The One-Parent-One-Language (OPOL) method is the most well-known and documented strategy for raising children bilingually. Much of the literature promoting OPOL has maintained that complete and consistent language separation on the part of the parents is critical for achieving active bilingual development. This paper, however, contests the notion that the successful implementation of OPOL necessarily requires parents to follow a policy of total language separation. By incorporating questionnaire, logbook, and in-depth interview data, a single case study is presented. The study suggests that theoretical family language models such as OPOL rarely align neatly with the practicalities and realities faced by interlingual families. It is suggested that for interlingual families it is quite natural to implement a more flexible, fluid, and context-dependant model of OPOL than has previously been acknowledged.
