Languages mix in the hallways and at home. Words get jumbled up on the page. Upper School (US) students switch between languages frequently without thinking twice. 136 US students are bilingual or multilingual, shaping how they communicate with others and learn at the US.
US World Languages Department Head James Sennette speaks English and French.
“There is a point when things start to get jumbled in your head, but with practice, that can get better,” he said. “Students who are bilingual have an upper hand in being able to make those connections because they know what it’s like to learn a language. There are many studies that say being bilingual enhances your intelligence because it works different parts of your brain that those who aren’t bilingual can’t access.”
Born in Brazil, Gabe De Oliveira ’28 grew up speaking Portuguese.
“Something I’ve learned is when you live in a country you are not born in but live so much in that language, you begin to forget your mother language and shift your life into English, into the language you are in right now,” he said. “So, I’m more dominant in English than in Portuguese in some categories.”
Gabe learned English after moving to the United States in 2020.
“At BB&N, especially in the writing department, every time that I would have trouble with grammar, the teacher would say, ‘Well, English is your second language, so it is understandable that you would make a mistake,’” he said. “‘Therefore, I’m not going to grade you as severely in grammar.’ They’re very understanding that I’ve only been here for five years. BB&N has a lot more opportunities and is overall a more liberating place to be yourself.”
Lauyanne Kouame ’26 lived in France for eight years.
“For math and STEM, it doesn’t really matter because there are mostly numbers, but sometimes, in English class or when I get a really hard text, it’s harder to understand because I try to translate it in my brain to see what it’s saying and to understand it,” she said. “I’ve learned to be more careful in my reading and pay more attention to certain words.”
Being bilingual can be helpful when learning new languages.
“I take Latin now, and that’s been helping because French and Latin are basically the same thing, so it helps me know vocab more,” Lauyanne said. “Knowing another language helps me a lot because English I learned by being here, but with Latin, you have to learn conjugations and tenses, and that’s similar to how French is taught.”
For Jone Abadie ’28, speaking Spanish has affected her acquisition of French skills.
“There’s similarities because they both have the same language root, so it can sometimes help me, but it can also be confusing because there’s some overlap, and you don’t know what overlaps and what doesn’t,” she said. “The US has a lot of language options, so if you already speak a language, it is easier.”
Jone said the US could do more to support bilingual students.
“One thing BB&N has been trying to do more is making these classes for students who already speak a language but don’t really know the grammar and writing that well. The expansion of that project could be really cool.”
