What Does Being Bilingual Mean To You

Improved Essays
Being bilingual has shaped the way I approach the world around me. Being able to speak two different languages has helped me understand the world a little better and, has given me the opportunity to expand my vocabulary. This helps open doors to understanding and appreciate two completely different cultures. Having the knowledge of two languages helps us to have more flexibility in ways to of thinking and in the way we handle problems. Speaking two languages has impacted me and the way I view the world. I have grown up understanding and speaking two different languages at once. Being bilingual never occurred to me how this made me look at the world. Now I can see how different they are and how much I should appreciate this ability. …show more content…
In society today jobs hire more people who are fluent in other languages. Speaking a different language can help us mentally and it can improve our connections with others. We have better ways to communicate with everyone. Having the knowledge of any other language can help us so much in earning money, how we approach situations, and it helps us be more socially and culturally aware. Growing up bilingual, I have the ability to be comfortable in different environments. When I’m at home I speak only Spanish while at school I mostly speak English. Transitioning back and forth between English and Spanish environments has affected me as a person. Doing this constantly helps my brain to have more flexibility with the way communicate with others. This makes it seem like I’m living in different worlds but it’s still the same for me. These environments are completely different but I am able to completely understand and appreciate both of my cultures.
In the long run there is no doubt that being bilingual has given me some advantages. This makes it possible to get a better job, expand our vocabulary, and be able to understand the world we live

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Bilingualism will connect to different parts of the world and respect the different cultures while becoming friends with more people who will respect you back. First, to Martin Espada bilingualism means more than just speaking one language, it means to have the right retain your own identity while also having the choice…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As a bilingual myself, I believe that being bilingual can be useful in various ways. Whenever I have traveled across the world (which is fairly often), I find myself able to communicate on some level with the locals, because I speak Spanish. I can often deduce what they are saying because there are similar roots in their language and mine. Locals also prefer that you attempt to speak their language rather than speaking English, and it greatly improves their attitude towards tourists when they try to speak their language. That’s why I believe that people should have bilingualism in their public lives.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I have gained knowledge of the Spanish language and culture via my family and i've traveled to Mexico and El Salvador. Those who are monolingual only communicate in one language versus in where in my family, I communicate in two. Not only am I exposed to Spanish language, but to two different accents and cultures that vary greatly. Therefore, when visiting Mexico and El Salvador I am completely immersed in the language and culture because English is completely taken out the equation.. You're forced to use Spanish in order to effectively communicate with family and friends.…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    and are expected to learn in an English-only classroom. There has been controversy over whether or not bilingual education hinders students in their education. Like all journeys, this one undoubtedly has its ups and downs. Bilingual education encourages students to learn material that they are not familiar with in ways an English-only classroom cannot. Considering that students are unaccustomed to the English language, bilingual classrooms can make them feel more safe.…

    • 1877 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    "Where are you from?" People always ask this question when they are making friends. However, this is an embarrassing question for the immigrants because they come from their own countries physically, but they are Americans on the inside. They are struggling to either be Americanized or keep their own cultures. Then, it brings a puzzle to the immigrant parents: should they Americanize their children?…

    • 1115 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In a modern world like ours, it has become commonplace for people to know more than one language. Being bilingual is an incredible asset in Canada that incredibly increases your job prospects or chance of being hired right out of university. It benefits you in various ways, ranging from knowing the language to help communicate with others, to having a successful and well paying job. Science proves that learning another language also improves your multitasking skills and improves your memory.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Wild Tongue

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Most people today know more than one language, no matter where they originated from. Language is learned to make communication with others much easier and to know more. People who are bilingual learned the language from their families and while some identify with the culture in which the language is from, others do not. When someone learns a language they also learn about the culture and race. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, her language is her cultural identity and even though it’s not taken as a serious language, she doesn’t give up on her belief that her language is what makes her who she is.…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As a hispanic person, I have faced language and identity issues. I have struggled with these challenges throughout my lifetime. My first language is spanish, I did not learn english until I entered the first grade where it was mandatory. A clear memory I have with the transition of spanish to english is being frustrated and angry that I was being forced to learn another language. Although school is taught in english, I am in touch with my spanish vocabulary because I speak spanish in my house and to my relatives.…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Well, I think that is what being bilingualrepresents, this impossible dream of fulfillment. You cannot express your ideas completely whenyou are fluent in both languages. The missing words and their translation are not enough toexpress what I want to say or write in and outside the classrooms. Also, languages define yourpersonality. Moreover, sometimes I have the sense that I am a different person in Spanish than Iam in English, that my Colombian ‘Sebastian’ is not the same as my American self.…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A lot of people do not understand that not everyone speaks English. Bilingualism means being able to communicate effortlessly in two languages. However, not only speaking, but reading and writing fluently as well. I am grateful to have been taught how to read and write in Spanish while attending church. I am also appreciative to have learned English at a very young age, because little did I know that it would become a big role in my life.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I have had conversations with many strangers from the United States, Mexico, Paraguay, and Brazil. If I wasn’t able to speak Spanish I would feel as if I had less connection with the world around me. With the courage of my parents , I speak Spanish everyday and it is a part of my…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With just a paper and a pen, the power of language can transform the world around you. Language has established a system of human communication, incorporating the application of words in a structured and customary way. Its purpose can profess emotions from one human to another and suddenly make you feel the lost emotions inside of yourself. In Coming Into Language written by Jimmy Santiago Baca, he emphasizes his wildly dangerous journey of life and being found in the influence of language within the walls of his jail cell.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ==Knowing a second languages can be more intelligence. According to the article from The New York Times (March 17, 2012) “Why Bilinguals are Smarter” author Harriet Russell, said scientist found that second language effect on your brain and improve cognitive skills. It makes your smarter. There are several evidences show that for those people who are bilingual, their brain manage both language systems to…

    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Growing up in a big mixed family is a must to know two different languages, Spanish and English. It’s a great disadvantage because Today, I 'm a bilingual. Well, semi-bilingual. It’s useful to be able to communicate with my family, for work, and pretty much everywhere I go. But at the end of it all, it’s a blessing and curse.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    If one takes the time to understand and comprehend the culture and language from various people, one can comprehend that there is a larger world outside of one’s country, a world larger than could ever be imagined. Learning a new language could even be compared to having the ability to teleport, in the aspect that having a new language under one’s (figurative) belt facilitates the ability to travel. Another magnificent opportunity that comes from being bilingual is the ability to meet all kinds of new and interesting people. One can learn from these new people, and begin to understand things that one has never personally or directly experienced before. And who knows, interacting with a new person could influence the appreciation and practice of a new and exciting hobby, this interaction can bring about some new ideas, tastes, books, and whatever else contributes to make the life more valuable and meaningful.…

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays