The Benefits of Being Bilingual

Check out this informative video that animates the many benefits, and few drawbacks, of being bilingual.

Want to know more? Find links to articles about the many benefits mentioned here.

Why foreign language education is important at every age

People used to think that exposure to two languages was bad for children.  It would cause children’s language skills to develop more slowly and stunt their vocabulary growth.  Now we know that the opposite is true.  Bilingual children, for example, know as many words as monolingual children, but they know some of them in each language.  Their brains are more limber, too, and they have more practice at executive-function tasks.  Here’s a breakdown of how foreign language education is important at every age.

Pregnancy

Bilingual education matters even to developing fetuses.  A study by researchers from the University of British Columbia and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in France found that infants whose mothers had spoken two languages during pregnancy displayed stronger interest in hearing each of the languages.  Meanwhile, babies of monolingual mothers only expressed interest in the one language.  Newborn babies also sucked pacifiers more strongly when hearing vocal sounds from a “new” language, which researchers interpreted as curiosity about something they had not heard while in the womb.  Infants in bilingual homes could also tell the difference between two different languages, even if they had never heard the two languages before, just by watching people speak.

This baby was listening even before it was born. (Photo credit: lrargerich)

Infancy and early childhood

Babies are born with brain matter capable of learning every language, from English to Mandarin to Hindi-Urdu to Javanese.  As they grow, their brains are wired to communicate in the language(s) that they hear around them.  So a baby exposed to multiple languages from birth will have an advantage learning them throughout life.

Exposure to different languages also helps young children with tasks that require a mental process known as executive function.  For example, bilingual children are better at switching from one task to another.  In a National Institutes of Health study, 6-year-old children were shown a series of images and asked to hit a computer key when they saw pictures of animals.  Later they were asked to switch to pictures of colors and hit a different key, the bilingual children were able to make the transition to the new task faster than the monolingual children.  The task required three mental processes: working memory– remembering to hit a key for some images and not others and remembering which key goes with animals and which with colors, inhibition– knowing not to hit a key in response to some images, and shifting– being able to transition focus from animals to colors.  In this study bilingual children showed better ability to focus, plan, strategize and organize.  The results were the same for English-French, English-Spanish, and English-Chinese bilinguals compared to English-only monolinguals of the same economic background and education level.

Bilingual six-year-olds also scored better on grammar tasks than their monolingual peers.  All the children knew the same amount of words, although the English-only children knew more English words while, for bilingual children, English words were a percentage of the total vocabulary.  In tests of their awareness of English grammatical structures like plurals, possessive, verb tenses, and compound words, English-Spanish bilingual six-year-olds scored highest.  The advantage probably came from the combination of exposure to two languages at home and learning English grammar rules at school.  At an age at which most children are learning to read and write, bilingual children already had a language advantage.

In what language(s) is she thinking?(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Middle school and high school

The benefits of language learning are important for older children and teens, as well.  In U.S. schools, middle school is the age at which most students are required to pass standardized tests and exhibit good study skills that require multiple mental processes, like the listening, categorizing important information and writing that are required to take notes during a lecture.  A 2004 study by Ellen Bialystok and Michelle M. Martin asked subjects to first sort red and blue circles and squares by color, and then by shape.  Sorting objects by shape is more difficult because the brain focuses more on color and the task requires subjects to ignore that information and put, say, a red square in a bucket marked with a blue square.  Bilinguals were more adept at this task because they could ignore the color information quicker and focus only on the shape.  In other words, they could deal better with multiple sets of information, a skill that makes bilinguals better at multi-tasking.  The advantages for a middle schooler or high schooler paying attention to a lesson in a crowded classroom or ignoring the distractions of email, texts and Facebook alerts to focus on homework are not hard to imagine.

Social interactions take on a new importance starting in middle school as negative social behaviors like bullying become more widespread– negative behaviors that could be combatted, in part, with the cultural awareness and understanding that is part of learning a foreign language.

Adults

Learning a second language changes the way you see the world.  A study of color perception found that people who spoke Japanese, which has different words for light blue (mizuiro) and dark blue (ao) were more likely to categorize them as different colors than shades of the same color.  And, while native Japanese-speakers distinguished between mizuiro and ao, and English-speakers did not, bilingual Japanese-English subjects were more likely to distinguish between them depending on how much of their time they spent speaking Japanese instead of English.  A different study in Hong Kong found that our brains react more strongly when looking at colors that are easy to describe in our native languages than colors that are hard to describe.  Other studies have found that people who spoke languages with gendered nouns had different perceptions of the same objects depending on whether the object’s name was masculine or feminine in their language.  These differences illustrate the importance of learning a language to understand another culture, especially for adults in fields where cultural understanding is key, like diplomacy or international business.  

