, hablo castellaño.

gd101 2 years 31 weeks

I can speak/read/write in English and Spanish. I would love to learn other languages! Especially French!

starbucks 2 years 31 weeks

I speak German and English and I really wish I knew anything about French after taking it for 5 years, but I can barely ask for the time... :(

Phorrest99 2 years 31 weeks

I speak English & Spanish. I'm currently learning Italian :)

kurniakasih 2 years 31 weeks

My native language is Indonesian. English is my 2nd language, I minored in Japanese (and I do have family in Japan) and I speak ASL too. I love learning language :) I've tried teaching my kid Indonesian but he's super slow at it but he's doing pretty good at ASL though. The language I want to learn next are Chinese and Spanish.

totygoliguez 2 years 31 weeks

I'm fluent in Spanish and English. My first language is Spanish. I really want to learn another language, and I'm definitely going to try to do so once I graduate college. I agree. It's ridiculous to deprive children of the opportunity to learn another language. It gives you so many advantages in life, and with globalization, these laws can only harm the US. Whether these politicians like it or not, the US is highly diverse and if they want their children to be competitive in the future, they most speak more than one language.

tlsgirl 2 years 31 weeks

I read and write Spanish pretty well, and am currently working on being able to speak better. I used to be fluent, so I'm working on getting it back.

beautiful disaster 2 years 31 weeks

*and not forwards sorry

beautiful disaster 2 years 31 weeks

i speak german, spanish and english completely and can have a decent enough conversation in portuguese. i find it TERRIBLE that there are people campaigning against other languages being taught in schools in the US. it is apparently "unamerican".. have they all forgotten how "americans" got to america???? IMMIGRATION!!!!! the united states were built on a base of so many different languages, its such a shame to lose. it makes me sad. i keep hearing things that prove that the US is evolving backwards and forwards.

2 years 31 weeks

I can speak both English and Irish fluenty. I learned French for five years and had quite good conversational skills but I feel it has declined in the past year since I finished school and no longer do French.

2 years 31 weeks

I'm fluent in English and German and I speak French and Spanish good enough to get by but I really want to be fluent in those as well :-)

amofoz 2 years 31 weeks

Same as #3!

PiNkY PiNk 2 years 31 weeks

I write, read, and speak spanish, but I have an english speaker's accent sometimes. It's funny because it only comes out when I'm speaking to someone who only understands spanish. I had a 3 hour conversation with my grandma when I was 15, after which my tongue was tired. I think it's because my parents speak both as well and it was aways easier for my siblings and I to speak to them in english.

bengalspice 2 years 31 weeks

My first language is Bengali, and then I learned English. I understand a little bit of Spanish, Tagalog, Hebrew, and Hindi.

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38 Comments

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