Are you bilingual enough?

How bilingual do you have to be to have the privilege of calling yourself a bilingual? It is surprising how many people with a near-native command of their L2 wouldn’t identify themselves as bilinguals. Why is it so? What conditions do you have to fulfill in order to be a “real” bilingual? Many people think that bilinguals are those who acquired their L2 naturally in a bilingual family and hence, their second language is perfect, indistinguishable form their L1, especially in terms of phonological features. Others claim that only those who acquired their L2 in a formal context by means of instruction are entitled to receive the label bilingual. What about the rest of L2 speakers (I am pretty sure this wouldn’t be a small group), who acquired their second language in a variety of other contexts, especially mixed contexts? Do they speak one language, one and a half language or no language whatsoever? Moreover, are bilinguals’ languages the same, that is, are they equally competent in both languages?This leads us to the basic question: who is a bilingual? Don’t expect me to provide you with the answer; I am just a greenhorn. Soon you will see how intricate this task turned out to be even for renowned scholars.