Hi? Bilingual, or even trilingual whatever, the point is you speak more than one language fluently/natively.

Do you find yourself switch back and forth between thinking in the two different languages?

Do you find that there are certain things you can't think in one language and you have to think in the other one?

Also, what are your thoughts on how these two languages compare to each other? I am assuming that one of them is English.

For me, I find that English is a very precise language, compared to my mother tongue. If I want to debate in a (somewhat) formal manner, I can only do so in English, whereas I cannot in my native tongue. However, I can compose (bad!) poetry in my native tongue though, because it is a language that lends itself to easy artistic expression precisely due to its imprecise nature.

Your thoughts?

I am. I've spoken English and Spanish for as long as I can remember.

I find myself thinking certain thoughts in different languages, but I have a pretty easy time switching between both when I try to. It's more of a question of which memories and people I associate with speaking a specific language.

I'm not great at writing in Spanish simply because I've never had any formal education in it, so I guess I'm limited to English in that regard. Reading's OK in both, though.

I've noticed that I have a weird way of intonating my English. Not to the point where I sound foreign, but rather a distinct manner of speech, much like Christopher Walken or Mitch Hedberg (Not to say I sound like them, I just deliver my words in a distinct way, and so do they).

That's the most damning effect bilinguality has had on my life. Everything else is pretty much the same as everyone else's experience. I just switch between the two when the situation calls for it.

On the other hand, Spanish and English are somewhat similar languages, ones a romance language and the other has romance elements, so speaking both may be different than your situation (English and some east asian language I presume?).

I wish I was :(. At least, I'm not bilingual in the sense that I was raised with two languages or can communicate with near-native fluency in any language beside English. I know for certain, however, that if I ever have a kid, he or she will be raised bilingual. Just with the relatively mediocre amount of Spanish and French I know, I've been able to recognize how potent the ability to see the world in multilinguistic way is -- certainly, that would be a great gift for a child.

I often find myself thinking in French, especially when im thinking about more romantic things in life.

English for cold hard stuff though.

I'm glad I'm bilingual. Spanish gives me a great advantage in pronouncing foreign vowels. Most English speakers aren't aware of how they brutalize vowels.

I speak Spanish with family maybe, and I read some Spanish websites. (http://meneame.net) This is going to sound wrong, but I also get better treatment in some restaurants if I speak to the workers in Spanish; at chipotle they add extra meat and sometimes a free drink cup.
I can think in Spanish, but because of the vast amount of reading I do in English, it dominates all thought. I can also express myself much better, again because I read so much and know much more vocabulary/expressions. I don't find either particularly more precise than the other. Spanish verbs are very precise, but English makes up for it in other ways.

Basically, I'm in a near identical situation as Zay's. My family is quite diverse, so I've know many words from several languages, namely French and German, before I ever took formal classes. One of my aspirations in life is actually to learn Mandarin Chinese. Fat chance..

I speak Spanish with family maybe, and I read some Spanish websites. (http://meneame.net) This is going to sound wrong, but I also get better treatment in some restaurants if I speak to the workers in Spanish; at chipotle they add extra meat and sometimes a free drink cup.

Last time I did that at a local mexican restaurant the guy behind the counter looked at me like I had just screamed "WHITE POWER!" and said "dude! I'm a citizen!".

Excuse me for wanting to practice :( .

I'm glad I'm bilingual. Spanish gives me a great advantage in pronouncing foreign vowels. Most English speakers aren't aware of how they brutalize vowels.

I speak Spanish with family maybe, and I read some Spanish websites. (http://meneame.net) This is going to sound wrong, but I also get better treatment in some restaurants if I speak to the workers in Spanish; at chipotle they add extra meat and sometimes a free drink cup.

That's actually very sweet of them.


I can think in Spanish, but because of the vast amount of reading I do in English, it dominates all thought. I can also express myself much better, again because I read so much and know much more vocabulary/expressions. I don't find either particularly more precise than the other. Spanish verbs are very precise, but English makes up for it in other ways.

Care to elaborate please?

p.s. hola amigo?

I am. I've spoken English and Spanish for as long as I can remember.

I find myself thinking certain thoughts in different languages, but I have a pretty easy time switching between both when I try to. It's more of a question of which memories and people I associate with speaking a specific language.

I'm not great at writing in Spanish simply because I've never had any formal education in it, so I guess I'm limited to English in that regard. Reading's OK in both, though.

I've noticed that I have a weird way of intonating my English. Not to the point where I sound foreign, but rather a distinct manner of speech, much like Christopher Walken or Mitch Hedberg (Not to say I sound like them, I just deliver my words in a distinct way, and so do they).

That's the most damning effect bilinguality has had on my life. Everything else is pretty much the same as everyone else's experience. I just switch between the two when the situation calls for it.

On the other hand, Spanish and English are somewhat similar languages, ones a romance language and the other has romance elements, so speaking both may be different than your situation (English and some east asian language I presume?).

Actually, that reminds me. When I first started English, I had the hardest time getting the "tone/s" right (by that I mean, you know how when you ask a question in English, you kind of "raise" your tone at the end? I don't know what it's called). In fact, I still do. If you ever get a chance to hear me speak, you will know what I mean. It gets to the point where I deliberately avoid asking questions in English.

Also, I struggle with an accent. It's not so bad that people are unable to understand me, however it's existent and it quite bothers me. I desire to speak with the much-coveted, pure Canadian accent; alas it doesn't look like it's happening in this lifetime. Sometimes some (very frank) people call me on it and say, "you weren't born in Canada, were you?" and I get so embarassed.

Last time I did that at a local mexican restaurant the guy behind the counter looked at me like I had just screamed "WHITE POWER!" and said "dude! I'm a citizen!".

Excuse me for wanting to practice :( .


First of all, lol.

Secondly, why would they say that? What's so "white power" about someone speaking Spanish?

One of my aspirations in life is actually to learn Mandarin Chinese. Fat chance..

Fuck off.

Fuck off.

Why would you say this to him? I'm sure he is capable of learning Chinese if he tried. I assume your "native language" you neglected to name happens to be Chinese. Curious as to why Chinese rarely call their language "chinese"in English? Maybe I've not met enough Chinese but you make the 4th I've witness avoid naming their native tongue like this.

At what age did you start learning English? The word you were looking for referring to the raised tone, is intonation. You should record yourself speaking I'm curious.

I'm trilingual but not a native to my 2nd or 3rd. I find it is easier to think of things in other languages and its also much easier to express myself and say things I really mean or want to say in my 2nd and 3rd language. See now I'm doing it...

English
Japanese
Sign Language

Maybe because Chinese is too vague? Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu(which has 70 million speakers)

Is WAN mad because I'm trying to learn Chinese or because I specifically said Mandarin. I know from experience that the types of Chinese are very different from one another.

I once went out to pick up some take out with a Chinese friend, and when we got there, the clerk assumed that my friend spoke the same type of Chinese, but my friend didn't understand at all.

Secondly, I think she's pissed because I said I wanted to learn Mandarin, and since she's from Taiwan, she would speak Cantonese, I think. And since most Taiwanese are only there because they got their ass kicked by Mao's Mandarin speaking communist forces in '49, I would expect she resents Mainland Chinese, who happen to speak Mandarin.

-Amirite? No hard feelings...

Is WAN mad because I'm trying to learn Chinese or because I specifically said Mandarin. I know from experience that the types of Chinese are very different from one another.

I once went out to pick up some take out with a Chinese friend, and when we got there, the clerk assumed that my friend spoke the same type of Chinese, but my friend didn't understand at all.

Secondly, I think she's pissed because I said I wanted to learn Mandarin, and since she's from Taiwan, she would speak Cantonese, I think. And since most Taiwanese are only there because they got their ass kicked by Mao's Mandarin speaking communist forces in '49, I would expect she resents Mainland Chinese, who happen to speak Mandarin.

-Amirite? No hard feelings...

stop stalking me, you loser shit

stop posting here, .. .. ..

Trilingual

Spanish, English and Latin.

The only hard thing about it is I sometimes confuse spanish and latin.

Is WAN mad because I'm trying to learn Chinese or because I specifically said Mandarin. I know from experience that the types of Chinese are very different from one another.

I once went out to pick up some take out with a Chinese friend, and when we got there, the clerk assumed that my friend spoke the same type of Chinese, but my friend didn't understand at all.

Secondly, I think she's pissed because I said I wanted to learn Mandarin, and since she's from Taiwan, she would speak Cantonese, I think. And since most Taiwanese are only there because they got their ass kicked by Mao's Mandarin speaking communist forces in '49, I would expect she resents Mainland Chinese, who happen to speak Mandarin.

-Amirite? No hard feelings...

Nope, we speak Mandarin in Taiwan.
Cantonese is spoken in HongKong
And why would anyone get mad if you're trying to learn some other type of Chinese?
Stop thinking that it would matter to anyone what you learn, you're not that important.
Oh, and good luck with Mandarin, hope it goes well for you.