چند زبانه‌ بودن یا Multilingualism عادیه؟

این پست راجع‌به multilingualism یا تسلط به چند زبان خارجیه.

در بخش اول، درباره زندگی یک multilingual و باورهای غلطی که درباره این افراد وجود داره می‌خونیم.

کلمات و اصطلاحات این قسمت ممکنه برای زبان‌آموزای سطح متوسط تازگی داشته باشه؛ معنی اونها رو با درک کلی‌ای که از متن پیدا کردید حدس بزنید و بعد با استفاده از دیکشنری یا گوگل پیداشون کنید.

قسمت دوم این پست، سخنرانی‌ خیلی جالبی هست از سری TED Talks درباره polyglots‌ یا چند زبانه‌ها.

سخنران این ویدیو – که خودش به چندین زبان مسلطه – درباره ۴ رازی که کمک می‌کنه ‘ژن یادگیری زبان’ در شما هم فعال بشه حرف میزنه.

این قسمت برای زبان‌آموزای سطح بالاتر از متوسط و کساییه که نمره ۷ و بالاتر رو در آزمون آیلتس می‌خوان خیلی مفیده.

Is multilingualism exotic?

Adapted from Speakout, Second Edition, Intermediate Level

Grandpa shouts, “Dinner’s ready” in Danish. My mother asks me in English to lay the table. As I do so, I catch the theme tune of the Brazilian soap opera on TV in the living room, where my sister is relaxing. She speaks perfect Portuguese. My father asks her to record the program in his native Spanish, and we take our places at the table. And what’s on the menu? Italian meatballs.

We know we aren’t a normal family. At any moment, you might hear conversations in four different languages, and almost everyone understands everything. But what is normal these days?

My mother is half-Danish, half-English, and my father, who is born in Bolivia, speaks Spanish and Guarani. Because of my mother’s work (she’s now retired), we lived in Brazil, Italy, and Germany, so we picked up three more languages. Now as adults, my sister and I both speak six languages.

Advantages of Multilingualism

Being bilingual, or in our case multilingual, has so many advantages. All the recent research suggests we benefit in many ways: social, cultural, economic, academic, and intellectual. The research has also destroyed some of the persistent myths.

Multilingualism Myth #1

One of the myths is that bilingualism is uncommon as if we bilinguals are like rare, exotic birds. The truth is that around fifty percent of the world’s inhabitants are bilingual. The continents with the most linguistic diversity are Asia and Africa. In Nigeria alone, 500 languages are spoken, in India 400.

Some people believe that you have to learn both languages as a child to be truly bilingual. My sister and I are fortunate in this respect, but we know countless people who have mastered a second language as adults. They may not have such perfect pronunciation as those who acquire their second language as children, but they are still completely fluent and accurate.

Multilingualism Myth #2

Another myth about bilingual concerns identity. Some people think we have split personalities. As kids, my sister and I were often asked “But where are you really from?” Not at all, I am me, the product of many cultures. I can switch languages easily, according to where I am and I’m with, and this seems completely natural to me.

As for the benefits, bilinguals do better on certain tests, are better protected against mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, gain insights into other cultures, have access to more of the world’s information, and are in some contexts more employable. Being bilingual has made me who I am, and for that I’m grateful.