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The benefits of a bilingual brain

Why would we want young children to learn a second language while concentrating on learning the primary language? It sounds like this would be learning overload at a time when they are also learning how to be friends, how to count, how to play on the playground, and so much more. However, this is a time in our lives when acquiring a second language comes very naturally.

Between the ages of 0-3 years, the brain of young children is especially prepared to learn a second language, since the brain is in its most flexible stage. In fact, bilingual exposed infants excelled at detecting a change in language as early as 6 months of age. They can learn a second language just as easily as they learned to walk and their primary language. According to the University of Washington News, the US Census shows that 27 percent of children under the age of 6 are now learning a language other than English. Learning a second language does not negatively affect the child's mother tongue.

As adults, we have to consider grammar rules and practice, but young children absorb the sounds, structures, intonation patterns, and rules of a second language very easily. Up to age 8, young children benefit from flexible hearing and speech muscles that can detect differences between the sounds of a second language.

If young people can learn multiple languages, why not teach them? Exposure to two languages in one language has many benefits. Bilingual children may have a superior ability to focus on one thing and change their response, easily indicating "cognitive flexibility." Both of these traits require self-control, a highly desirable trait both in the early childhood classroom and in life. When a young bilingual child tries to communicate, languages in the brain "compete" to be activated and chosen. The child must select one and suppress the other, which requires attention and the brain's ability to be flexible, which is possible at this early age. The interference forces the brain to resolve internal conflicts, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles.

Bilingual children are also more adept at solving certain types of mental puzzles. A 2004 study by psychologists Ellen Bialystok and Michelle Martin-Rhee found that bilingual youth were more successful at sorting objects by shape and color compared to their monolingual peers who had difficulty when the second feature (sorting by shape) was added. . This suggests that the bilingual experience enhances the brain's command center, giving it the ability to plan, solve problems, and perform other mentally demanding tasks. These tasks include shifting attention from one thing to another and taking information into account, such as remembering a sequence of instructions when getting ready for school in the morning or, for adults, driving a car.

While it may be easier for young children to learn a second language, there are benefits for adults as well. The researchers found that young adults who knew two languages performed better on attention tests and had better concentration compared to those who only spoke one language. They also respond faster or more accurately than their monolingual peers, according to Kapa and Colombo, 2013. This is largely due to the training our brains receive while switching between languages when deciding how to communicate. It allows us to concentrate better during a conference and remember relevant information.

Learning a second language may also protect against Alzheimer's disease. Recent brain studies have shown that bilingual people's brains work better and longer after developing the disease. On average, the disease is delayed four years compared to monolinguals.

Don't be afraid that learning two languages will confuse or distract your child. Remember, their brains are flexible and the skills that develop beyond learning a second language are immeasurable. Bilingual children learn that an object stays the same even though the object has a different name in a different language (object permanence). For example, a foot is still a foot in both English and French. Studies have also repeatedly shown that learning foreign languages increases critical thinking skills, creativity, and mental flexibility.