My Experience With Bilingualism

Typically, when people see that I’m Asian and Singaporean, the following conversation would ensue.

“Did you learn English back in Singapore?”
“Actually, we learn everything in English in school,” I would say. “English is our main language, while our mother tongue is our second language.”

Singapore is a bilingual society.

I have always been acutely aware of how lucky I am to have grown up in Singapore. It’s one of a few countries in Asia that uses English as the primary language.  Knowing my level of discipline, I might never have been able to develop it into a proficient level on my own. 

We learned everything in English except our mother tongue, which could be Chinese, Malay or Tamil depending on your ethnicity or preference. We were colonized by the British and this was one of the legacies left behind along with driving on the left side.

It was a good thing our founder, a shrewd man with great foresight and ideas, saw the usefulness of bilingualism with English as the primary language too, and retained the bilingual mode of education, thus shaping Singapore as we know it today.

With the ability to speak two languages comes the tendency of mixing languages, and out of our little pot full of languages came Singlish. But that’s a whole other story.

While not everyone shares the same level of proficiency for both their languages in Singapore, we’re conversant at the very least. I used to lament that because of bilingualism, many of us fail to use either language as effectively as we could if we had focused on learning one language. But as I got older, I see it as a fair deal. People could hone both languages if they choose to, it’s not fair to blame it on the education system. 

Besides, the pros outweigh the cons. It definitely helped the economy, allowing us to build a financial and knowledge hub easily accessible by foreign businesses, which is vital for our resource-scarce economy.

Personally, knowing the English language opened up my world to the millions of English books, and of course, the crazy amount of media available. That really shaped the person I am today. Also, I wouldn’t have discovered the intellectual connection I share with Anth if I didn’t speak English. I’m forever thankful for that.

In the process of improving my English, I did neglect my Chinese language. Besides, having studied everything in English, it became harder for me to read in Chinese. As a result, I read mostly English books and have become stronger in expressing my thoughts in English. I think it’s the same for many other Singaporeans – our mother tongues get rusty! It’s a pity, but as I mentioned, we have a choice to work on our mother tongue.

I don’t know how multi-linguists do it. They’re so mysteriously effective. 

It’s a good thing my family is Chinese-speaking, it makes it way easier to retain my Chinese roots. I’m not about to give it up.

No, I should say I’m never going to give it up. 

So that’s my experience with bilingualism. It’s a gift, but it’s a gift we have to juggle. Sometimes I think we sacrifice some eloquence along the way, but it might be just me. Introversion and eloquence in speech do not always go together. Other than that, I’m really thankful for it. I love both languages, and though I’m not fantastic with them, I intend to keep working on them. 

What was your experience with language?