The Bilingual Bonus

09/15/2010

You can look at anyone and say: You are a part of me I don’t yet know. From there, we begin to transform the world around us, and inside us.
Valerie Kaur, lawyer, filmmaker and civil rights leader

“There is no doubt that speakers of more than one language have nimble brains.”

This bold claim was made in Psychology Today (October 2010; psychologytoday.com) in an article that also made these claims…

“All told, half of the world’s population conducts life in multiple languages....

“Infants as young as 4 months who live in bilingual environments can distinguish between two languages, monitoring lip and facial movements. Babies also show a strong preference for the language their mother spoke during pregnancy…

“Contrary to conventional wisdom, bilingual children are not delayed in language acquisition. In fact, words learned before age 5 have an added emotional kick, regardless of how many languages are learned. Because the child’s brain is developing so quickly, across so many regions, the words learned during this critical period carry thick visual and emotional associations....

“Bilingualism enhances attention and cognitive control in kids and adults. Also bilinguals are better at learning additional languages, even if those languages bear little resemblance to the ones they already know.”

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