That which is written in two languages can be mentioned bilingually.
Bilingual is an adjective that is used to name someone who speaks two languages or something that is written in two languages . For example: “Multinational company seeks a bilingual Bachelor of Administration (Spanish-English)” , “In the current job market, being bilingual is almost a necessity” , “They presented a bilingual edition of Hugo Guerolo's biography” .
Before moving forward, it is important to proceed to determine the etymological origin of the term. By doing so, we discovered that it comes from the Latin bilinguis , which is a word made up of two components: the prefix bi- , which can be translated as “two” , and the noun lingua , which is synonymous with “tongue” .
Native or acquired bilingual
Bilingualism (a person's ability to use two languages interchangeably) can be native or acquired . If a child is the child of Mexicans but is born and raised in the United States , it is likely that he will be a native bilingual since, at home, he will speak Spanish, while at school and in life in general he will use English.
On the other hand, if a person is born and lives his entire life in Chile but studies German from the age of five, upon reaching a certain age he will master this second language perfectly, in addition to his native Spanish. It will, therefore, be a case of acquired bilingualism .
The notion of bilingual, therefore, is associated with a perfect command of two languages that can be used by the individual interchangeably (that is, they can express themselves without problems in both languages). A subject who has knowledge of another language in addition to his native language will not be bilingual, since he will not be able to express himself fluently.
Bilingual education is increasingly popular.
Importance of this ability
In recent years, in countries like Spain , bilingualism has taken on special relevance. A good example of this is that in more and more schools, both schools and institutes, education is based on this ability. Hence, many of the classes are taught by teachers in English so that students, from a young age, have fluency with the language that has come to be considered the universal language: English .
Specifically, the various government institutions have opted for this type of teaching, based on Spanish and the Anglo-Saxon language, because it is considered to bring with it a significant number of benefits for children and young people:
- They manage to improve their ability to master languages.
- They develop more perfectly and broadly in terms of language.
- Looking to the future, it is easier for them to access employment, since languages are now one of the strong pillars when it comes to getting a job inside or outside their countries.
- It is a way to get to know another culture.
- It helps them be more tolerant and enrich themselves culturally speaking.
With globalization , bilingualism or multilingualism has become more frequent as international travel and communications have become more widespread.