Being a student from UofT I think we are all familiar with the concept of being bilingual. It affects our lives in many ways including our speech patterns, studying styles, behaviours and interactions with other people. This article will provide you with just a snapshot of the perks and quirks of being bilingual.
Let’s start with the most obvious one. Either your first language was not English or you had to learn another language for education e.g. people who learnt French for going to Montreal.
It makes you feel superior to others even if you don’t admit it to yourself. A reason why international students of UofT must feel special!
You were very relieved after a few months of learning the second language. It is hard to understand the language at first but when you get the gist of it, it is all good.
When you are in public and someone pisses you off, you can always talk in your native language so that this certain person doesn’t know what you are talking about.
Sometimes you have a weird way of combining the two languages to convey information.
Your family back home country are always impressed because you know a second language.But also because you go to UofT.
Sometimes when you talk to yourself, people look up and ask ‘’what language are you speaking?’’.
Referring to the last line, this means that you can help your cousins with their homework.
You can write out your feelings or secrets in a notebook anytime because people around you won’t be able to understand it.
You are used to people staring when you talk to your mom.
Your accent has become a mix of both languages also classified as the ‘’international accent’’. This is common in UofT too.
Sometimes you interrogate yourself and ask which language you know better.
Sometimes when you are asked to translate some certain phrases or words, you just can’t because there are no equivalent words to convert it to.
When you read a text for class, you tend to make notes in the other language with which you are more comfortable.
It is always awkward when you are out with your friends and you get a call from your parents.
Some of us end up forgetting our native language as we live overseas. It all returns back to normal during summer though.
You also get confused with money during travels. How many Euros is $5? I guess being bilingual affects math too.
I don’t know if this is true for everyone but in my experience, being bilingual and taking linguistics is a terrible combination.
You might be fluent in the second language but might have problems pronouncing words.
Lastly, you know that being bilingual can make life a bit complicated, but you wouldn’t like it any other way because it makes you who you are.
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