Quotes About Bilingualism

When I started writing, the first thing that came out was in English. I liked a few French things, but they were very overwhelming.

It's really sad for me that in the United States the Latino community is losing its culture and language, especially among kids born here - a lot of them can't even speak our language.

After a glass or two, your attention is narrowed to only the immediate surroundings. You meander unpredictably, more free to follow wherever the conversation might take you. You feel happy and unconcerned about future consequences. Your motor skills are rubbish. On the other hand, if you speak a second language, you might find yourself suddenly a bit more confident and fluent. In other words, you are a child again, with all of the benefits and costs that come with stunting the PFC.

knew I thought differently in Turkish and in English—not because thought and language were the same, but because different languages forced you to think about different things. Turkish

As an individual, and I have to say as a person of color, the thing about being an 'other' in America is I really feel like you're bilingual. I'm from a small town in Wisconsin, but even when I'm in New York and I'm working for MSNBC or CNN, you're used to being the only black person in the room.

I grew up speaking Spanish and English. My mother can speak Spanish, English, French and Italian, and she's pretty good at faking Portuguese. I wish that I spoke more languages than I do.

When you're speaking Spanish, you're thinking in a different way.

I would love to be bilingual. I think having a second or third language at my bidding would open up the world in amazing ways.

When you get into the third or fourth generation of Latino immigrants to the United States, you see the kids speaking more English than Spanish, and it's important that we don't lose our identity, our language.

I was born in Scotland and have lived there all my life. I speak conversational Cantonese with my dad when I'm at home, and very basic Mandarin.

My father was a nobleman when he spoke his mother tongue, and a worker from the lowest class when he went over into French. Except

Maybe in Latvian one day I'll rap a little bit, but definitely not in English.

I only know English, so I feel like I can be the dopest French rapper ever if I learned French.

I've always felt like I could express myself better in English just because the way the grammar works.

In my house, we speak Spanglish to the dogs, to the grandchildren, to the kids.

People who grow up with two or more languages understand that each can express certain aspects of reality better than the other.

I remember, the first time I came to the United States in 1996, I didn't speak a word of English at the beginning. I am very thankful for this country and the opportunity music has given me... My three kids were born here in Miami; they speak Spanish at home, but English with all their friends.

I speak three other languages - Serbian, French, and Italian - but typically read in English.

I don't speak Spanish, and I get so much crap for it. Oddly enough, it was the first language I learned, but somehow I lost it throughout the years. I can understand pieces of it, but I don't speak it. I need to speak it. I want to teach my kids Spanish.

Even though I am very tied to and close to my heritage, I learned Spanish in college; I didn't grow up with it. Growing up in South Texas is different from Miami or L.A. where it is a necessity to speak Spanish.

To have another language is to possess a second soul." – Charlemagne

I have a handicap in that English is not my first language. So even though I'm a writer, I don't write anymore because it's just harder in English.

I haven't even grown up on Hindi films because my Hindi is bad; I am a Parsi and we speak English or Gujarati at home.

I am more comfortable with Tamil than Hindi.