This paper is primarily intended to present some major considerations about bilingualism and bilingual education from a sociolinguistic perspective. In the first instance and due to the high complexity of the issue, I will deal with major definitions of these concepts. Furthermore, I will highlight features of individual and social bilingualism as well as some of their most common effects on individuals and on communities. Lastly, some conditions for the establishment of bilingual communities are put forward, followed by a reflection upon the kind of bilingualism within foreign language (FL) settings referring particularly to the Colombian case.