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 Speaking two languages is definitely something that you should be proud of. People all over the world are signing up for classes, which enable them to converse fluently in a foreign tongue.

The knowledge of an additional language is always an advantage, which is probably why most schools across the US ensure that their students learn French or Spanish. However, according to the Penne State University, you may also have a higher level of mental flexibility in case you can speak more than one language.

According to a new study conducted by researchers at the Penne State University, people who are bilingual have both the languages active all the time and can process both simultaneously. They can alternate between the two without any interruption.

Judith Kroll, Ph.D., Professor of Linguistics, Psychology and Women’s Studies, states that in the past, kids who were bilingual were looked down upon. She adds that bilingualism isn’t bad for you at all; in fact, it may be quite beneficial for your mental health. This is because when you switch from one language to the other your mental muscles are strengthened, which in turn enhances your executive function. According to researchers, both languages will be active, whether you have used them seconds ago or weeks ago.

A recently published study in the Frontiers in Psychology explored the findings of two experiments. In the first, 27 bilingual people read 512 sentences in either English or Spanish, where the languages alternated after every two lines. The participants had to read the sentences to themselves, till they came to a word that was written in the color red. These words were cognates (words that sound similar or look similar or have the same meaning in both the languages) and had to be read out loudly, as accurately and quickly as possible. Jason Gullifer, graduate in psychology said that the cognate words were processed faster than the control words. This suggests that for bilinguals, both the languages were active at the same time.

In the second experiment, the participants were asked to complete the same task as the first group of people. However, they were presented with only one language. Their results were quite similar to the results of the first group, which indicates that the context doesn’t have an influence on word recognition. Nevertheless, according to Gullifer, bilinguals seem to have some sort of mechanistic control.

This study also highlighted the fact that bilingual people rarely utter a word in an unintended language, which indicates that their subconscious ability to control the parallel activity of both the languages is higher and they finally choose the intended language without needing to think about it too much.

While the US is only now considering the benefits of being bilingual, the Europeans have supported this idea for a very long time! More than 50% of the European population speaks at least two languages fluently. In places like Latvia and Luxemburg, almost 100% of the population is bilingual. This is probably because in these cultures, people are introduced to multiple languages when they are kids.

Most linguistic experts will agree upon the fact that learning any language becomes a bit more challenging after puberty. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that though most American kids learn two languages in middle school, they do not become fluent in the foreign language.

Therefore, if it is a good idea to have your child exposed to various languages at a young age, not only to develop his speech skills, but also to enhance his mental flexibility.

Of course, this study does not necessarily conclude that all bilingual people have a higher mental capacity that those who speak only one language. A lot of research still needs to be carried out for this study to be conducive.

References:

1. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_140655.html

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