>>83001210As someone who only really knows English it bothers me multilingual speakers feel or are made to feel lacking compared to native speakers of only one language.
Sure the native can excel in their language, not always though depending on their education, but it is actually a greater feat of intelligence to juggle the complexities of two or more languages, even those very closely associated, since the connections made in the brain to understand the similarities and differences improves consideration for the very nuances of language itself once you're learning it instead of just using it.
In fact someone who learns English and another language, regardless of which is their first language, may notice where and why certain words were introduced to what is modern English.
Here's a weak example, but one I often appreciate. The word Quintessential. It's often used to quickly emphasize the significance of something but when you analyze its roots it's referring to the 5th element which was considered in early science and philosophy as necessary to unite the other 4 elements, if not reality as a whole.
You acquire a deeper reverence for what the word is meant to evoke once you see this.
This is not likely something someone who really only has a natural grasp of a single language by proxy of their parents or peers speaking it will recognize. To them it may just be another fancy word for important, and ironically enough it may not seem important to them to know otherwise but the fact is a lack of different angles of perspective reduces the scope of one's view.
This isn't to say every multilingual speaker will have Doug Ramsey levels of interpretation, and of course there will be hindrances in terms of fluency, vocabulary and so on but the point is it's not an automatic negative to not have English or whatever as your first language.
