Do you have to know two languages fluently to be officially bilingual? I know english and i grew up with vietnamese, and i can understand vietnamese fine, but i have trouble using the words in hte right place so i can only speak a little, does that make me bilingual?
2007-12-06 17:36:16 · 11 answers · asked by Brian N 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
its a typo ********
2007-12-06 18:37:26 · update #1
Functionally yes. Fluently no.
2007-12-06 17:44:26 · answer #1 · answered by Sid B 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes i think you are bilingual. There are many people here in the United States that use some words improperly ..so by you being able to understand another language and speak it ''in my opinion yes you are bilingual.
2007-12-07 01:46:44 · answer #2 · answered by night owl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wondered about that myself. My mother understands German quite well. As a child, she had relatives who spoke that language to each other and sometimes to her as well. She can speak German good enough to get by in it but is not really fluent in it. However, she can read it. I would consider her to be bilingual even though she doesn't speak that language fluently.
2007-12-07 02:49:50 · answer #3 · answered by RoVale 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, but it needs more time if you would call yourself as 'bilingual'.
bilingual means a person who knows to speak and understands two languages.
2007-12-07 02:01:32 · answer #4 · answered by Heiress Rhodes 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i would say yea, if you can get around with the vietnamese that you speak, then yes, you are bilingual.
2007-12-07 01:39:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, bilingual means you can speak in both languages fluently.
2007-12-07 01:38:33 · answer #6 · answered by swissgirl 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
To be considered fluent in a language you have to be able to understand mostly of what a native speaker speaks. If this does not apply to you than you are just functional.
Like my German.
2007-12-07 01:46:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, if they understand everthing you say!
I'm bilingual. (portuguese and english). My portuguese is actually way better than my english! =)
2007-12-07 01:46:03 · answer #8 · answered by Rach 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not really - you should be able to speak both fluently. Sorry! Well done anyway. :)
2007-12-07 10:18:19 · answer #9 · answered by missteatime 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. You don't know English "hte" is not a word. DOH
2007-12-07 01:43:30 · answer #10 · answered by alibi 61 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