Multilingualism
In the broadest sense of the word, multilingualism can be interpreted as the ability to converse in two or more languages. There are different kinds of multilingualism depending on their popularity all around the world. The most widespread of them are bilingualism (the knowledge of two languages) and trilingualism (the knowledge of three). In general, a person competent in two or more languages may be named a polyglot.
Furthermore, there exists a certain distinction between the "first" and the rest of the languages acquired in the course of life-span. The first language is considered to be the one acquired during childhood with no special efforts and no formal approaches. Actually, it is one's mother tongue that is mastered in the easiest way and regarded as the one dominating all others.
There's no mistaking the facts that the best period of life-time to start learning languages is childhood. It's not only about one's mother tongue or other languages: being a child is the most proper moment to perceive any kind of thing. So, the earlier, the better.
To continue the topic, we must mention an ambiguous definition of multilingualism among modern scientists presently that is determined by the degree of this or that language a person is supposed to be so as to be considered a multilingual speaker and this process might be acknowledged multilingualism. One group of scholars asserts that speakers must have a perfect command of the second (correspondingly, third, fourth, etc) and control as much all other languages as he controls his first language. Another definition suggested by another group of scientists affirms that minimal knowledge of the second language may be admitted multilingualism. In that case, a person who smatters a second language may be recognized a polyglot as well. However, neither of the above-mentioned hypotheses doesn't formulate the volume of language knowledge necessary for it being confessed bilingual.
As a result, it happens so very often that a person (especially, a child) that starts studying a foreign language (if moved to another territory) doesn't succeed in mastering it right from the very beginning and fails to pick it up to the required degree, his knowledge may turn out to be insufficient or even equal to zero. At the same time, if dwelling in a foreign-language community, first-language skills may be completely lost.
Thus, multilingualism is an extensional notion that is currently viewed from different standpoints. Nevertheless, it is a prevalent phenomenon stipulating command of two or more languages.
