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When you’re able to speak interchangeably between your L1 and L2, you have command of both languages and can think and express yourself comfortably without limiting or struggling to find the “right” words. Additionally, it can also mean when you can switch unconsciously between languages.

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I would say people that are not bilinguals are those that don’t feel comfortable expressing themselves freely in their L2. People who struggle constantly to find the right words to express themselves in their L2 or who have to make a conscious effort to speak their L2 would not be bilingual in my opinion. Also simply those who do not have any knowledge of an additional language besides their native language.

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Growing up in Costa Rica where the service industry is the biggest part of the economy ( tourism, call centres, etc.) being bilingual is extremely important for anyone seeking economic opportunities. Additionally people become bilinguals for academic reasons, in order to improve their employability and knowledge. There are others that become bilinguals for migratory reasons or in order to be able to communicate and better integrate into different societies and cultures.

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This is a tough question because it’s something I’ve always asked myself and never really came to a conclusion about. I was born in Montreal with my father speaking to me in French, my mother speaking to me in Spanish, and my mom and dad speaking to each other in English. My L1 was technically French, and L2 was Spanish. However, when I moved to Costa Rica at the age of 4 I would say my Spanish became my main language followed by English. All my education was taught in English, so I believe I am bilingual in both English and Spanish. However, since moving to Costa Rica, I stopped speaking French with my dad and English became our way of communication. Therefore, I don’t consider myself fluent in French even though I can read, understand, and speak it decently. If I had to label my multilingual experience I would say I was a compound bilingual with French and Spanish, and coordinate bilingual with English.

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Do you consider yourself bilingual? What type of bilingual?

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Do you consider yourself bilingual? What type of bilingual?

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Adelaida Garcia-Pardo (Laida)

Ufff, If you think about the most accurate definition of a bilingual person...maybe, I consider myself very close to that. I am from a region in Spain that has its own language, Gallego. Although at home we didn’t use to speak gallego I learned at school and later I had teachers at college they were using gallego in class. At that moment I consider myself bilingual in Spanish and Gallego but both language's origin is latin so, it was not very difficult for me. Later I decided to learn Catalan as I was working in Barcelona but I never consider myself bilingual. I really didn't have to use it at work

These two languages are part of my country so I think it is a social bilingualism

About English... I was exposed to English since i was 4 years old but just as a subject in school... my teachers never were native english speakers... at that time for sure I wasn't bilingual but once I was in college and after moving to the US, definitely i started to consider myself as bilingual. Being able to think in the other language makes me more bilingual.

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Adelaida Garcia-Pardo (Laida)

Being bilingual means be able to communicate in two different languages at the same level of knowledge.

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Adelaida Garcia-Pardo (Laida)

People that are not able to speak with fluency another language apart from the mother tongue.

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Adelaida Garcia-Pardo (Laida)

We are living in a global world, extremely different than the one our parents and grandparents had. But it is true that migration was out there long long time ago. I think migration is one of the most important reasons although many of this people don't become fluent in their adopted language.

Nowadays, profesional reasons or choice I believe are very important factors. The need of communicating and connecting with others is crucial in a global society.

We know some countries have also different oficial languages depending on the region a person lives, so most likely this person will become bilingual in its own country.

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I find this a tough question to answer. English is my L1 but also I am fluent in Irish and Spanish. I started learning Irish at the age of 4 but I did not achieve a high level of Irish until 17 years old. I suppose that I was a Sequential Bilingual (English, Irish) and, later, a "Late Learner" of Spanish.

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Being bilingual is being able to communicate fluently and comfortably in 2 languages. This level of fluency may fluctuate depending on the circumstances and contact time with one of the languages.

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In my opinion, comfort with communicating in the L2 is the most vital indicator if a person is bilingual or not. People who may have spent a long time without having spoken a language may lose some of their ability in this language and feel less comfortable speaking it. Non bilinguals are people who are not confident or comfortable expressing themselves in the L2.

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Why do we become bilinguals? - David Langan

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Why do we become bilinguals? - David Langan

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Bilingualism is the expectation in the majority of the world. Knowing at least 2 languages opens doors to travel, new experiences and personal connections. These possibilities provide powerful intrinsic motivation for an individual to learn a second language. Additionally, most modern education systems heavily emphasize bilingualism as one of the primary aims of the curriculum. This provides us with the extrinsic motivation to become bilinguals.

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Like Monica, I consider myself trilingual. My mother tongue is Spanish, but I also speak Valencian and English. Therefore, I can speak, read and write in all three languages. I learned Valencian in school (from 3 years old), since it is the second official language of my city. I also learned English in school when I was 7.

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Being bilingual means possessing proficiency in two languages, enabling effective communication through understanding, speaking, reading, and writing.

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People who are not exposed to multiple languages in their daily lives may not be able to access educational opportunities or reside in a monolingual community.

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People become bilingual for various reasons such as cultural exposure, educational opportunities, job requirements, personal interest...

I did it mainly because I had to do it at university and in different jobs I have chosen.

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Do you consider yourself bilingual? What type of bilingual?

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Do you consider yourself bilingual? What type of bilingual?

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Yes I consider myself as a bilingual´- multilingual person. My bilingualism in Arabic and French was an early bilingualism because I learnt these languages before 6 years but it was sequential as I learnt Arabic between 0 and 3 years before French, that I learnt at 3 when I started school. Nevertheless I have to recognise that it became sustractive because French, the school and outside language, became dominant over Arabic, the home language. Then I learnt to use english to comunicate on my trips and my work but I can´t really tell that I am bilingual because my fluency is weak. And I consider myself a late bilingual in Spanish because I learned it after 30 years.

