Being Bilingual

[mcthulhu]

I remember being fascinated by a biography of the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges that described his bilingual upbringing. "Borges would later comment that the household was so bilingual that he was not even aware that English and Spanish were separate languages until later in his childhood." At first, I think it was said, he perceived them as a sort of continuum in which he mostly used one set of words with one set of people, and another set of words with another set of people. I don't recall whether the biography mentioned the age at which he became consciously aware that they were separate languages.

[tarvos]

What does it actually feel like though? Do you "become" a different person when you speak a different language? Do you use cultural references , idioms and proverbs just as you would if you only had one native language?

No, I'm not a different person. I've just put another lens on the camera, so to speak.

[reineke]

How does the bilingual experience sculpt the brain?

The ability to speak two languages often marvels monolinguals, although bilinguals report no difficulties in achieving this feat. Here, we examine how learning and using two languages affects language acquisition and processing and various aspects of cognition. We do so by addressing three main questions. First, how do infants that are exposed to two languages acquire them without apparent difficulty? Second, how do monolingual and bilingual language processing differ in adults? Last, what are the collateral effects of bilingualism on the executive control system across the life span? Research in all three areas has not only provided some fascinating insights into bilingualism but also revealed new issues related to brain plasticity and language learning.

Introduction
The pervasive presence of bilingualism shows that humans can learn two languages without apparent difficulty. Bilingualism is, however, difficult to define, as it encompasses a broad typology of speakers. Indeed, the acquisition of two languages may occur in many different contexts. People can learn two languages from birth (such individuals are known as simultaneous bilinguals, as both languages are learned at the same time). Alternatively, they can learn a second language later in life under formal instruction, in an immersion environment as a result of immigration, or in one of many other situations (such individuals are known as successive bilinguals). Additionally, among bilinguals, individuals can show considerable variation in the proficiency levels attained in their languages: whereas some show equal proficiency in both languages, others have a clear dominance in one of their languages.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4295724/

What Bilingualism Is NOT

http://www.multilingualliving.com/2011/ ... sm-is-not/