A heritage language learner is anyone who is learning their family or ancestral language.
This might be a person who was exposed to their family language as a child. They might be able to understand it, but not speak it.
Or, they might have spoken it as a child and forgotten it as the majority language became their dominant language.
This could also be a person learning the language of their grandparents or great-grandparents, which they have never been exposed to before.
A heritage language learner may or may not already be a “receptive bilingual,” meaning they can understand their family language but not speak it.
A heritage language learner might have a colloquial or dialectical vocabulary in their family language, but might be working to acquire an academic or professional vocabulary in this language.
Heritage language learners often report feeling a strengthened connection to their family’s culture and their ancestors when they learn a heritage language.
