More than 16 million people in the United States live with cognitive decline, whether it’s Alzheimer’s, dementia, or another disorder. The latest study on the effects of bilingualism on cognitive aging found that people who spoke more than one language, regardless of gender, ethnicity and occupation, experience the onset of cognitive decline four and a half years later than those who spoke only one language. They have also begun to show that multilingualism improves development in the areas of executive function and attention of the brain, regardless of the age of the learner. A report commissioned by Michael Thomas, the Hollywood language teacher who has taught celebrities such as Doris Day, Emma Thompson and Woody Allen, highlights some exciting benefits of language learning. According to a report commissioned by Michael Thomas, Britons who learn a foreign language tend to be happier, richer and considered sexier than those who can only speak English.
In today’s increasingly interdependent world, speaking a second language is an essential skill that gives you the ability to communicate and connect with people around the world faster and more meaningfully. Connections are more important today than ever, considering the advancing globalization of the global economy, and mastering a foreign language will always give you a significant advantage. A study at the University of Haifa reported that bilinguals find it easier to learn a third language because mastering two languages increases the skills required to learn a third language. Learning a third language also improves comprehension and skills in previously learned languages. In recent years, there has been a backlash against studies showing the benefits of bilingualism. Some researchers tried and were unable to replicate some of the findings; Others questioned the benefits of improving executive function in everyday life.
Not to mention that it makes you more valuable to your employer and is more likely to be sent on overseas assignments. International companies tend to expand their reach around the world by hiring candidates who can seamlessly integrate with other cultures and close the communication gap between them and their clients. By learning a foreign language, you have the opportunity to become a global employee.
Communication in multiple languages can give a multilingual applicant a clear advantage over a monolingual candidate in the workspace. The international business community views the ability to communicate in more than one language as an “indispensable tool for building relationships and financial success.” This английски език София can make it easier to find work and also lead to wage increases. According to Ryan McMunn, language expert and CEO of BRIC Language Systems, “those who join the workforce in 2014 and are fluent in a second language can expect an additional salary increase of 10 to 15 percent.” Would you like to know more?
Cognitive flexibility is defined as the ability to switch between mental sets, cognitive tasks, and interactions. Because bilinguals or multilinguals switch back and forth between two or more languages, they show greater cognitive flexibility and tend to switch between tasks more easily than monolingual ones. Whether you’re bilingual today or not, you’ve already gone through the highly complex process of applying a sound system to objects and concepts in your environment and using those sounds to convey ideas to other people. Encouraging others to adopt this view requires social action based on the interdisciplinary sciences and involving a larger community in the work towards this goal.
However, being bilingual or multilingual also alters the mind and brain in ways that strengthen resilience in stressful conditions and counteract some of the harmful effects of poverty and disease. This new work on multilingualism has a number of implications for approaches to language learning. The snowflake test prepared my ACC for the second flanker task, just as speaking more than one language seems to train the executive system more generally. A steady stream of studies over the past decade has shown that bilinguals outperform monolingual on a variety of cognitive and social tasks, from verbal and nonverbal tests to how well they can read to other people.
Since less than 20% of Americans speak a different language, bilingualism gives you a huge advantage in the job market. Studies have shown that, on average, bilingual employees can earn 5-10% more per hour than their monolingual counterparts, and that can certainly add up over the course of a lifetime. Another estimate put the value of speaking a second language at $128,000 over 40 years.
So if you want your children to be successful in every part of life, start teaching multiple languages early. It is also noted that speaking a second language delays the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease. The other study shows that bilingualism delays the likelihood of dementia by about 5.1 years. The grammatical structure varies greatly between different languages, and the ability to understand complex rules sharpens cognitive abilities.