Beyondwords:Thebenefitsofbeingbilingual

ItcancomeasasurprisetomanypeopleintheU.K.andU.S.thatspeakingmorethanonelanguageisthenormratherthantheexception.Inprehistorictimes,mostpeoplebelongedtosmalllinguisticcommunities,andhadtospeakseverallanguagestotradewith,andmarryinto,neighbouringcommunities.

Stilltoday,remainingpopulationsofhunter-gatherersarealmostallmultilingual.PapuaNewGuinea,acountrysmallerthanSpain,countssome850languages,oraboutonelanguageper10,000inhabitants.IncountriessuchasIndia,Malaysia,andSouthAfrica,mostpeoplearebilingualorbetter.Evenintheworldatlarge,polyglotsoutnumbermonoglots.AndwiththeadventoftheInternet,contactwithforeignlanguageshasbecomeincreasinglyfrequent,evenforthemostlinguisticallyisolatedofmonoglots.

InsixteenthcenturyEngland,QueenElizabethIcouldspeakatleastninelanguages:English,French,Spanish,Italian,Latin,Welsh,Cornish,Scottish,andIrish.Afewdaysafterherdeathin1603,theVenetianambassadorGiovanniCarloScaramelliwrotebacktohisDogeandSenate:

Shepossessedninelanguagessothoroughlythateachappearedtobehernativetongue;fiveofthesewerethelanguagesofpeoplesgovernedbyher,English,Welsh,Cornish,Scottish,forthatpartofherpossessionswheretheyarestillsavage,andIrish.Allofthemaresodifferent,thatitisimpossibleforthosewhospeaktheonetounderstandanyoftheothers.Besidesthis,shespokeperfectlyLatin,French,Spanish,andItalianextremelywell.

Nowondershedidn’twanttogetmarried.

CognitiveBenefits

Tospeakalanguagecompetentlyimpliesknowledgeofthecultureassociatedwiththelanguage.Multilingualismiscloselylinkedtomulticulturalism,and,historically,bothcameunderattackwiththeriseofthenationstate.Intheaftermathofthe2016Brexitreferendum,theBritishPrimeMinisterTheresaMaystated:‘Ifyoubelieveyouareacitizenoftheworld,youareacitizenofnowhere’–asthoughthatweresomehowdeviantorproblematic.Humanbeingsarefarolderthananynationstate.

Stilltoday,somepeoplebelievethatteachingachildmorethanonelanguagecanimpairthechild’slinguisticandcognitivedevelopment.Butwhat’stheevidence?Accordingtoseveralstudies,peoplewholearnanotherlanguagedosignificantlybetteronstandardizedtests.Language

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callsupon

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executivefunctions

suchas

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control,cognitiveinhibition,andworking

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,anditappearsthatbi-andmulti-lingualpeoplearebetteratobserving,multi-tasking,andproblemsolving.Theyalsohavealargerworkingmemory,includingfortasksthatdonotinvolvelanguage.

Beingmultilingualcanalsoimprovejudgement.Accordingtoonerecentstudy,peoplewhothinkthroughamoraldilemmainaforeignlanguagecometomuchmorerational,orutilitarian,conclusions–perhapsbecausecertainwordslosesomeoftheiremotionalweight,orbecausetheproblemisseenfromadifferentculturalperspectiveorprocessedthroughdifferent

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neural

channels.So,ifyouhaveasecondlanguage,youcanuseit,likeagoodfriend,tocheckyourself.

Thecognitivebenefitsofbilingualism,disputedthoughtheyare,alsoextendtohealth.AstudyofhospitalrecordsinToronto,Canada,foundthatbilingualpeoplewerediagnosedwith

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dementia

onaveragethreetofouryearslaterthantheirmonolingualcounterpartsfromasimilareducationalandoccupationalbackground.AnotherstudyinNorthernItalylookingatpeopleatthesamestageofAlzheimer’sdiseasefoundthatthebilingualpeoplewereonaveragefiveyearsolder,andhadstrongerconnectionsbetweenthebrainareasinvolvedinexecutivefunction.OverinIndia,astudyof600strokesurvivorsfoundthatthebilingualoneshadamuchbetteroutcome.Specifically,40.5%ofthebilingualpatientshadnormal

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cognition

comparedtojust19.6%ofthemonolingualones.

EconomicBenefits

Andthentherearetheundisputedeconomicbenefits.AccordingtoanAmericanstudy,high-levelbilingualismisassociatedwithadditionalearningsofabout$3,000ayear,evenaftercontrollingforfactorssuchaseducationalattainmentandparentalsocio-economicstatus.

AccordingtoTheEconomist,foranAmericangraduate,asecondlanguagecouldbeworth–onaconservativeestimate–upto$128,000over40years.

