From the early myths regarding bilinguals as split personalities, defining who constitutes as bilingual has come a long way. Einar Haugen, a scholar of linguistic studies, proposed that the ability to produce meaningful utterances in a language was the initiation of bilingualism, and any other advancements in one’s language acquisition was a step closer to becoming a native speaker. In my opinion, Haugen was correct in viewing bilingualism as a progression of mastering a language, but did not accurately pinpoint the stage at which a person can start to be considered as bilingual.
I am ashamed to say that after living in Saudi Arabia for seventeen years, I have acquired close to none of the national language, Arabic. The only environment in which I was forced to use the language was when communicating with local salesmen or in the mandat
This theory originates from an experience I believe sparked my curiosity in linguistics. I, until very recently, was extremely unconfident in my Urdu speaking ability and would not use the little amount I did learn at home out of fear and anxiety. However, I started using it more frequently during one summer in Pakistan, and managed to learn many more skills and started conversing more fluently. At that point I felt that I had acquired a new language that I am still learning in more detail today.
I propose that one can be considered a bilingual when they are at ease with conversing in and understanding a particular language and are increasing their knowledge of the language with the ultimate goal of speaking like a native. People may comment on the vagueness that makes up a part of my definition where being at ease can be interpreted in different ways. However, I feel that unl
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