ABSTRACT
Is it a good idea ro becom c bilingual? just wha t is a bil ingu al? Will a second language affcct one's intelligen ce? Sho uld a young child learn a second language? Whcn sho uld that be? H ow migh t lcarning a seco nd langn age be affecte d by thc first? These are question s which pcopl e and scientists commonly raise. W e shall atte rn pt to provide answers that offer sorne insigh t into th ese and othe r issues,
8.1.1. Any Two Languages: Speech, Sign, or Written
T o begin with, it would be useful to cons ider just what the terrn 'bilingualism' includes. M ost of us, wit hout a second tho ught, would think of a bilingual as a person who is able to speak and und erstand rwo langu ages (languages like Eng lish arid Russian , or C hinese and Arabic) and , for the most part, wc would be right, Beyond th is, th ou gh, the re migh t be varieties of bilin gu als which wo uld strike rnany of us as odd at first, On second th ou gh t wc would rea lize th at th ere are peopl e who, besides an ordinary speech-type langu age, also know a sign langua ge, such as British Sign Langu age or Swedish Sign Lan guage, whi ch are true langua ges (C haprer 2). M oreover, th cre are peop le who can read a second langua ge fluently, even write it weil, bu t who cannot speak or understand its spoken form to any significa nt degrec - many Sanskri t bilingua ls would fall into thi s category. T hese peop le have not learned readin g but th ey have Iearned a langu age in thc umtten mod e (C hapter 3).
