Well bilingual means you know the two languages just as well(because you were raised learning both). So yeah...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It doesn't mean that you were raised learning both, but it does mean you can speak both.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

err... bi·lin·gual   adjective 1. able to speak two languages with the facility of a native speaker. No, seriously. Even if you speak a language fairly well that doesn't make you bilingual, and basically the only way to get to that sort of level is to be raised with the language. Bilingual education and all that. That being said, you can speak a language fairly well and still not get along with a native...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No, you don't have to be raised learning both languages. It if the opposite of what you are saying. If you can have a conversation with a native speaker where they understand you and you understand them, that's being bilingual. That's having the ability to speak two lanuages. Truuninja is right.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I can hold conversations with Spanish people, that doesn't make me bilingual(with Spanish, that is. I am bilingual with English). I barely even know the language, actually. And even though I have a great grasp of English if I were to talk to certain natives I wouldn't understand a thing. (Cockney and quite a few accents and regional dialects).

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I was gonna be a smartarse and say something like "So, if I know English and French, but can't have a conversation with someone in Arabic, I'm not bilingual?" because you didn't specific that "another language" was a language you knew, but I'm not feeling like a jerk today, so YYA.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

What?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

"If you couldn't have a complete and legitimate conversation with someone in another language, you're not bilingual, amirite?" -- I couldn't have a conversation with someone in Italian, but that doesn't mean that I'm not bilingual - there's every chance I could speak two languages that aren't Italian. Anyway, I realised that was a jerk thing to comment, so I just made my stupid comment explaining it instead. Disregard.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But you can have a conversation in French, which is another language.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

HOLA

by Anonymous 13 years ago

People listing French as their second languages because they take French class *facepalM*

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Or if they "taught" themselves a language so they think they "know" it. "Oh i speak Italian! Io sto molto bene! Pizza! Italia! Pasta! Buongiorno! I'm fluent!" No, you've seen an episode of Muzzy.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Depends. I've taken French Immersion for 11 years. That's French class. Am I not bilingual? Don't read this as rude. Read this as a comment.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I think they mean that you can take a class to become bilingual, but taking a foreign language class (especially a high school one) doesn't make you bilingual.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm just saying, you can't make that generalization because everyone's story is a little different. I'm also not sure I understand the difference between a class and a foreign language class...?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah seriously. People from my school need to stop adding Spanish/French to their languages on Facebook. Like, really? You're fluent in that language after 2-3 years of taking a high school language class? Please.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Or they were using a language you never learned.

by Anonymous 8 years ago