Benefits of Being Bilingual or How Multilingualism Changes Life

Abstract

This benefits of being bilingual essay discusses what is the meaning of “multilingualism”, does it have any effects on societies, and individuals, and how it developed. This research also discusses the differences and similarities between being a multilingual and a monolingual. This research explores how speaking in multiple languages can affect the brain of the multilinguals in a positive way, and how multilingualism can be beneficial to develop and improve social skills. It is known that, the reason behind learning a new language is to improve the social interactions between two or more nations. Being a multilingual has some clear advantages, it enables new experiences, new conversations, etc.

Introduction

Multilingualism is a natural phenomenon where, people speak, or understand either two languages, or more, at the same time. Multilingualism are often perceived as a challenge to both individuals and society. Being able to speak multiple languages is very beneficial to the brain’s health, and yet so tricky. Speaking one language is quite different than speaking two, or more. The brain of a multilingual processes more than one language at the same time, which makes the speakers more capable to predicting what is coming next.

Multilinguals’ minds process language in a slightly different way compared to Monolinguals. According to the article of Viorica Marian, and Anthony Shook, when a bilingual speaks one language the other language is still processing in the mind, when the bilingual person hears a particular word, he/she does not entirely read the whole word at once, the phonetical sounds arrive in sequential order and the brain starts to guess what the upcoming word is going to be, this called “language co-activation”.

They also provided an evidence for this language co-activation from the study of eye movements, they gave an example to a Russian-English Bilingual person, where he/she was asked to pick up a “marker”, however this person is most likely to pick up a Stamp, because in Russian the translation of the word Stamp is “Marka” and it has similar phonological sounds for the word “Marker” in English.

The reason of the occurrence of this co-activation is because, what the listener could switch to words in either of the languages this multilingual individual knows. It is an automatic process that happens in the brain.

There is a research concerning the benefits of being a Multilingual or a Bilingual to be more specific. This research states that there are ten major benefits of being a bilingual. First benefit is “increasing the power of the brain”, which means, learning another language helps with keeping the brain healthy and sharp, improves multi-tasking skills, and problem solving, etc. Second, it gives children an academic advantage, it helps with improving the educational development in the multi-lingual child. It provides awareness of different cultures. To be able to learn a certain language, it is a must that, the learner knows not only the language alone but a whole culture along with it.

It is very interesting, nevertheless, how the human mind can develop social skill, by simply learning another language other than the mother tongue. More benefits are discussed in Kathleen Stein-smith’s research paper The Multilingual Advantage: Foreign Language as a Social Skill in a Globalized World, where she mentioned that, being a multi-lingual, or a bilingual can be beneficial not only for individual benefits but also for society as well.

From the cognitive aspect, multilinguals, and bilinguals tend to be more in control over their cognitive tasks. According to Jess Astrid in her article, it was stated that, multilinguals and bilinguals, tend to have more capability to focus on their daily tasks, and can control themselves way better than monolinguals. But there is a drawback with the ability to speak two or, more languages. Multilinguals and bilinguals have slower process with acquiring languages, and that is because, multilinguals divide cognitive resources in their mind, so they can learn different aspects from different languages. The author of this article mentioned that they were a multilingual herself, and she sometimes mix two different languages’ grammar without noticing that, she did.

To sum it up, multilinguals and bilinguals have more cognitive capacity compared to monolinguals, however multilinguals can have delays in acquiring languages. Multilingualism or bilingualism has huge effects on both social levels, and on individual level. On the social level, it is very beneficial for communication skills, to socialize with different language communities, and learn about different cultures. On the individual level, it makes the brain healthier and sharper, helps developing multitasking and solving problems, and improves the brain intelligence in general. Multilinguals compared to monolinguals are slow in the process of language acquirement, and that is because of the way the brain processes. 

References

• Jess Astrid (2018, Jul 10). What Are Some Differences Between Those Who Are Monolingual, and Those Bilingual Multilingual Cognitively Speaking. Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-differences-between-those-who-are-monolingual-and-those-bilingual-multilingual-cognitively-speaking
• Kathleen Stein-smith. The Multilingual Advantage: Foreign Language as a Social Skill in Globalized World. (2017, March 3). Retrieved from https://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_7_No_3_March_2017/6.pdf
• Mark Bassett, 10 Benefits of Being Bilingual. (2019, January 14). Retrieved from https://unuhi.com/10-benefits-of-being-bilingual/
• Viorica Marian, Anthony Shook. (2012, October 31). The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual. Retrieved from https://www.dana.org/article/the-cognitive-benefits-of-being-bilingual/