The first case history comes from Janos, the husband of his friend Hazel Abel. He has known Hazel for many years and she shares with him a passion for chamber music and an interest in early childhood education. Janos was born in Hungary and then, like so many people, had to leave his home country - in his case, as a refugee. His parents were peasants and he had to leave school at the age of 14. The second language history comes from Raymonde Sneddon, a dear colleague, friend and often a role model for me. The author's mother was brought up in Scotland speaking only English. She went on to study German in night classes. His grandparents spoke Vietnamese in Vietnam and when we moved to the US it was Vietnamese at home and English outside of the home. In Vietnam his father was educated in a school where both French and Vietnamese were the medium of instruction.