More than half of the population of the world speaks more than one language, which is unsurprising considering that we are always told that it is a great asset. Children at school are always told that having a second language at their fingertips can be a desirable skill in an employee. However, it can sometimes be hard to tell whether this is true, or just advertisement for the language department.
With foreign parents and grandparents, I have grown up knowing two languages, and have always found it completely natural. I decided to interview Nikol, aged 14, who speaks both English and Bulgarian, about her perspective on it.
Which language did you learn first?
“Despite being born and raised in England, I learnt Bulgarian and English alongside each other, because both my parents are Bulgarian, and my grandparents only speak Bulgarian.”
Are you equally able in both languages?
“No, mainly because I was raised in England, and go to school in England. My vocabulary in some areas is therefore not very extended [in Bulgarian]. For example, I cannot express myself so well in Bulgarian when talking about school, as I never went to school in Bulgaria.”
Can it be difficult trying to switch from language to language?
“I think that, when you learn languages that aren’t your native language, you have to mentally translate before speaking, but if it’s your native language you don’t really have those problems, you just automatically ‘change gear’. So no, it’s not very hard. Until you become completely fluent in a language, it’s difficult to understand this.”
It has been concluded by many studies that when people speak in different languages, they have different personalities. I was very curious as to whether Nikol found that this was true for her.
Do you think that it is true that you have different personalities when speaking different languages?
“My English is more technical and advanced, but my Bulgarian is more family orientated, as that is my main reason for using it. I think that there are only subtle changes in personality, but they are there.”
Which language do you prefer and why?
“My vocabulary in English is more extended, and my literary knowledge very much more so. However, I prefer Bulgarian, as I find it very funny when I am talking to my friend in rapid Bulgarian and no one else can understand us. I also just really enjoy being able to speak another language.”
Nikol also told me, that when she and her family go on holiday, somehow knowing Bulgarian helps them seem less like foreigners. English is the third most spoken country in the world, with around 335 million native speakers, and around half a billion people who speak it as their second language. Therefore, it could be argued that there is no point in learning another language. However, though this may be easier for native English speakers, it is much more beneficial for the people of other nationalities, who learn English as a foreign language. Knowing more than one language is said to be good for your health, as studies have shown that it keeps your brain sharp. Multilingual people tend to have better cognitive abilities as well, and therefore speaking more than one language can delay dementia at an older age.
Though Nikol would not yet be able to answer about the health assets, I asked her whether she thought bilingualism had more helped or hindered her.
Do you think being bilingual has helped you/ hindered you in any way?
“For some people, it can make it easier to learn languages, as, though English can be quite different in terms of grammar, Bulgarian is more similar, especially to French and some other European languages. However, when talking at home, [if I’m] trying to explain something that I have less of an understanding of in either language, I sometimes have to switch half way through the sentence, which can lead to some interesting results! Also, it can be difficult to communicate something more complex to my grandparents without the help of my parents, and translations from them. Overall though, I definitely love knowing another language.”
On the whole, it seems that there are many positives to learning another language, and there are definitely no negatives to knowing more than one.
Raya Milushev, Newstead Wood School