Gharmilla

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Speaking fluently 2 or more languages and having efficient strategies to compensate one's linguistics shortcomings.

Gharmilla.

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I would describe myself as multilingual, with Mandarin being the third language I use on daily basis without being proficient by any means, more out of necessity and as a survival mechanism. Regarding the second part of the question, classifying myself into a specific type of bilingualism is complicated, it my leans towards balanced bilingualism, considering I haven’t actively used Spanish in several years, and currently the use of English and Mandarin is predominant in my day-to-day life. Plenty of subjective analysis.

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It could be defined as the ability to communicate effectively in two languages and being able to switch codes on demand depending on the context or the recipient of the message, also being proficient in any of the receptive and productive skills (listening - reading and writing - speaking). The definition of being bilingual is subjected to a wide range of interpretations, personal and contextual as well.

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Those who only can communicate effectively in one language could put together individuals who do not have exposure to other languages and haven’t seek for acquiring an L2, or in contrast to those who have may attempted to learn an L2 but have not achieved a degree of fluency to communicate effectively. On the other hand, BFL learners who haven't used the language and it may become dormant are also considered bilingual, therefor these individuals have gone through the same development path and cognitive configuration as active bilingual individuals.

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One becomes bilingual for several reasons highly related to one’s context, influenced by both individual and social factors, as could be cultural heritage, socioeconomic reasons (professional upgrading, educational pursuit, career development, travel, etc..)

If all this previous list could be englobe in one phrase it may be out of necessity, due to a fundamental trait that languages' final goal is to communicate, understand, and connect, intrinsic characteristics of bilingualism.

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We become bilinguals when the language at home is different from the language at school or at work ans we need to keep both to interact with the outside world.

Gharmilla.

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We can feel not bilinguals when we feel limited in one of the languages that we have to use, The lack of fuency could be a sign of we don't feel bilinguals.

Gharmilla.

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Do you consider yourself bilingual? What type of bilingual?

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Do you consider yourself bilingual? What type of bilingual?

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I consider myself trilingual. My native language is Spanish and I can speak, read, write and understand English and German too. The second language I learnt at school is English, which was easy for me, since I learnt it as a kid. Nevertheless, I think that my type of bilingualism (Spanish-English) is "Subordinate Bilingual" because my native language is much stronger and I interpret my L2 through my stronger language. I have to recognise that even though my English level is high, it is not as strong as my L1. Moreover, as an adult, I had the need to learn German, so I am a late bilingual with this language. I do consider myself trilingual because I can communicate well, at a good level, despite the fact that it is the weaker of those three languages.

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Being bilingual means having the ability of communicating and expressing ourselves orally and written in a different language than your native language. You also understand this language by listening and reading.

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People who are considered not bilingual are the ones who can't understand another language and can't communicate verbally or written in that language, even though you know some words or phrases. Also people who haven't used the language for several years as they become "dormant bilinguals".

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There are different ways in which we become bilinguals. It can be due to necessity; being surrounded by people who speak a different language makes you start the process of learning a new language at any age. For example if in the country you live there are more than one official languages or if your parents  speak to you in more than one language. Another reason is a will to grow and become more skilled. It can either be a personal will, for example if you like to travel and learn about new cultures, or maybe you want to be more competitive professionally and have better opportunities.

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Yes, I consider myself a bilingual person because I can read, write and speak both languages, arabic and English.

I think that I'm "dominant bilingual" because my arabic is better than my English, which refers to using arabic at home and English just at work.

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Bilingual means using two languages on a regular basis, so the person can understand, speak and write the two languages equally.

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people became not bilingual when they stop using one of their languages for a while so it becames weaker and couldn't find the right words.

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I do consider myself bilingual. And I would say I am a subordinate bilingual. I have learned an L2 by making connections to my L1. I started to learn English in school; however, I did not study in a bilingual school, I just had a couple of English classes throughout the year.

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I do consider myself bilingual. And I would say I am a subordinate bilingual. I have learned an L2 by making connections to my L1. I started to learn English in school; however, I did not study in a bilingual school, I just had a couple of English classes throughout the year.

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Being bilingual means being able to communicate in two languages. I work in primary and I consider 5 year olds bilingual. Maybe some of them do not know how to write or have a huge bank of vocabulary but they understand and communicate in both languages (Spanish and English).

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Being bilingual means being able to communicate in two languages. I work in primary and I consider 5 year olds bilingual. Maybe some of them do not know how to write or have a huge bank of vocabulary but they understand and communicate in both languages (Spanish and English).

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People who can not engage in a conversation. To be bilingual you need to have a minimum competence to communicate in written or oral form. You do not need to have a perfect L2 but you do need to be capable of transmitting a message.

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People who can not engage in a conversation. To be bilingual you need to have a minimum competence to communicate in written or oral form. You do not need to have a perfect L2 but you do need to be capable of transmitting a message.

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I would say that one of the main reasons people tend to become bilingual nowadays is for professional development. For me and people of my surroundings it has been something that you need to do to become attractive to employers. Especially if we refer to English as the L2. This language is mandatory in lots of jobs, so if you want to have better chances at getting a job you need to be bilingual. 

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I would say that one of the main reasons people tend to become bilingual nowadays is for professional development. For me and people of my surroundings it has been something that you need to do to become attractive to employers. Especially if we refer to English as the L2. This language is mandatory in lots of jobs, so if you want to have better chances at getting a job you need to be bilingual. 

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Rasha hamdy

We get bilinguals because we get the chance to live in countries or environments support that imagine yourself raised in a refugees camp or poor country, so you have poor chance to learn just what makes you survive, so the person get bilingual by traveling to foreign countries and exposed to different cultural