Sat
May
22
Advantages of bilingualism
Kathie Nunley reports:
“The positives of being a bilingual person far outweigh the negatives. Bilingualism may even delay or slow Alzheimer’s disease and the cognitive decline of old age. Persons who are bilingual have both language systems running all the time, even when they are in a monolingualenvironment. This activity increases function and performance in a variety of brain regions leading to better overall cognitive skills. The only negative
aspect to being bilingual seems to be that it slows down your language speed scores and can lead to more “tip-of-the-tongue” moments. A small price to pay.”
Price, M. (2010). “Speaking more than one language may have cognitive trade-off”. Monitor of Psychology, Vol 41(4), pg. 13.
