Can being bilingual help you in the future?
Yes! You could do more jobs and some people in the same company speak different languages. My aunt works in a company where she meets with other people who are from another country and she has to learn their language. It's a lot easier if you already know the language.
How does one become certified as being bilingual?
I am a social worker in NY and most of the job ads I have seen are looking for bilingual workers, preferably Spanish. I took Spanish in HS and College but that was a while ago. If I can become bilingual it would open up other possibilities for my career. So how does one become certified as being bilingual and where would I find free classes?
How can I become bilingual in Canada?
I come from Southern Ontario where it is difficult to learn French. My high school usually didn't run french classes above grade 10 because only about 5 people wanted to take it. Nevertheless, I managed to take French until 2nd year in university. The thing is that now I live in Ottawa and a lot of government jobs require candidates to be bilingual. Are there any programs which would allow me to go to, say, Quebec for a time and become fluent in french
How can I make sure my kids become bilingual when they prefer English?
Andrea Herrero writes, "I'm saddened to see how few answers consider the perspective of the children."I'll give the perspective of a technically-adult-but-holding-on-to-her-inner-child: I wish, I truly do wish that my home had been a Polish-only environment as a child. Now, I can say that I am a heritage speaker, but I cannot say that I am fluent. I am mistaken for Russian because of my accent, yet I am not fluent. My grammar in English spirals down the drain when I am sleep-deprived and staying awake, my two languages mixing, and I am not fluent. I can think in both languages, but express myself to the full extent of my wishes only in English. It has been endless frustration when I can only read Polish very slowly, and my writing is littered with orthographic errors and slang (parents originating from opposite sides of Poland, so a mix of it, too). I am best at speaking it, and worked very hard to get into a college where Polish is taught (let me say, not many) because I dearly wish to become fluent.I spoke a mix of English and Polish at home when growing up. My younger sibling is like your children are now: resisting the second language.When I was young, I often preferred speaking English because it was easier. English is what school is conducted in, English is what the society around me functioned in. I regret it now. I hope that your children will not. People say go to Mexico for immersion, for Spanish age-mates. (If their accent ever becomes something that they are teased for by English age-mates, tell them that it is a gift. Tell them to ask the bullies if they know Spanish.) Perhaps circumstances make a family visit not an option. I say, make for them an immersion of your own, in your home. Have Spanish radio playing in the background, it will provide a subliminal sinking-in of the language. To those who say "ignore their English at home," I say, repeat their sentence/question back to them in Spanish. Perhaps they say it in English because they do not know how to properly articulate it in Spanish. Be forgiving of mistakes, and be encouraging their efforts. Have patience; immediacy is an outlandish expectation.Help them say, "Bilingualism is something that I have a full claim on." (though perhaps not verbatim ;-) Best of luck to you, your husband, your children, your family.
Do you think america should become bilingual english + spanish?
q.kenzie, that's a very nice thought, but there are too many narrow-minded individuals who are mostly afraid of anything that they deem different. Case in point, I'm an american (born in the USA), I speak Spanish fluently, because I grew up in South America. One day, my brother and I were walking into a supermarket in Orlando, FL. We mostly speak in spanish when we talk amongst ourselves. So we're having a conversation that didn't involve anyone else, and this old woman (hag, actually) looks at us and tells us to "stop speaking a foreign language and learn english!". Now, why did she feel the need to do that? We weren't talking to her. So, I praise you for keeping an open mind.
When do you consider yourself bilingual or fluent?
I have taken Spanish for eight years and I can hold a pretty decent conversation, but I hesitate to consider myself bilingual because I feel that one should be approaching the level in which they speak their native language to hold that title. However, I sometimes notice people bragging about being bi or even trilingual after two years of study, with what I would only consider to be a mediocre level of understanding under their belts. What do you think the benchmark is?
Can someone help me find the similarities to these two poems?
Poem 1: Bilingual/Bilingüe By Rhina P. Espaillat My father liked them separate, one there, one here (allá y aquí), as if aware that words might cut in two his daughter’s heart (el corazón) and lock the alien part to what he was—his memory, his name (su nombre)—with a key he could not claim. “English outside this door, Spanish inside,” he said, “y basta.” But who can divide the world, the word (mundo y palabra) from any child? I knew how to be dumb and stubborn (testaruda); late, in bed, I hoarded secret syllables I read until my tongue (mi lengua) learned to run where his stumbled. And still the heart was one. I like to think he knew that, even when, proud (orgulloso) of his daughter’s pen, he stood outside mis versos, half in fear of words he loved but wanted not to hear. Poem 2: Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note Lately, I've become accustomed to the way The ground opens up and envelopes me Each time I go out to walk the dog. Or the broad edged silly music the wind Makes when I run for a bus... Things have come to that. And now, each night I count the stars. And each night I get the same number. And when they will not come to be counted, I count the holes they leave. Nobody sings anymore. And then last night I tiptoed up To my daughter's room and heard her Talking to someone, and when I opened The door, there was no one there... Only she on her knees, peeking into Her own clasped hands Question: what do both poems have in common with "loss" ? I don't understand what my english professor is looking for... help?