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A question about being bi lingual (self.germany)

submitted 5 days ago by Mickey7 to c/germany

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In the USA most of us have never mastered anything but English. You may be taught other languages in school but if you are never immersed in them for any period of time you never feel comfortable reading, writing, or speaking a foreign language. My unscientific observation is that most Germans are fluent in both German and English. In Germany is English taught in all schools? How do people become fluent in both German and English? If you are truly bi lingual, what language do you "think" in?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Most (educated, young) Germans speak some English, relatively fluent if they use English frequently at the workplace or in their free time (e.g. movies). We are not bilingual. English is a language taught in school (for most) and learned after childhood.

Actual bilingual people, such as a person from the UK growing up in Germany, can have two mother tongues. Someone who actually lived in an English speaking country for more than 1 year may be bilingual, but the average German is not.

To answer your questions: Most schools teach English as the first foreign language and any school teaches at least one foreign language. So, yes, every German should at least speak one other language and very often it's English. None of our neighbouring countries speak English, so French is also popular, but declining. Spanish is popular, but nowhere near as widespread as English or French.

And on your second question: I think in language and most of the time I think in German, but when I'm in an English-speaking country or working with English texts I tend to think in English.

[–] dustyData 2 points 5 days ago

That's not the correct definition of bilingualism. You're describing simultaneous bilingualism, which is just a way to describe learning two languages at once in childhood. This is not a requirement for bilingualism.