I speak 3 languages at fairly good levels, I grew up with these languages, but why do people always try to remind me that I speak none of them!? What's the reason that people think that multilinguals are sub-standard in their linguistic skills?
2007-11-24 05:38:08 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
people try to remind me that none of these languages are mine!!
2007-11-24 05:38:45 · update #1
multilingual means two or more, but that's not the point of the question...
Some people just don't read my question.
2007-11-24 06:33:55 · update #2
Some people have no idea that languages are cumulative and believe that you have to be a true native of one country to speak and write it fluently and correctly. They automatically assume that, because you are multilingual, you cannot really be an expert in any and you are bound to make mistakes.
This is probably because some people who are multilingual do make mistakes and fail to understand the subtler meanings of colloquial or language specific expressions, but one should not judge all from a minority, and there are many linguists who achieve a very high degree of proficiency in several languages.
People are quick to forget that natives of a country can murder their own language. One only needs to look at the French Q and As to realise how badly some natives express themselves and it is amazing to see how many come on the English website and give inaccurate or misspelled answers.
I would not worry about the assumptions of people who are only able to speak one language and therefore are unable to judge those that are fluent in several. Be secure in your own knowledge and enjoy being able to speak three languages, probably better even than quite a few natives.
2007-11-24 06:00:47 · answer #1 · answered by WISE OWL 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
If you can read, write, and speak a language rather well then you are bilingual.
Bilingual -Capable of communicating in two languages - but not necessarily at the same level of proficiency
I would only call someone 'semi-lingual ' if they were able to read, write, and speak a specific language very poorly. But that is solely my opinion and this concept technically depends on the individual.
2007-11-24 13:48:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
You are trilingual.
A bilingual person can speak two languages fluently, a trilingual three, above that the term multilingual may be used.
More: http://languageslovers.blogspot.com/2007/10/polyglots-and-hyperpolyglots-in-history.html
2007-11-24 14:28:27 · answer #3 · answered by Beauty_Queen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do people who try to put you down for being bi-lingual speak any of the languages themselves? Sounds like they are envious of your ability. I speak, read and write English, French, and German myself, but so far no one has tried to "put me down" for doing so. Don't forget that every language has its own idioms, or slang, and depending upon what part of the country in which they were raised may dictate how they perceive your skills. Example: I was stationed near the French-German border and the people spoke Alsatian, a mixture of French/German. Having learned the "King's French" in school, I was not as proficient at understanding them nor they understanding me. Don't despair and be proud of being bi-lingual.
2007-11-24 14:00:54 · answer #4 · answered by rnwallace07 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Who are these people telling you this?
I have never encountered this attitude, even from native speakers, and my foreign language abilities are far from perfect.
What languages are you speaking?
2007-11-24 14:05:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
trilingual
2007-11-24 14:07:19 · answer #6 · answered by ケチャッパー 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