Being able to speak two languages is a fantastic skill to have as anyone can agree. Now we learning from recent research that those who are bilingual may actually have other advantages over those who aren’t.

1. Why do translators
have healthier brains?

2. ABILITY TO SPEAK TWO OR MORE
LANGUAGES opens up opportunities

3. ...that are not possible for those
who are
monolingual.

4. Research has shown that those who are
bilingual may actually have other advantages
over those who aren’t.

5. A study from the University of
Edinburgh has examined the
impact of bilingualism on
cognitive aging and found that
learning a second language
may slow down the decline.

6. Further research is required in order to
understand why this is

7. whether it is the increased mental stimulation
of knowing two languages that slows down
cognitive decline, or

8. whether it is simply that those with high cognitive
performance are more likely to acquire a second language
in the first place.

9. Bialystock’s research also showed that bilingualism
had a marked effect on fighting the onset of
Alzheimer’s disease..

10. “Being bilingual
has certain cognitive benefits
and boosts the performance of the brain,
especially one of the most important areas
known as
the executive control system.”
Ellen Bialystock
Toronto’s York University Cognitive Development Lab

11. She conducted a study looking at 211 individuals with
Alzheimer’s, which found that those who were bilingual
had been diagnosed on average 4.3 years later than
those who were monolingual.

12. The
bilingual cohort
had also reported
the onset of
symptoms
5.1 years later
than
their
monolingual
counterparts.

13. Judith Kroll,
a Penn State University psychologist,
sums up the relationship between
bilingualism and cognitive function.

14. “The important thing that we
have found is that both
languages are open for
bilinguals. In other words,
there are alternatives
available in both languages.
Even though language
choices may be on the tip of
their tongue, bilinguals rarely
make a wrong choice. ”
Judith Kroll, a Penn State University
psychologist

15. “The bilingual is somehow
able to negotiate between
the competition of the
languages. The speculation is
that these cognitive skills
come from this juggling of
languages.”
Judith Kroll, a Penn State University
psychologist

16. Read the full article here!