Bilingualism has a variety of definitions and, in many cases, the word ‘bilingual’ is not used with the implication that two languages are spoken at the exact same level of proficiency. Many bilingual speakers may believe that they speak their two native tongues with equal skillfulness. However, to achieve complete bilingualism in the very same subject areas or contexts can sometimes prove a tad difficult. In fact, the chances of achieving absolute all-round proficiency across the board in more than one language are very slim.

Even in situations of diglossia (where two or more languages or dialects coexist within the same community) speakers will tend to use different codes in different situations. For instance, English might be used by speakers solely in strictly formal contexts, while Hindi may be spoken by the very same people to interact informally or colloquially with other members of the same linguistic community.

Some people may have lived certain episodes of their lives ‘in one language’ and gone through other moments of their lives ‘in another language’. This often happens to those who have migrated from one region or country to another. Because the speakers of linguistic community A use L1 and those of community B use L2, the speaker may have acquired knowledge of a particular semantic field in L2 and not in L1, or vice versa. As mentioned above, this may also happen in the context of diglossia. For instance, the speaker attends university in Spanish (L2), but has always used Catalan (L1) with their family and friends. This could account for their being more at ease when speaking colloquially in Catalan, while also being more familiar with technical terms in Spanish. Or vice versa, of course, depending on their particular linguistic background. All of this can happen without the bilingual speaker even having to move away from their country of origin.

Like a garden, a language needs looking after. The plants must be tended to so that none are neglected. They need watering so that none wither away.

These hypothetical examples based on reality point to the notion that knowing how to use a language isn’t something you should take for granted. Just because a speaker has already acquired a language it doesn’t mean that the language does not need taking care of. Like a garden, a language needs looking after. The plants must be tended to so that none are neglected. They need watering so that none wither away. Taking care of one garden requires the correct tools. Taking care of two not only requires the correct tools but also a greater amount of time and effort to deal with the extra work. Add to this the willingness and awareness of having to balance your time out between one patch of land and the other, so as to avoid letting one of the two fall out of use and die away.

To approach the subject from a different metaphorical perspective, you could say that being proficient in more than one language isn’t always a smooth ride. It is more like a clumsy balancing act of pedalling two bikes up an unnecessarily steep road.

Of course, being fluent in two or more languages comes with great advantages which largely outweigh its downsides. More access to culture and entertainment. Access to multiple outlooks on life. Further chances of experiencing enriching social exchanges with others. More job opportunities. Enhanced creativity and communication skills. The list goes on.

In short, even though fluency may be a given for those who know two or more languages well, it may not always be easy for them to maintain a constant and perfectly-rounded state of full and absolute bilingualism on every level. This isn’t synonymous with failure. Far from it. Knowing more than one language at any given level is overwhelmingly positive.

So even if you are a native monolingual and you haven’t yet started learning a second language, it is never too late to be not-quite-fully-bilingual.

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Is it Possible to Be Fully Bilingual? was originally published in All About Language on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We all know how learning a language can be very useful and sometimes even lots of fun. Be it work, studies or just for the heck of it, there are a myriad of reasons for sitting down and putting in those hours of Spanish, Mandarin or German. At times though, it can seem as if however much you try to progress you’re just not getting anywhere.

The truth is that the traditional approach of getting yourself off the couch, sitting your backside down in a classroom chair and having a language figuratively thrown at your face is a process that can be lacking at best and detrimental at worst.

We’re all too familiar with the ouvrez-la-fenêtre phenomenon. All those years of learning French at school only to come away from the whole process with the deficient knowledge of a few simple commands and phrases which will come in very handy when you find yourself in the inevitable situation of having to boss around a bunch of snotty seven-year-old schoolchildren in a draughty French classroom. Open the window. Close the door. And wipe those obscene scribblings off of the interactive whiteboard while you’re at it.

And yet most of us will never have the pleasure or misfortune of finding ourselves in such a questionable situation as this (unless you are a French teacher, in which case you should probably be somewhat better acquainted with the language anyway). The point is we will never get to use those skills in which we invested so many hours of our childhood (cue sad face).

In any case, learning a language in the classroom doesn’t have to be a dismal and disappointing experience. And neither does it have to reap next to no benefits. Formal education is a means to an end and it shouldn’t necessarily be discarded or dismissed. If done properly the benefits can show. But we mustn’t forget that it is just another tool in the shed of language learning. Here we shall be exploring some of the other less explored tools at hand and, hopefully, inspiring you to delve into the shed and go dust them out a little.

1. Language Tandems

Tandems. Language exchange events. Call them what you will. If you have a Facebook account and live near a medium-sized city chances are you’ll find something of the sort online. These events tend to be set up by language tandem organisations or just by one or two people who know someone at their local coffee shop willing to lend them a few tables in exchange for some extra customers every Thursday or Friday. In some places there are even specific cafés and bars whose existence revolves around the whole idea. Like Språkcaféet in Gothenburg’s appropriately named Esperantoplatsen.

You can also check out events on Couchsurfing or Meetup.com if you are so inclined.

2. Cinema, TV and podcasts

This is a good one for those of us who are introverts but still love languages and are looking for fun ways of practising our listening skills. Whether you are a film enthusiast and language lover or just a language learner who loves to watch a good film every now and then, you can give this a go.

If your target language is relatively new to you then you can start by watching news bulletins, which tend to be more simple and straightforward, both in terms of pronunciation and grammar (unless it’s about Brexit, in which case good luck keeping up regardless). The same applies to podcasts.

Streaming series is also a great idea, as you can choose to watch a show in your target language with subtitles in that language. Try not to be tempted into changing the subtitles to your mother tongue or you won’t be practising as much as you think you are (unless you’re just starting out or getting a feel for the language, of course).

3. Apps

Yes, there’s more to the AppStore than Duolingo! This might be one of the top go-to apps for language learners but it isn’t the only one. Not to say you shouldn’t give it a go but let’s be a bit more original here. There are some other pretty popular smartphone apps out there designed specifically to meet native speakers of your target language. HelloTalk, Tandem Language Exchange and Speaky are a few that spring to mind. These apps work by pairing you up with other users who are fluent in the language you are seeking to practise and who also wish to practise the language that you can offer them.

This is just a succinct list of ideas which may or may not be of interest to you depending on your particular circumstances. There are many more useful tools to keep learning languages in interactive, engaging and fun ways. For instance, if you are living in a country where the main language is the one you are learning, then you are quite literally surrounded by an almost endless source of opportunities to practise. For those of us who aren’t, well, we’ll just have to make do with all the boring stuff listed above, like Netflix and new friends from abroad.

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3 Ways of Learning a Language Outside the Classroom was originally published in All About Language on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.