To think you can have two first languages?

[dirtysusan]

My friend asked me what my first language was. I grew up speaking English and Gaelic. I grew up in a moderately Gaelic community (about 30-40%). My dad spoke Gaelic and my mum English (she is an Englisher by birth). I went to a Gaelic school.

I would say I have two first languages. My English is now better than my Gaelic because I rarely get chance to speak it in London. But give me an hour and I’m back to normal.

Of course but I think it’s hard to understand if your not bilingual.

Genuine question as I can only speak one language- do you dream in both languages?

What language do you think in (by default?)

I can think in both, and dream in both. But if I’ve been speaking English all day for months then I think in English.

If I’m with other Gaelic speakers then I revert back.

yep I’m the same, yanbu.

Of course you can - just at different stages in life one may become more dominant than the other.

My daughter is bilingual in English and Russian. She understands it perfectly, can speak Russian well, but is often lost for the word if I ask her what something is in Russian.

My wife didn't speak a word of Russian till she went to school and now struggles with her home language (former Soviet Republic).

Her mother was a teacher of both languages and can switch between the two and do simultaneous translation.

Yes you can.
My dh is Spanish and our dcs can speak , read and write in both languages

Yes. I grew up in a Welsh speaking home and had a Welsh medium education. I never formally learned English, just picked it up and learned to read and write in both.

Of course you can. I grew up in Eastern Europe, spoke 2 languages since birth. My parents were from 2 different countries so I spoke in their native language to each of them.

Maybe you are both then. I always thought you had whichever you grew up with (but that assumes both parents speak the same language in the home, and the language is different outside the home). I also thought even if people were fluent in multiple languages, by default they thought and dreamt in whatever their first language was. Fascinating to think about

I agree you can, and if someone asks again I would say you grew up completely bilingual.

I think you can have two equally balanced languages but will always have stronger and weaker points in each of them.

Are you a speaker of Scottish or Irish Gaelic? Either way, I wish there were many more first-language speakers of both these fab languages….!

Of course you can. Very common in gaeilgeóirí — native Irish speakers. And I can think of lots of British Asian friends who would absolutely have Gujerati or Urdu and English as two first languages.

Of course, but generally you have to have spoken from early childhood, it's harder if you learn past about 8 according to the research. The language of your dreams is meant to be your first language but I have a friend who dreams in both her mother tongue and English (she moved here at 16)

I agree, my dh did and we are trying our best with dc too.

Yes of course. It's called being bilingual.

I live in an area with a lot of bilingual Welsh / English families. Lots of the children have two "first" languages.

Typically children with parents who speak different languages start spezking both at the same time and for a while mix the two.
As others have said, as they get older one language becomes dominant but it is not always the same.
I am not bilingual from birth but have lived and worked for a long time in a country that speaks a different language. I dream in both languages. If I am dreaming about a specific person they speak in the dream in the language they use in real life.

For me, it depends. My ‘default’ is whatever I’m predominantly speaking at the time. If I’m mainly speaking English, it’s English. If I’m mainly speaking Serbian, then I think and dream in Serbian. Same for Russian.

I do struggle at time with making translations, because it feels like I have to ‘reset’ and switch to a different part of my brain to process it. It’s hard to explain. You can also fall out of practice with a language. I forget a lot if I haven’t spoken a language for a while, but then it comes back once I start again.

I wouldn’t say that. Bilingual can encompass a whole range of language abilities. Most bilingual people I know do have one language that they regard as their first and not the other. You do get fully balanced bilinguals though.

Yes you can. I grew up speaking Welsh and went through Welsh medium education. I speak English with my friends and some relatives and watch mainly English tv but speak Welsh all day at work, in lots of shops and in the local area. I speak both with my children who are also going through Welsh education and are bilingual.

I am bilingual and dream and think in both languages.
If I am learning a new language, my mother tongue is stronger than English, so I would say that despite being completely bilingual, my first language is dominant.

Some people have more than two "first" languages.

I live in central Europe. Two of my English friends here are married to partners from other EU countries which both have their own languages, neither of which is the language of the country in which we all currently live.

Their children speak English, plus the local language, plus the language of their other parent - so they speak three languages fluently and alternate depending on who they are speaking to and the setting, and often they'll say something that changes language mid-sentence.