How the Brain Benefits from Being Bilingual

Brain How the BENEFITS FROM BEING BILINGUAL? SPEAKING TWO LANGUAGES RATHER THAN ONE HAS PRACTICAL BENEFITS IN AN INCREASINGLY GLOBALIZED WORLD. Being bilingual makes a person smarter and has a profound effect on brain, improving cognitive skills. Bilingual children as young as 7 months can easily adjust to environmental changes. Seniors who are bilingual can experience less cognitive decline. Brain Benefits of billingualism IMPROVED COGNITIVE SKILLS Bilingual people have sharper cognitive skills, Bilingual people can easily sort puzzles with keeping the brain persistently alert and active speed and success. even when only one language is used. PREVENTING DEMENTIA FOCUSSING ON TASKS Bilingual adults with Alzheimer's take twice as long to develop symptoms as their monolingual counterparts. Bilingual people displayed increased concentration on their assignments than their monolingual counterparts. The mean age for the first signs of dementia in monolingual adults is 71.4 and for bilingual it is 75.5. Bilinguals are more skilful at focusing on relevant information and removing the irrelevant ones. SWITCHING BETWEEN TASKS DENSER GREY MATTER Bilinguals are skilled at switching between two systems, writing and Grey matter is responsible for processing language, storing memory and dictating attention spans. structure. The switching between two different structures makes Bilingual individuals have denser grey matter compared to monolingual counterparts. them good multitaskers. IMPROVED MEMORY IMPROVED DECISION MAKING SKILLS Learning a foreign language involves memorizing rules and vocabulary, which strengthens the mental muscle. Bilingual speakers tend to make more reasonable decisions. This mental exercise improves overall memory, making the bilinguals better at remembering lists and sequences. Bilinguals are more certain of their choices after thinking them over in their second language MORE AWARENESS OF LANGUAGE Learning a second language focuses on grammar and sentence structure, making a bilingual speaker more aware of language overall Learning foreign language makes bilingual speakers more effective communicators, editors, and writers. Bilingual benefits in children HIGH SCORES in tests due to advanced thinking skills GOOD IN Increased sense of self-worth and identity their monolingual classmates Learn to read sooner than Better concentration, analytical skills and multi-tasking SOLVING MATH • Ability to live abroad and learn other foreign languages easily later in life problems due to abstract thinking » Bilinguals are exposed to more than one culture, which leads to acceptance and understanding others PERCENTAGE OF U.S. POPULATION WHO SPOKE A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH AT HOME BY YEAR 10.97% 13.82% 17.89% 19.73% 1980 1990 2000 2007 Salary differences based on Bilingualism 100 MONOLINGUAL 90 BILINGUAL 80 70 $66.000 $62,000 $60,000 60 50 40 $35.000 $31,000 30 20 10 $25,000 $20,000 $33.000 $52,000 $48,000 Diagnostic Medical Sonographers Home Health Aides Personal Care Aides Veterinary Technologists Medical Secretaries PROFESSION SOURCES: http://www.fisw.org/admission/BilingualBenefits.cfm https://www.dana.org/Cerebrum/Default.aspxlid=39483 http://www.ineffableisland.com/2012/04/10-proven-brain-benefits-of-being.html http://www.griffith.edu.au/humanities-languages/schooHanguages-linguistics/research/bilingualism/benefits-of-bilingualism http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10126883/Why-learn-a-foreign-language-Benefits-of-bilingualism.html http://www.medtech.edu/medtech-community/blog/benefits-bilingual-education?utm_source=visual.ly&utm_medium=promotion&utm_ campaign=bilingual-infograph