Is she raising her IQ? (Photo credit: francisco_osorio)

In fact, language learning can be linked directly to national security: a March 2012 report reveals that in the United States, school systems are not producing enough bilingual adults to meet the demand for military and foreign service jobs.  The report, from a task force co-chaired by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein, finds that insufficient foreign-language education is an educational failure that “puts the United States’ future economic prosperity, global position, and physical safety at risk.”

But it’s not just civil servants who need to be bilingual: language skills are essential for adults in all professions from souvenir sellers to construction equipment and truck manufacturers.  And Business Insider reports that people who speak two languages are more likely to make better financial choices.

And, as we have reported here on Bilinguish, being bilingual has a host of other benefits: protecting memory, delaying the onset of Altzheimer’s symptoms, understanding math concepts, and scoring higher on IQ tests.

Are you bilingual? How has speaking two (or more) languages affected you?

Related articles

• When Bilinguals Speak (psychologytoday.com)
• Why Language Learning Makes You Smarter (Bilinguish)
• Five Ways Music Helps You Learn a Language (Bilinguish)

Two month slump: Battling language learning boredom

What Level 1 Unit 3 looks like after a month with no progress. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Confession: I am stuck on Unit 3 of my Arabic language course. I started learning Arabic two months ago as a new beginner with high hopes, and by the end of my first month I could do a variety of things involving food, people, and basic actions. But in my second month I languished in Rosetta Stone Lesson 1, unit 2 for the longest time.  Unit 3 isn‘t going much better. The material is not hard. But where I started out sprinting I have slowed down to a crawl.  At this rate, I’ll limp through the rest of Level 1 all spring and by the end of the year I’ll barely be halfway through Level 3.

What to do? The truth is, I’m bored with Rosetta Stone, and there are three reasons.

First, I am not terribly confident that I understand what I am ‘learning.’  Rosetta Stone could be described as an “immersion” program because there is no content in English or any other language, only Arabic. That’s fine; I firmly believe that minimizing the first language in second language instruction is key to learning quickly and efficiently.  However, I don’t have any feedback to tell me that I am learning communicative skills and not just learning how to figure out what button the computer program wants me to click.  Am I really learning Arabic? Or am I like Clever Hans, the horse who was purported to be able to do simple math problems but was really just picking up on subtle clues from his handlers to figure out what answer they wanted him to give?  Last month I decided to just go with it and trust the program, but the doubt remains.

Second, even in just two lessons, Rosetta Stone is getting repetitive.  Some may find the routine and repetition in a language program comforting. I find that it makes my mind wander. Yeah, I know that bintun is girl. What else can you teach me?  By its nature learning a language with Rosetta Stone is solitary. You only communicate with the computer, so it lacks that excitement and variety that you would get from communicating with another student or a teacher.

Third, the lessons are not presented in terms of communicative functions.  I’ve learned many things, but I haven’t learned how to do very many things. I can name different foods but not order them or ask for them. I say something about the boy, the girl, the man, and the woman, but I can’t describe myself. Pretty much the only function the program has taught me so far is to answer yes or no questions like (I assume), “Is the girl sleeping? Yes, she is sleeping.”

I have attempted to battle this two month slump in several ways:

• Practice food words by making flashcards, labeling household objects, and making a simple Arabic recipe.
• Find a conversation partner (with partial success: due to time zones, it’s easy to find people to email or message in English, but hard to schedule a time to converse).
• Burn Arabic songs to a CD and sing along to them in the car.
• Learn about the culture of different Arabic-speaking countries.  For Valentine’s Day, I learned how to say “I love you” in Arabic and found out which countries celebrate it or its equivalent.
• Try basic conversation with Pimsleur’s first Arabic lesson.
• Buy a picture dictionary to confirm whether I’m really saying what I think I’m saying.
• Follow other Arabic students and schools on Twitter.
• Make art and video to practice what I have been learning.

My biggest frustration this month: See above.

