Hola! Nǐ hǎo! MarHaban! Olá! Bonjour! Hallo! The six aforementioned words mean hello in Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, French and German. Regrettably, my ability to greet someone is limited to my native tongue, English. When and where I grew up being able to speak “good” English was an accomplishment. Today, being fluent in English is still valuable but being bilingual or multilingual prepares and can propel a child in ways you may have not imagined.
The Case For Bilingual Education
1. Smarter and Wiser – Bilingual children tend to be smarter and wiser. According to Dr. Ellen Bialystok immersed bilingualism develops a child’s a cognitive system so that a bilingual child is more capable of focusing on important information and ignoring less important information.
The improvement in the brain’s executive function associated with multi-language immersion allows a child to plan, solve problems and change tasks more willingly and efficiently. In short, bilingual children have the tendency to perform better academically and behave more responsibly. Now what could be better than having a child who understands their school assignments and won’t argue about doing homework when they get home?
2. Intercultural Appreciation and Global Awareness – Bilingualism tends to enhance a child’s perspective of the world. The French author Marcel Proust wrote “The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Bilingual and multilingual children personify Mr. Proust’s words. Bilingualism and Multilingualism reduce the ill-conceived social and distorted cultural biases that taint the way we often view the world.
Being able to communicate with other people allows children to be able to connect with other people on the most basic levels. Connecting with other people permits greater appreciation of differences and makes it simpler to embrace similarities. Appreciating and embracing a culture other than our own prepares children – the future leaders of the world – to willingly and harmoniously live together on a shrinking and globalized planet.
3. Professional and Economic – Bilingualism has professional and economic implications for your children. Korn Ferry, the world’s largest executive search firm reports that more than 31% of executives speak two languages, 20% speak three languages, 9% speak four languages and 4% speak more than four languages. You don’t have to speak more than one language to understand that the chances of elevating your professional career is significantly enhanced when you are bilingual.
What’s even better is that the benefits of bilingualism extend to non-executives. Salary.com reports that there could be between 5 and 20 percent per hour increase for employees who can speak more than one language. This means that a bilingual child looking for a part-time or summer job might find themselves in greater demand and receive higher compensation than their monolingual peers.
4. Mom and Dad – The first three benefits of bilingualism were obvious but this last one while not as obvious is no less important. Bilingualism delays the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia. According to Science Daily, “Researchers have found that people who speak more than one language have twice as much brain damage as unilingual people before they exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.” In lay person’s terms, twice the amount of brain damage must occur before a bilingual person suffers the effects of Alzheimer’s.
Similarly, a study from the journal Neurology reports that “bilingual patients developed dementia 4.5 years later than the monolingual ones”. These two studies are good news for bilingual parents. Bilingual parents get to live normal and non-dependent lives longer. Children get to live normal and independent lives longer.
Get Immersed
Raising a bilingual or multilingual child is really no longer an option. My son speaks three languages fluently and has knowledge and an understanding of several other languages. If my son could become bilingual, your child, any child can become bilingual.
The key to raising a bilingual child is knowing where to start. If you aren’t from a bilingual or multilingual family or community, a great place to begin the process of raising a bilingual child is the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). CAL has a searchable directory of language immersion programs throughout the U.S.
Another great resource is Duolingo. Duolingo is free online language learning service. Duolingo is compatible with both Android and Apple mobile technologies. In case, you missed it when I wrote it the first time, Duolingo is FREE!
As much as I would love to share more information, I think I need to say goodbye. Now seems like as good a time as any to take advantage of the benefits of bilingualism as a deterrent to Alzheimer and Dementia. Based on the number of times that I forget stuff like my keys and wallet, it might be wise if I registered for my own Duolingo account immediately.
Adiós! Zài jiàn! Ma’a as-salaama! Adeus! Au revoir! Auf Wiedersehen!
Are you raising a bilingual child? What languages is your child fluent?