Two Languages

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Why Bilinguals Are Smarter

SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practlcal benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientistshave begun to show that the advantaqes of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out makes you smarter. It can have aprofound effect on your brain,
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and even shielding against dementia in old age.
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This view ofbilingualism is remar1J;::sing'in IIILt:IIt:It:11 J,.~ resolve internal strengthens its cognitive muscles.

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~ e, k 1?l~ ~~~.Bilinguals, for instance, seem to be more adept than monolinguals at solving certain kinds of mental puzzles. In a 2004 study by the psychologists Ellen Bialystok and
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MichelleMartin-Rhee, bilingual and monolingual preschoolers were asked to s0rt, blue circles and red squares presented on a computer screen into two digital bíns - one
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marked with a blue square and the othermarked with a red circle,
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In the first task, the children had to sort the shapks by color,placing blue circles in the bin marked with the blue square and redsquares in the binmarked with the red circle. Both groups did this with comparable ed~e. Next,'the childrenwereaskedto sertby shape, which was more challenging becauselt requlred placing the images in a bin marked with aconflicting color. The bilinguals were qulcker "at performing this task. The collective evidence from a number of such studies suggests that the bilingual experience improves the brain's so-calledexecutive functíón - a córnmand system that directs the attention processes that we use for plannlnq, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks. These processes include...