Is Bilingualism a Superpower?

[_NOBODY_]

Is Bilingualism a Superpower?​

There was a time when psychologists thought growing up bilingual was harmful to brain development, but recent studies into bilingual children have turned that idea on its head!

 

[-=virus=-]

normal healthy kiddy brains are sponges

bi or tri lingual folk are fairly common across India

education and entertainment English

ghar pe local language

and otherwise lingua franca Hindi which everyone can speak (varying degrees of proficiency, but enough to get around and converse)

some foreigners I've seen struggle bad, some can almost immediately get good enough hold of it to wing it, others yet, get scary good, spl if they're scholars or learning high level stuff..

doesn't make anyone smarter or dumber for it imo, some people are just more adept at it but..

encourage your kids to learn a different language or script but don't force it

it just means they have different skill sets

 

[villageidiot]

normal healthy kiddy brains are sponges

bi or tri lingual folk are fairly common across India

education and entertainment English

ghar pe local language

and otherwise lingua franca Hindi which everyone can speak (varying degrees of proficiency, but enough to get around and converse)

some foreigners I've seen struggle bad, some can almost immediately get good enough hold of it to wing it, others yet, get scary good, spl if they're scholars or learning high level stuff..

doesn't make anyone smarter or dumber for it imo, some people are just more adept at it but..

encourage your kids to learn a different language or script but don't force it

it just means they have different skill sets

It is a super power, tho. A little bit of English has literally gotten me through everything I've ever gotten through, lol

If not for the English I picked up from my reading habit, I'd be automatically 30-45 points dumber on the IQ scale, not that it's something to brag about, as it is.

@_NOBODY_

 

[-=virus=-]

It is a super power, tho. A little bit of English has literally gotten me through everything I've ever gotten through, lol

If not for the English I picked up from my reading habit, I'd be automatically 30-45 points dumber on the IQ scale, not that it's something to brag about, as it is.

@_NOBODY_

Hindi, Urdu and English here

none of which I'm guru level at

a few Konkani, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali words and phrases but mostly clueless..

 

[villageidiot]

Hindi, Urdu and English here

none of which I'm guru level at

a few Konkani, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali words and phrases but mostly clueless..

Urdu, English, Punjabi.

Surprisingly burger level of Punjabi, considering I've lived in a village all my life.

Used to read Urdu a lot. Only conversational now. Have forgotten all the vocabulary I picked up in 3rd-8th grade reading spree.

For the English, I have the internet and pirated Hollywood movies to thank. Reading comprehension good for any decently verbose piece of text, such as our venerable sarkari journalist Fahd Hussain's "Red Zone" articles at Dawn. Any liberals here such as OP might know what I am talking about.

For writing, I can write pages or go blank after two paras.

I know a couple words each in Russian, French (don't like it), German (yuck), Italian (2nd fav), and El Espanol, my absolute favorite language. Was taking duolingo for spanish until a couple months ago. Love that language.

 

[-=virus=-]

Urdu, English, Punjabi.

Surprisingly burger level of Punjabi, considering I've lived in a village all my life.

Used to read Urdu a lot. Only conversational now. Have forgotten all the vocabulary I picked up in 3rd-8th grade reading spree.

For the English, I have the internet and pirated Hollywood movies to thank. Reading comprehension good for any decently verbose piece of text, such as our venerable sarkari journalist Fahd Hussain's "Red Zone" articles at Dawn. Any liberals here such as OP might know what I am talking about.

For writing, I can write pages or go blank after two paras.

I know a couple words each in Russian, French (don't like it), German (yuck), Italian (2nd fav), and El Espanol, my absolute favorite language. Was taking duolingo for spanish until a couple months ago. Love that language.

Street Hindi-Urdu same hi hai.. its when you get into the purer stuff where you go wtf

know a couple Russian phrases/words.. even picked up on some Cyrillic script just reading menus etc lol

French toh bhot khoobsoorat zuban hai, maybe next only to Urdu in silkyness of delivery.. "huzfuzi ki fuzfuzi ke talakut ma samakkal... oui !"

