Dorothy

I would definitively consider myself bicultural. I think to be bicultural means you have experienced two different cultural systems and you have integrated both into your life. There are different reasons as to why I would consider myself bicultural. One, is that I have lived now in the US for five years and embraced the American culture fully but I have also maintained by Italian roots and values. Additionally I am fluent in both Italian and English and use these languages daily. I also celebrate and practice holidays from both cultures. I identify myself with both cultures, perhaps more with one in some contexts and with the other in other contexts. My Italian heritage and my current life in the US definitely offer me a bicultural experience and perspective. 

To be honest I don't really know but I'll say I am largely monolingual. I am Singaporean-Chinese so technically I should be bicultural but I struggle to separate these cultures. My family is from Malaysia but I don't really feel any cultural differences since there's a lot of overlap. I think the way we speak is different but there's no distinct differences felt in my everyday life.

Question:

It is said that if you're able to switch between "cultures" when speaking to others then you are bicultural but is that not just being aware of the cultural norms of your interlocutors?

I would consider myself as a bicultural without much hesitation as I can clearly sense that I very often switch between my way of perceiving things and ways of expression when dealing in different cultural context and people. Since I stay in Singapore during weekdays and Malaysia in the weekends, I would need to switch frequently and there is a difference between the two countries' culture although many may not notice. This frequent switching has became so obvious that I know I have more than one culture where I embrace both of them and adopt the suitable one in different context, and see things in more than one perspective.

the differences are super evident when i swap between singlish, standard and mandarin and/or dialect- common cultural identities are an opportunity to create easy connections, and there's certainly conflation between culture and language. speaking the language is often a sign of knowing the culture- the same goes for other subcultures! i definitely try to empathise with people based on which languages they speak, since it's so closely tied to what culture they feel most comfortable with, and thus the values/behaviour they expect to see.

that easy switching between cultures (and language plus value systems), i think, is good evidence of my multi-culturalism :)