The Benefits of a Bilingual Brain

¿Hablas español? Parlez-vous français? 你会说中文吗？ If you answered "sí", "oui", or "是的" and are watching this video in English, you are probably one of the bilinguals in the world. In addition to making traveling easier and watching movies without subtitles, knowing two or more languages ​​means that your brain looks and works differently than the brains of your monolingual friends. So what does it really mean to know a language? Language proficiency is typically measured in two active areas, speaking and writing, and two passive areas, listening and reading. While a balanced bilingual person has roughly equal proficiency in both languages, most bilinguals in the world know and use their languages ​​to varying degrees. They can be classified into three general types, depending on their situation and how they acquired each language. For example, Gabriella's family immigrated to the United States from Peru when she was two years old. As a mixed bilingual, Gabriella is developing two linguistic codes simultaneously, learning both English and Spanish as she experiences the world around her with one set of concepts. Her younger brother, on the other hand, may be a synchronous bilingual, working with two sets of concepts, learning English at school while continuing to speak Spanish at home and with his friends. Finally, Gabriella’s parents are likely to be second-degree bilinguals, learning their second language through the filter of their first language. Since all types of bilinguals can be completely fluent in one language, regardless of accent or pronunciation, the difference may not be obvious to the casual observer. But recent advances in brain imaging technology have given neurolinguists insight into how certain aspects of language learning affect the bilingual brain. It is a well-known fact that the right hemisphere of the brain is more active in emotional and social areas, while the left hemisphere is more dominant and analytical in logical processes; but this is a matter of degree, not a strict division. The principle that functions are in different hemispheres of the brain develops with age, and the critical period hypothesis has been given rise to the concept of language involving both types of functions. According to this theory, children learn languages ​​more easily because their developing brain plasticity allows them to use both hemispheres when learning languages; but in most adults, language is localized to one hemisphere, usually the left. If this is true, learning languages ​​as a child may give you a more holistic understanding of the social and emotional context of language. On the other hand, recent research shows that when adults learn a second language, they show less emotional bias and a more rational approach when faced with problems in their second language than they do when speaking their own language. Regardless of when you learn additional languages, being a bilingual confers significant benefits to your brain. Some are obvious, such as a higher density of gray matter, which houses most of your brain’s neurons and synapses, and greater activity in certain regions when speaking a second language. The increased exercise a bilingual brain gets throughout life also delays the onset of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia by up to five years. Many of the conceptual benefits of being bilingual may seem intuitive now, but they would have surprised older experts. Before the 1960s, being bilingual was seen as a hindrance because it caused children to spend too much energy between languages, slowing their development, and this view was based on flawed research. A more recent study showed that response times and errors increased for some bilingual students on cross-lingual exams; the study also showed that the effort and attention required to switch from one language to another increased activity in, and potentially strengthened, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain plays a major role in executive functions, problem-solving, switching between tasks, and focusing on irrelevant information. So while being bilingual may not make you smarter, it does make your brain healthier, more complex, and more actively engaged. Even if you weren’t lucky enough to learn a second language when you were young, it’s never too late to make the linguistic leap from “Hello” to “Hola,” “Bonjour,” or “您好.” Because when it comes to your brain, a little exercise can go a long way.