A goal for language learners is to function in plural languages according to their own needs and purposes. A bilingual perspective starts from that attainable goal. Learners in Japan tend to idealize L2 mastery or becoming bilingual, so it becomes other people’s business. Monolingual teachers tell students by their example, “go where I have not gone,” whereas a bilingual teacher says, “come to my state of functioning.” This presentation details a paradigm shift from the predominant monolingual second language acquisition (SLA) paradigm to a developmental bilingual perspective.