Bilingualism Plus

Now, at the end of this years After Babel course and after numerous discussions and opinions about language policy, it is time to come to an end with this blog. The final question to answer is whether the European Language Policy is an adequate answer to the complexities of the coming decades. It serves as a perfect way to reflect upon the discussions and opinions shared throughout the last weeks. Continue reading Bilingualism Plus

Eestlane olen ja eestlaseks jään?

My name is Luca and I am a 23-year old girl from Estonia. I was raised in an Estonian-speaking environment and that is the only language that I knew until the age of 7 when I started school. Through education, love for travelling, and general curiosity, my knowledge of languages has slowly developed over the years to a point where I could safely call myself a bilingual now.

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My Language Identity

My name is Rob, I am 22 years old and was born in Maastricht, The Netherlands. I am currently a third year European Studies student at Maastricht University. I speak the Maastricht dialect, Dutch, English, German and a little bit of French and Spanish.

maastricht23 Bilingual street signs in Maastricht

At home we speak the Maastricht dialect, so I was raised speaking this far more than Dutch. As such Dutch is more like a lingua franca for me when communicating with Dutch people from other parts of the Netherlands as well as locals who do not speak the dialect.

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Yo, moi, myself: Cari Zarco

Bienvenido,

My name is Caridad Zarco Lens, although people call me Cari. I am a twenty-one years old Spanish national from Cartagena, Murcia, being, thus, my mother tongue Spanish. My family is entirely Spanish and I have been living in Spain, although in different cities and regions, my whole life. Until now (2012).

IMG_0285

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Me and my language identity

Guten Tag! Hello! Bonjour! приве́т!

My name is Daria Li Marienfeld –  it incorporates names originating from three distant regions. “Daria” is taken from its Persian origin, “Li”, my middle name, is Chinese, and my last name is German. My real language identity however is unique in a way that my name does not hint at, as my Chinese and Persian names are the only, and superficial, “ties” that I have to those regions, and since these are superficial they cannot be referred to as genuine ties and components of my language identity as I perceive it.

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