Being Bilingual Boosts Brainpower
A study by the
USA's Northwestern University provides biological evidence that people
who are bilingual have a more powerful brain. Drs Viorica Marian and
Nina Kraus investigated how bilingualism affects the brain. They found
that studying another language "fine-tunes" people's attention span and
enhances their memory. In particular they discovered that when language
learners attempt to understand speech in another language, it activates
and energises the brainstem – an ancient part of the brain. Professor
Kraus stated: "Bilingualism serves as enrichment for the brain and has
real consequences when it comes to…attention and working memory."
Professor Marian explained why studying and learning another language was so beneficial for the brain. She said: "People do crossword puzzles and other activities to keep their minds sharp, but the advantages we've discovered in dual language speakers come automatically simply from knowing and using two languages." She added: "It seems that the benefits of bilingualism are particularly powerful and broad, and include attention, inhibition and encoding of sound." She said bilinguals were better listeners because they are "natural jugglers" of sound. She said: "The bilingual juggles linguistic input and, it appears, automatically pays greater attention to relevant versus irrelevant sounds."
Professor Marian explained why studying and learning another language was so beneficial for the brain. She said: "People do crossword puzzles and other activities to keep their minds sharp, but the advantages we've discovered in dual language speakers come automatically simply from knowing and using two languages." She added: "It seems that the benefits of bilingualism are particularly powerful and broad, and include attention, inhibition and encoding of sound." She said bilinguals were better listeners because they are "natural jugglers" of sound. She said: "The bilingual juggles linguistic input and, it appears, automatically pays greater attention to relevant versus irrelevant sounds."
Being bilingual is a skill that some individuals naturally acquire at a young age. It’s an advantage in the world of work. And, to be frank, it’s an asset anywhere in the world, and increasingly in the U.S.
However, many Americans fail to embrace bilingualism because they believe it is not necessary to learn a language that is not English. Worse, some people see bilingualism as a deficiency. And others suffer from linguiphobia, a fear of other languages. Most experts in the field of languages, however, see bilingualism as an asset.
“Being bilingual can make an individual function in two languages, which can give them a greater advantage of being hired by companies that work on both sides of the border. It can also make them more aware and sensitive to different cultures,” said Spanish teacher and part-time professor, Ramon Torres.
New scientific studies show that being bilingual can also help boost brain power! Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it makes a person more intelligent; bilingualism simply establishes the human brain more broadly and gives the bilingual person an advantage in a variety of skills and abilities. The focus of the study called “Reparable Harm” by researcher and psychologist Laurie Olsen of California State University, discovered that the bilingual brain functioned better than a monolingual one. The study showed that the bilingual brain functioned better in areas such as language (of course), memory and attention.
However, many Americans fail to embrace bilingualism because they believe it is not necessary to learn a language that is not English. Worse, some people see bilingualism as a deficiency. And others suffer from linguiphobia, a fear of other languages. Most experts in the field of languages, however, see bilingualism as an asset.
“Being bilingual can make an individual function in two languages, which can give them a greater advantage of being hired by companies that work on both sides of the border. It can also make them more aware and sensitive to different cultures,” said Spanish teacher and part-time professor, Ramon Torres.
New scientific studies show that being bilingual can also help boost brain power! Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it makes a person more intelligent; bilingualism simply establishes the human brain more broadly and gives the bilingual person an advantage in a variety of skills and abilities. The focus of the study called “Reparable Harm” by researcher and psychologist Laurie Olsen of California State University, discovered that the bilingual brain functioned better than a monolingual one. The study showed that the bilingual brain functioned better in areas such as language (of course), memory and attention.
