Learning Journal #9

[Corinna Cho]

I am bilingual and I speak both English and Mandarin. I agree that being bilingual requires more skills and more brain work, therefore, it can seem as if bilingual speakers are smarter. Bilingual speakers are able to combine the different languages and think in both simultaneously. In addition, I would also constantly combine languages together when I talk to my fellow friends that are bilingual. Being in an environment where I had to be bilingual really helped me in bettering both languages. I lived in Taiwan where I needed to speak mandarin, but I also went to an American international school where we received an American education. However, now trying to learn a language when I am older is much harder and requires a lot more time and effort compared to when I was learning mandarin. Furthermore, not having the environment that forced me to speak it constantly makes the process of learning it slower.