Grandpa shouts, "Dinner's ready"
in Danish. My mother asks me in
English to lay the table. As I do
So, I catch the theme tune of the Brazilian
soap opera on TV in the living room, where
my sister is relaxing. She speaks perfect
Portuguese. My father asks her to record
the program in his native Spanish, and
we take our places at the table. And what's
on the menu? Italian meatballs.
We know we aren't a normal family. At
Any moment, you might hear conversations
in four different languages, and almost
everyone understands almost everything.
But what is normal these days? My mother
is half-Danish, half-English, and my father,
who is from Bolivia, speaks Spanish and
Guarani. Because of my mother's work
(she's now retired), we lived in Brazil, Italy
and Germany, so we picked up three more
languages. Now as adults, my sister and I
Both speak six languages. Being bilingual, or in our case multilingual, has
so many advantages. All the recent research suggests
we benefit in many ways: social, cultural, economic,
academic, and intellectual. The research has also destroyed
some of those persistent myths.
One of the myths is that bilingualism is uncommon,
as if we bilinguals are like rare, exotic birds. The truth is
that around fifty percent of the world's inhabitants are
bilingual. The continents with the most linguistic diversity
are Asia and Africa. In Nigeria alone, 500 languages are
spoken, in India 400.
Some people believe that you have to learn both
languages as a child to be truly bilingual. My sister and I
are fortunate in this respect, but we know countless people
who have mastered a second language as adults. They
may not have such perfect pronunciation as those who
acquire their second language as children, but they are still
completely fluent and accurate.
Another myth about bilinguals concerns identity. Some
people think we have split personalities. As kids, my sister
and I were often asked "But where are you really from?
Don't you get confused?" Not at all. I am me, the product
of many cultures. I can switch languages easily, according
to where I am and who I'm with, and this seems completely
natural to me.
As for the benefits, bilinguals do better on certain
tests, are better protected against mental illnesses such
as Alzheimer's, gain insights into other cultures, have
access to more of the world's information, and are in some
contexts more employable. Being bilingual has made me
who I am, and for that I'm grateful.