News & Press

Bilingualism vs Biculturalism

When you research the internet for information about bilingualism, a word that often pops up is biculturalism. A lot of people would assume that it is the same thing, but this is not the case.

So what is bilculturalism? The Wikipedia definition sums it up like this: "Biculturalism involves two originally distinct cultures in some form of co-existence." It is important to point out in relation to bilingualism, the two are related, but are not the same. You could say bilingualism is a door into biculturalism.

Biculturalism includes the aspect of a culture besides language (e.g.. food, folk art, celebrations, jokes, manners, clothes and dressing, working schedules, religion, medical cures, and child-rearing methods).

We found an interesting article, that explains biculturalism with the example of Japanese immigrants in Brazil.

Please click the link down below to read the whole article.