The double life of a bilingual: A cross-cultural perspective

Abstract

I live in Australia. I have lived here for more than twenty years. But I am not an Australian. I was born in Poland, and I am Polish. Australia is an open ‘multicultural’ society, and people like me are widely accepted here as what was once termed ʼnew Australians’, while being at the same time allowed to maintain their ‘ethnic identity’, defined in terms of their country of origin. I could say, therefore, that I am both a Pole and an Australian. To my ear, however, this would sound phoney. Although I am an Australian citizen, I don’t have two nationalities, as I don’t have two native languages. My native language is Polish, and so is my native culture. Show more