Life as a Bilingual

The reality of living with two (or more) languages

Francois Grosjean Ph.D., Aneta Pavlenko Ph.D.

The Research Finding Some of Us Didn't Want to Believe

A very old research finding related to the slight delay that can occur in the perception of spoken code-switches by bilinguals has had a long and interesting life.

What Does It Mean to be a Multilingual Archeologist?

Rachel Mairs, an incredibly multilingual classicist and archeologist, offers insights into her language learning and field work.

When a Parent Is a Child's Only Language Source

Raising a bilingual child is a challenge when one parent is the only source of the second language. A father shares how he goes about it with his three-year old.

Passing for a Native Speaker, Part 2

The cult Israeli TV show Fauda offers surprising answers to the perennial question: Can adults ever pass for native speakers of a language they weren’t born into?

The Amazing Rise of Bilingualism in the United States

The United States has long been seen as mostly monolingual. However, things have changed rapidly in the last 40 years. A fifth of the population is now bilingual.

Life as a Bilingual II

The blog "Life as a bilingual" is more than seven years old and has been consulted by a large number of visitors. We look back on this wonderful adventure.

Are There Any Female Polyglots?

Some believe that women are better language learners and others say that there are more famous polyglots among men. Which is true?

When Bilinguals Borrow from One Language to Another

Many bilinguals borrow words from different languages. Dr. Shana Poplack, an expert on this phenomenon and the author of "Borrowing," tells us how this takes place.

Is Poetry Translatable?

Eugene Ostashevsky—a poet, translator, and scholar who lives and works in several languages—talks about the untranslatability of poetry.

Parents Who Fight for Bilingual Education

Groups of parents working with teachers and school officials have helped found dual-language programs in New York public schools. Dr. Fabrice Jaumont tells us about it.

What You Didn't Know About François Grosjean

François Grosjean started this blog in 2010 and more than 1.3 millions readers have visited it since then. But who is this rather discreet researcher known the world over?

Bilingual Infants Learning New Words

Young bilingual infants learn new words in their languages amazingly well. Dr. Krista Byers-Heinlein, an expert on bilingual language development, tells us how they do it.

Do Musicians Make Better Language Learners?

Do people with musical training have an easier time learning foreign languages? Or is it the other way around and it is our language experience that makes us better musicians?

Linguistic and Cultural Challenges of Foreign Correspondents

How do foreign correspondents navigate, linguistically and culturally, between the country they are working in and the country they are reporting to?

You are Never Too Old to Learn a New Language

What are the challenges and rewards of learning a new language? Ann Patty, author of "Living with a dead language: My romance with Latin", tells us about her recent experience.

Misunderstanding in the Multilingual Workplace

Today’s workplace increasingly brings together people from diverse language backgrounds. Is this multilingualism a threat in need of a solution or a par for the course?

Bilingualism in the Sky

English is the international language of civil aviation and hence many airline pilots and controllers have to communicate in a language other than their own. What does this entail?

A Multivocal Self

An interview with Julie Choi, author of “Creating a multivocal self”, about the ambiguity and vulnerability of multilingual existence and the pros that outweigh the cons.

Supporting Bilingual Children With Special Education Needs

Despite what has been maintained for too long, children with developmental disabilities can indeed become bilingual, or remain bilingual if they have grown up with two languages.

Love in a Second Language

An interview with Lauren Collins, author of "When in French: Love in a second language" about life, love and language.

What Is Different in the Bilingual Brain? Part II

Recent research has shown that the bilingual brain uses the same neural structures and resources as the monolingual brain but in different ways. A specialist continues explaining.

How Bilinguals Deal with Moral Dilemmas

One of the hottest areas of research on bilingualism is the interaction between morality and language. Does being bilingual differentiate us when it comes to moral dilemmas?

Why Aren't You Speaking The Right Language? Part 2

Bilinguals often associate a particular language to a specific speaker. How do they react when they are confronted with a language they do not expect?

Foreign Language Learning Is Like Dating: It Spurs Anxiety

Anxiety and embarrassment are often seen as a detriment to success in foreign language learning but recent studies hint that small doses of anxiety don’t hurt.

Bilingual Children With Hearing Loss

Recent studies have put to rest claims that bilingualism hinders the acquisition of the majority language in children with hearing loss.

Second Language Speakers and Police Interviews

Misunderstanding is an inevitable part of communicating in a second language. After all, how else can we learn? Sometimes, however, the price of misunderstanding is too high.

What is Different in the Bilingual Brain?

Recent research has shown that the bilingual brain uses the same neural structures and resources as the monolingual brain but in different ways. A specialist explains.

Assessing Speech Perception and Comprehension in Bilinguals

When bilinguals need to have their speech perception and comprehension assessed clinically, how is it done? And what are the issues at stake?

Poetry in a Second Language

Once upon a time, in Renaissance Europe, multilingual poetry was not an exception but the norm. Was it also a secret tool for learning foreign languages?

What Does It Mean to Be Dominant in a Language?

An interesting concept in the study of bilingualism is language dominance. What does it mean? And does it depend, in part, on what a bilingual's languages are used for?

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