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Life with Two Languages: An Introduction to Bilingualism
Many people consider bilinguals to be exceptional, yet almost half the world’s population speaks more than one language. Bilingualism is found in every country of the world, in every class of society, in all age groups. Life with Two Languages is the first book to provide a complete and authoritative look at the nature of the bilingual experience. François Grosjean, himself a bilingual, covers the topic from each of its many angles in order to provide a balanced introduction to this fascinating phenomenon.
Grosjean discusses the political and social situations that arise when languages come into contact and the policies nations have established toward their linguistic minorities in the domains of education and governance. Of particular interest is his detailed account of the psychological and social factors that lead a bilingual to choose one of her languages when speaking to another bilingual or to use both languages in the fascinating phenomenon of code-switching. The author explains how children become bilingual as quickly as they become monolingual, describes the organization of languages in the bilingual brain, and examines the legacy of bilingualism on language, as exemplified in word borrowings.
Above all, Life with Two Languages puts the emphasis on the bilingual person. In a series of first-hand reports scattered throughout the book, bilinguals tell what it is like to live with two languages and describe the educational and social experiences they have undergone.
Written in a clear and informative style, Life with Two Languages will appeal to professionals and students in linguistics, education, sociology, and psychology, as well as to the more casually curious.
Grosjean discusses the political and social situations that arise when languages come into contact and the policies nations have established toward their linguistic minorities in the domains of education and governance. Of particular interest is his detailed account of the psychological and social factors that lead a bilingual to choose one of her languages when speaking to another bilingual or to use both languages in the fascinating phenomenon of code-switching. The author explains how children become bilingual as quickly as they become monolingual, describes the organization of languages in the bilingual brain, and examines the legacy of bilingualism on language, as exemplified in word borrowings.
Above all, Life with Two Languages puts the emphasis on the bilingual person. In a series of first-hand reports scattered throughout the book, bilinguals tell what it is like to live with two languages and describe the educational and social experiences they have undergone.
Written in a clear and informative style, Life with Two Languages will appeal to professionals and students in linguistics, education, sociology, and psychology, as well as to the more casually curious.
388 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 24, 2016
Read this long ago for a college class on bilingualism. Dated now (written in 1982, cites research from the 1970s) but still an interesting read. Mostly I remembered how Grosjean describes the history of bilingualism research.
* In the early 1900s, research "proved" that bilinguals are mentally slower, apparently because it's too taxing to speak two languages. Ah, but it turns out the bilinguals students they recruited were usually recent immigrants, not yet fluent in English or in US culture, being given tests that were not at all culture-blind.
* Okay, so research in the mid 1900s "proved" that bilinguals are actually a lot smarter, perhaps because of the mental agility gained by maintaining two languages? Well, it turns out the overcorrected for the earlier problems. By only using kids who speak both languages equally well, you're tossing out kids with other issues from the bilingual subjects; but you keep all kids in the monolingual subjects; so again the studies were biased.
* Finally, later 1900s research basically concluded that bilingualism helps you speak another language :)
More recently, I've re-read just the section on bilingualism in children, as my wife and I try to raise our toddler speaking Polish and English.
Grosjean advises the same thing I've heard elsewhere: I should speak only Polish around him, and my wife only English.
I need a bit more guidance, though. What about when we speak to one another around him? Is it bad if I speak English to an American cashier at the store in front of our kid? Can my wife and I read him a bedtime story together, or must we read in separate languages? etc.
Besides such details, Grosjean says kids will likely retain the secondary language (Polish for us) if they are part of a local community of speakers or have close relatives who don't understand the majority language (English). So maybe we should start going to Polish community events here, even check out the church? And keep calling my relatives often. Otherwise, the kid may keep understanding the language but probably won't maintain fluent speech for long. If I'm literally the only person who speaks Polish around him, he'll drop once he figures out I understand English too.
Grosjean also has great quotes from people who grew up bilingual. One was a hearing girl raised by Deaf parents, so she would answer the phone for them and be their ASL translator from a young age. It's a bit funny but also sad to imagine this four-year-old trying to convince the operator that yes, she really does mean to call long-distance, and no, it's fruitless to ask to speak with her mother.
Unrelated, but I also found this offhand comment intriguing:
p.209: "Ohannessian (1972) notes, for instance, that the American culture stresses learning by doing, whereas the Navajo culture relies on prolonged observation or 'prelearning.'"
Apparently citing a chapter from The language education of minority children;: Selected readings. Sounds like an interesting perspective, and maybe worth learning more about as I try to become a better teacher, instead of trying to force everyone to learn-by-doing.
* In the early 1900s, research "proved" that bilinguals are mentally slower, apparently because it's too taxing to speak two languages. Ah, but it turns out the bilinguals students they recruited were usually recent immigrants, not yet fluent in English or in US culture, being given tests that were not at all culture-blind.
* Okay, so research in the mid 1900s "proved" that bilinguals are actually a lot smarter, perhaps because of the mental agility gained by maintaining two languages? Well, it turns out the overcorrected for the earlier problems. By only using kids who speak both languages equally well, you're tossing out kids with other issues from the bilingual subjects; but you keep all kids in the monolingual subjects; so again the studies were biased.
* Finally, later 1900s research basically concluded that bilingualism helps you speak another language :)
More recently, I've re-read just the section on bilingualism in children, as my wife and I try to raise our toddler speaking Polish and English.
Grosjean advises the same thing I've heard elsewhere: I should speak only Polish around him, and my wife only English.
I need a bit more guidance, though. What about when we speak to one another around him? Is it bad if I speak English to an American cashier at the store in front of our kid? Can my wife and I read him a bedtime story together, or must we read in separate languages? etc.
Besides such details, Grosjean says kids will likely retain the secondary language (Polish for us) if they are part of a local community of speakers or have close relatives who don't understand the majority language (English). So maybe we should start going to Polish community events here, even check out the church? And keep calling my relatives often. Otherwise, the kid may keep understanding the language but probably won't maintain fluent speech for long. If I'm literally the only person who speaks Polish around him, he'll drop once he figures out I understand English too.
Grosjean also has great quotes from people who grew up bilingual. One was a hearing girl raised by Deaf parents, so she would answer the phone for them and be their ASL translator from a young age. It's a bit funny but also sad to imagine this four-year-old trying to convince the operator that yes, she really does mean to call long-distance, and no, it's fruitless to ask to speak with her mother.
Unrelated, but I also found this offhand comment intriguing:
p.209: "Ohannessian (1972) notes, for instance, that the American culture stresses learning by doing, whereas the Navajo culture relies on prolonged observation or 'prelearning.'"
Apparently citing a chapter from The language education of minority children;: Selected readings. Sounds like an interesting perspective, and maybe worth learning more about as I try to become a better teacher, instead of trying to force everyone to learn-by-doing.
July 23, 2025
it was very easy to understand (not a lot of jargon) but i found it a little bit repetitive
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews