Although bilingualism and second language learning have received a great scientific interest in the past two decades, still little is known about the precise neurocognitive mechanisms that help overcome competition present in a bilingual mind. I will discuss a series of studies that explored how a short-term and long term exposure to a second language impacts the ease with which the native language is used, as well as how different types of language experience contribute to the hypothesized link between language control and cognitive control. We will discuss possible mechanisms that may allow successful language cooperation in multilingual speakers.