A survey investigated how language management strategies used by bilingual families could create family communication problems. The study was inspired by experience with bilingual families in which rigid adherence to a language policy appeared to impede communication. Respondents were 83 members of a special interest group on bilingualism within a Japanese language teacher's association. The survey explored respondent familiarity with the "one person-one language" strategy in which each parent speaks his own language at home, and home/community language strategy in which parents speak the minority language in the home and children learn the majority language through interactions outside the family. Results suggest that families applying these two language management strategies often face a wide range of problems, especially after the children reach school age and when families have more than one child. An alternative approach is recommended, in which parents make a conscious effort to help their children bridge the gap between two divergent languages and cultures through systematic modeling and promotion of the development of both languages. Specific techniques for achieving this are offered, including modeling, recasting/expansion/filling in the blanks, debriefing, and temporary intensive training. (Contains 15 references.) (MSE)