The U.S. newspaper, The New York Times, has a great piece on the benefits of being bilingual. It turns out that not only does it increase the number of people you can communicate with, but it generally just makes you a smarter person! Writes the author Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, "The collective evidence from a number of such studies suggests that the bilingual experience improves the brain’s so-called executive function — a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks. These processes include ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching attention willfully from one thing to another and holding information in mind — like remembering a sequence of directions while driving." Wow! So being bilingual helps you focus, helps you remember, and may prevent the early onset of diseases like Alzheimer's and dementia.
All of us here at C.E.I.P. Lope de Vega already knew that being bilingual is totally awesome, but it's great to know that we're helping our brains stay fit, too!
Read the article here.
- Robyn
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