Differences of being bilingual and bicultural

 

Bilingual

The concept of bilingual allows in our language to designate the ability of a person to use and speak two different languages indistinctly, in any type of communicative situation and always with enormous efficiency.

Bilingualism can be of two types, native or, failing that, acquired.

Bicultural

Bicultural is that which implies the coexistence or the union of two cultures. The idea of culture, meanwhile, refers to the set of knowledge, traditions and habits of a community, a historical period, etc.

A region is bicultural when there are two predominant cultures on its territory. The term can also be used with reference to an individual or an institution.

At this point it is important to differentiate between bicultural and bilingual. The bicultural, as we said, supposes the presence of two cultures, while the bilingual refers specifically to two languages. In general, bicultural is also bilingual, although bilingual may not be bicultural.

Many times people are bicultural for family and social reasons. Let's suppose that a Peruvian couple lives in Japan, where their child is born. This child will grow up listening to his parents speak in Spanish; He will eat typical dishes from the land of his parents, such as ceviche and anticuchos; and he will grow up with the music of Chabuca Granda. At the same time, because of his birthplace, he will also speak Japanese, enjoy sushi, and like sumo. The little one, in this way, will be a bicultural individual.