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Except that if they are school age they have already acquired one language. And please read up, try googling if nothing else Language sensitive period, the majority of language acquisition actually occurs before the age of 3 and is basically over by age 6.
Not for nothing, hearing Spanish at home and then learning English at school IS THE DEFINITION OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE. And what you keep describing is children who have gotten through the sensitive period learning one language solely and then learning English aka ESL. To be truly bilingual, children have to acquire two languages basically from birth until age 6.
I don't believe this is true. My grandpa grew up speaking Finnish and didn't learn English until he went to school. He continued speaking only Finnish with his family and English in other situations. He was bilingual and actually ended up speaking English much better than Finnish despite learning it at a later age.
I don't believe this is true. My grandpa grew up speaking Finnish and didn't learn English until he went to school. He continued speaking only Finnish with his family and English in other situations. He was bilingual and actually ended up speaking English much better than Finnish despite learning it at a later age.
I didn't say you couldn't be fluent in a language, just that most people cannot be truly bilingual.
I am fluent in another language as well, which I also did not learn until I was 10 or so. I speak it well, but I do not think, dream, or otherwise demonstrate the true bilingualism that my siblings have.
I would say I am "bi-lingual", but not fluent. My son, spent two years in Central Mexico, he is bi lingual and fluent.
It is different learning Spanish when you don't live in a Spanish speaking culture. And I myself, know Spanish...but don't speak it very often. I am more receptive than expressive, meaning I understand more than I can speak.
I am third generation Mexican...my Grandmother is from Mexico. My Mom speaks some Spanish, I speak some...but every generation, it is more diluted...my daughter speaks almost none.
I didn't say you couldn't be fluent in a language, just that most people cannot be truly bilingual.
I am fluent in another language as well, which I also did not learn until I was 10 or so. I speak it well, but I do not think, dream, or otherwise demonstrate the true bilingualism that my siblings have.
He was bilingual, and he didn't even start to learn English until probably a later 6 since kids didn't go to kindergarten in his day. Shoot, I often dream and think in Spanish and Mandarin which I am not even close to fluent in (and didn't start learning until high school and adulthood.)
I didn't say you couldn't be fluent in a language, just that most people cannot be truly bilingual.
I am fluent in another language as well, which I also did not learn until I was 10 or so. I speak it well, but I do not think, dream, or otherwise demonstrate the true bilingualism that my siblings have.
It is easier to learn languages when you are young, but plenty of people pick up a second language as an older child or even an adult. I know several people who learned another language as an adult (read, write, speak, think, etc). They all said it had nothing to do with ability; you simply have to have the desire to become truly bilingual (or multilingual).
It is easier to learn languages when you are young, but plenty of people pick up a second language as an older child or even an adult. I know several people who learned another language as an adult (read, write, speak, think, etc). They all said it had nothing to do with ability; you simply have to have the desire to become truly bilingual (or multilingual).
Then they are the exception and not the rule because the research shows that without a natural linguistic ability and/or being bilingual already, the brain becomes linguistically hardwired and it become very difficult to become truly fluent in a language let alone "bi-lingual".
I became very fluent in my second language as a teen. At this point, I consider myself bi-lingual. I can speak, read, write and understand both English and Sarcasm. In fact, I believe that some days Sarcasm is my more dominant language.
Then they are the exception and not the rule because the research shows that without a natural linguistic ability and/or being bilingual already, the brain becomes linguistically hardwired and it become very difficult to become truly fluent in a language let alone "bi-lingual".
I became very fluent in my second language as a teen. At this point, I consider myself bi-lingual. I can speak, read, write and understand both English and Sarcasm. In fact, I believe that some days Sarcasm is my more dominant language.
Excellent.
Sarcasm should not be allowed to die out as a language.
To paraphrase Dolly Levi: Languages are like money and manure. They're no good unless you spread them around.
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