Multilingualism is a complex and dynamic phenomenon that has aroused the interest of linguists, psycholinguists, sociolinguists and neurolinguists over the last hundred years. Thus, numerous studies have sought to determine the impact of multilingualism on the linguistic, cognitive and, more recently, socio-emotional development of the child. Today’s scientists agree that multilingualism is a great advantage in life, but they often neglect one important aspect in their studies: how do multilinguals perceive their multilingualism? Therefore, the main aim of this thesis is to examine the effects of multilingual development from the perspective of multilinguals. Research was conducted to determine what multilingual speakers perceive as an advantage, what challenges they encountered while growing up, whether the environment had understanding for these specific challenges, and how multilingual development affected the multiliguals self-image. The qualitative research was conducted using a semi-structured interview involving twenty multilinguals aged from twenty to thirty. Twelve participants acquired their languages simultaneously, while eight respondents were sequentially multilingual, i.e. they acquired the second language between the ages of three and seven. What all participants have in common is that one of their languages is Croatian and that they spent most of their schooling in Croatia. The conducted research provided an insight into the different experiences that the participants had growing up multilingually. The results showed numerous advantages that the participants have due to multilingualism, but also certain disadvantages which are generally not given much attention. Furthermore, it was found that the experience of one's own multilingualism depends on the conditions that led to the acquisition of another language, the level of language skills, personality and, most importantly, the attitudes of the environment. Namely, it seems that an understanding and supporting environment is a protective factor against the possible consequences of communication barriers such as socialization issues, low selfesteem and a negative attitude towards one’s multilingualism and multiculturalism.