Bilingualism and second language learning: insights from bilinguals

The ability to understand and speak two languages efficiently is called bilingualism, which is categorized into different shades and types. Regarding early bilingualism, in the world many children are exposed to two languages since their birth, some of them because have migrated to another country from the one of their parents’ origins, and others by choice of their parents who teach and talk to them. The cognitive method of linguistic acquisition and the use of that is deeply different between a bilingual and a monolingual child, but is it easier for a bilingual child to learn a new language? And what are the advantages of growing up as a bilingual person? The aim of this dissertation is to investigate how bilingual children approach a second language, their process and how they may see words and structure of sentences in their mind. Moreover, it will present some possible benefits and translation skills of bilingual children. Furthermore, there are the answers of a questionnaire fulfilled by some bilingual people who give their opinions about this topic based on their own experience during childhood and the effect that this has on how they approach a new language. The paper concludes by critically discussing the results.