Ofcourse,theoveralleconomicimpactofmultilingualismismuchgreaterthanthesumofthehigherearningsofmultilingualspeakers.AUniversityofGenevareportestimatesthatSwitzerland’smultilingualheritagecontributesabout$50billionayeartotheSwisseconomy,orasmuchas10%ofGDP.

Incontrast,researchfortheUKgovernmentcautionsthatalackoflanguageskillscouldbecostingtheBritisheconomyaround$48billionayear,or3.5%ofGDP,inlostoutput.

Personal,Social,andCulturalBenefits

Beingbilingualmayhaveimportantcognitiveandeconomicbenefits,butitisusuallythepersonal,social,andculturalbenefitsthatmultilingualpeoplearemostkeentoemphasize.

Manybilingualpeoplefeelthatthewaytheyare,andthewaytheyseetheworld–andeventhewaytheylaughandlove–changesaccordingtothelanguagethattheyarespeaking.Inthe1960s,SusanErvin-TrippaskedJapanese-Englishbilingualwomentofinishsentencesineachlanguage,andfoundthatthewomencameupwithverydifferentendingsdependingonwhethertheywerespeakingEnglishorJapanese.Forexample,theycompleted‘Realfriendsshould…’with‘…h(huán)elpeachother’inJapanese,but‘…befrank’inEnglish.‘Who’syourfavouritewriter?’‘Whatdoyouwanttoeatfordinner?’‘Shallwebreakalltherules?’Askaquestioninonelanguage,andyougetoneanswer;askthesamequestioninanotherlanguage,andyoumightgetadifferentone.‘Tohaveanotherlanguage’saidCharlemagne,‘istohaveanothersoul.’

Translationdictionariesseemtoassumethatlanguagesaremadeupofcorrespondingwords,butevenwhenthatismoreorlessthecase,theequivalencieshavedifferentconnotations.Comparedto‘Ilikeyou’inEnglish,

jet’aime

inFrenchisafarmoreseriousproposition.GeorgeCarlinoncejokedthat‘meow’means‘woof’incat–but,ofcourse,itdoesn’t.Owingtoacertain

jenesaisquoi,somethingsaremorereadilyexpressedinonelanguagethaninanother.Bycodeswitching,multilingualspeakerscanincreasetheirrangeofexpressionandperhapseventheirrangeofthought.InthewordsofWittgenstein:‘Apicturehelduscaptive.Andwecouldnotgetoutsideit,foritlayinourlanguageandlanguageseemedtorepeatittousinexorably.’

Certainlanguagesarebettersuitedtocertainpurposes,forexample,Englishisgreatforscienceandtechnology,Frenchisbetterforcookingandcomplaining,andLatinisbestforprayingandformalritesofpassage.Multilingualpeoplearefreetopickandchoose,maybealongthelinesofCharlesV,HolyRomanEmperor:‘IspeakinLatintoGod,ItaliantoWomen,FrenchtoMen,andGermantomyHorse.’CharlesVdidnotgetonwiththeGermanlordsandpreferredtoliveinSpain,sittingonthenewlycreatedSpanishthronebyrightofhisincarceratedmother,JoannatheMad[JuanalaLoca]–thingsIknowbecauseIspeakSpanish.Andafterafewglassesoffino,I’malmostfluent.

Themorelanguageswelearn,theeasieritbecomestolearnlanguages.Butlearningalanguagealsostrengthensourfirstlanguage.Forinstance,onestudyfoundthatSpanishimmersionsignificantlyimprovedchildren’snativeEnglishvocabulary.Morebroadly,learningalanguagecastslightuponourfirstlanguageandlanguageingeneral,increasingourappreciationoflanguageandabilitytocommunicate.‘YouspeakEnglishbeautifully,’wroteRobertAickmanin

TheWine-DarkSea

(1966),‘whichmeansyoucan’tbeEnglish.’

Justbeforewritingthisarticle,Iaskedmyamazing

socialmediafollowersthefollowingquestion:‘Ifyouarebi-ormulti-lingual,whatdoyoumostvalueaboutthatfact?’

Andherearesomeoftheirresponses:

Thefreedomtoaccessdifferentculturesplusthepossibilitytoreadmanyauthorsinoriginalversion!

Beingfluentinacoupleofotherlanguageshasgivenmeinsightintootherwaysofseeingtheworld.Thathelpsempathy,and

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openness

.

Iappreciatethecognitiveadvantagesbeingmultilingualhasoffered.Alsotheconnectionswithculture,history,andtheknowledgeacquired.

Languageisknowledge.Alwaysusefultobealittlelessignorant.

ItfeelsasifIcanswitchintotwodifferentmodesandthinkfromdifferentperspectives.

Beingmoretolerant–newlanguage=newculture,newanddifferentperspectives/accesstomoreinformation.

ThatIcantalkwinewithtwiceasmanyppl(people).

Itgivesme