 

[_NOBODY_]

It is a super power, tho. A little bit of English has literally gotten me through everything I've ever gotten through, lol

If not for the English I picked up from my reading habit, I'd be automatically 30-45 points dumber on the IQ scale, not that it's something to brag about, as it is.

@_NOBODY_

I learned most of my English from Hollywood and I too would have been much dumber if I didn't have proficiency in English as knowing English allowed me to consume so much valuable content from the internet which I otherwise would have been prevy to.

 

[jhungary]

Think language is what you pick up, it's harder to pick that up in adult years than when you are younger aka formative year. I can speak and read Chinese, English and Spanish fluently because I was brought up in those 3 cultures and then I tried to learn German, Arabic and Swedish to various degree of fluency.

I think it also depends on how much you use each language, I think if my wife speak to me in Swedish a bit more I probably can be more fluent, but then she sort of gave up after a while.

 

[Maula Jatt]

Urdu, English, Punjabi.

Surprisingly burger level of Punjabi, considering I've lived in a village all my life.

Used to read Urdu a lot. Only conversational now. Have forgotten all the vocabulary I picked up in 3rd-8th grade reading spree.

For the English, I have the internet and pirated Hollywood movies to thank. Reading comprehension good for any decently verbose piece of text, such as our venerable sarkari journalist Fahd Hussain's "Red Zone" articles at Dawn. Any liberals here such as OP might know what I am talking about.

For writing, I can write pages or go blank after two paras.

I know a couple words each in Russian, French (don't like it), German (yuck), Italian (2nd fav), and El Espanol, my absolute favorite language. Was taking duolingo for spanish until a couple months ago. Love that language.

Same here , little bit of Spanish mixed in

Although my Punjabi is better than yours, I am pretty sure
@Great Janjua and Mentee have the best Punjabi vocab on this forum, GJ even write Punjabi poetry (yes he is incredibly based )

Urdu I learnt from monthly digests first taleem o tarbiyat than surgoozisht, suspense digests etc

English from Hollywood movies

 

[M. Sarmad]

Surprisingly burger level of Punjabi, considering I've lived in a village all my life.

You've good command of the English language but you speak "burger" level Punjabi.. !! I doubt that you've lived in a village (of Punjab?) all your life

 

[villageidiot]

Same here , little bit of Spanish mixed in

A man of culture, I see.

Although my Punjabi is better than yours, I am pretty sure

Not a high bar. A 10 yo will have better Punjabi chops than me .

@Great Janjua and Mentee have the best Punjabi vocab on this forum, GJ even write Punjabi poetry (yes he is incredibly based )

You forgot last of the patriots , when it comes to being punjabi and being based. Respect

Urdu I learnt from monthly digests first taleem o tarbiyat than surgoozisht, suspense digests etc

taleem o tarbiyat

The long wait before it hit the stands and then reading it all in one sitting. Reading on the internet is not nearly enough fun.

English from Hollywood movies

With the added benefit of weaning one off of that Indian crap we were fed

 

[villageidiot]

You've good command of the English language but you speak "burger" level Punjabi.. !! I doubt that you've lived in a village (of Punjab?) all your life

I am an enigma. Should be in a lab being studied

But trust me. There's no exaggeration. I have lived in my village all my life. It's because I only physically exist here. I have lived on the internet. I have very little to no contact with the people here (Long history) and I am introverted on top of that. Most people outside my street don't even know my name.

I get out in the mohalla and I am a burger. Put me in a city and I'll be the biggest paindu in that city. Neither here not there.

That's why I chose this username. Most people don't get it and think it just means "idiot". "Village idiot" is a trope. Used in movies like "Singh is King" (the first hen chase scene shows the village idiot at work)

I chose it because I might simultaneously be the most "enlightened" yet the most dumb/misfit person in my small village due to my circumstances and consequent inability to fit in/navigate the streets. So, the internet is my only real abode. The rest is just the commute to work.

 

[Khan_patriot]

I can speak four languages, Pashto, English, Urdu, Punjabi (in order of fluency) but I am still dumb as a brick so idk

 

[Foinikas]

No man! I mean...what would the people who can speak 4 or 5 languages fluently be then?

 

[BHAN85]

No.

USA is the sole super powah of this planet.

Neither China or bilinguals.