are most bilingual summary few day ago inquire estimate portion world s human population bilingual one motive ask able shame student language study seriously mainstream human exhort thank michael brody eva fernandez jussus karlgren ruth kearn informative reply insofar information topic reference list below author point one problem question difficulty define bilingual since most describe equally proficient both language key excerpt follow romaine thirty many language country entail sic presence bilingualism practically every country world grosjean vius estimate half world s population bilingual however really precise figure number distribution speaker two language grosjean interest fact really precise statistics exist concern number distribution speaker two language romaine quote makey bilingualism far exceptional problem sic affect majority world s population grosjean quote lewi bilingualism nearer normal situation most believe end quotation remember ask principle estimate far tell author little base reason behind estimate ruth kearn point estimate tend statistics number language speak various country statisitic population size those country remains wideopen question jussus karlgren express interest hunch number language speak inverse correlation average school general population area rather sarcastic commentary inefficacy formal language teach liberty rationalize follow school tend impose artificially single standard language detriment plurality language speak naturally references grosjean francoi life two language cambridge harvard university press lewi e g bilingualism bilingual education ancient world renaissance bilingual education international sociological perspective ed j fishman rowley mass newbury house mackey william franci bilingualism world problem le bilinguisme phenomene mondial montreal harvest house mackey w f bilinguisme et contact de langue pari klinckseick romaine suzanne nd ed bilingualism oxford blackwell lee hartman ga siucvmb siu edu department foreign language southern illinoi university carbondale il u s 