My proudest accomplishment this month:  I am finally able to verify the differences between similar words and figure out how to spell them in my own alphabet because I purchased a Arabic-English picture dictionary.

Biggest confusion this month: ”Aaaaa what am I saying?” again and again and again.

My goals for the next four weeks:

1. Finish more than one Unit in Rosetta Stone
2. Have an actual conversation with a conversation partner
3. Learn how to do something (not just how to say something) in Arabic

Find out how I decided to learn Arabic and how it all got started:

• How to learn to speak Arabic in just one year (How it all started)
• A true beginner’s first language lesson (Video proof of my [atrocious?] accent.)
• Learning the Arabic alphabet (Because you have to start with the basics.)

Who vs whom: Quick English grammar explanation

Who or whom?  The difference between who and whom is difficult for native speakers and English language learners alike, because whom is a word that is rarely used properly. Here’s a simple explanation and four quick examples to help you keep them straight.

In English, the person or thing that does the action is the subject.
The person or thing that receives the action is the object.

Example 1:

Margaret called me.
“Margaret” is the subject.  “Called” is the action.  The word “me” is the object.

Who called you?
“Who” is the subject.  “Called” is the action. The word “you” is the object.

Whom did Margaret call?
“Margaret” is the subject.  “(Did) call” is the action.  The word “whom” is the object.

So, the word who is used as the subject of the sentence.  The word whom is used as the object of a sentence.

When you’re not sure whether to use who or whom, ask yourself: is it doing the action, or receiving the action?

If you need more information on subjects, verbs, and objects, watch this short video.

You can ask, “Who wore it better?”
or you can ask “For whom did you vote?” (Photo credit: Live & Let Die </3)

Example 2:

Fashion magazines and websites often show pictures of two celebrities wearing the same clothing. The question “Who wore it better?” is correct. There is usually a poll asking readers to vote for the celebrity whose outfit they liked better. After you vote, a friend might ask you “For whom did you vote?” It may sound formal, but it’s correct.

Here’s an example of a “Who wore it better” poll.

Example 3:

Who practices English?
With whom do you practice English?  (Now, the word “you” is the subject, making “whom” the object.)

One reason who and whom are difficult is that they are used incorrectly very frequently.  A native English speaker might not necessarily recognize that a sentence like “Who are you going to invite to the party?” is incorrect, because we hear it being said (incorrectly) so often.  The correct “Whom are you going to invite to the party?” is less common, so it sounds more formal.

Example 4:

Here is an example of the word whom used in pop culture, in the lyrics to this song by Metallica.  The lyric “for whom the bell tolls” is a reference to the poem Meditation 17 by John Donne.

If you’re not a Metallica fan, you can skip to 2:05 where the vocals begin.

If the sentence is “Time marches on for whom the bell tolls,” then “time” is the subject, “marches on” is the action, and “for whom the bell tolls” is the object.

Want more single-serving grammar? Click here for more Four quick examples grammar explanations.
Need more examples? Here’s another explanation with practice exercises for who, whom, and whose.

How to say I love you

Wish somebody a Happy Valentines’ Day by saying I love you in many languages!

A stencil painted on Valentines day depicting “First love” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

• How to say I love you in Arabic
• (Anti)Valentine’s Day
• Valentine’s Day by the numbers
• Amor, amistad… o los dos? El 14 de febrero en America Latina
• Tengo tu love
• Siempre Juntos

How much Arabic can you learn in a month?

I now have four weeks of Arabic under my belt. This is what I can say and do so far:

Learning New Language (Photo credit: AbdillahAbi)

• Listening: Recognize and understand basic phrases for hello, goodbye, excuse me, yes, no, repeat please, a little.
• Listening: Recognize and understand basic questions such as, Do you understand Arabic? Do you understand English? Where is the bathroom?
• Listening: Recognize titles roughly equivalent to sir and miss.
• Listening: Recognize basic nouns including words that I assume to mean boy, girl, woman, man, sandwich, bread, egg, rice, apple, water, coffee, cat, dog, horse.
• Listening: Recognize basic verbs including words that I assume to mean eat, drink, run, swim.
• Speaking: Say all of the above, but not necessarily in context or in a complete sentence.
• Writing: Write many letters of the Arabic alphabet.
• Reading: Recognize all the letters of the Arabic alphabet when they are not connected to any other letter, plus some Arabic punctuation.
• Reading/speaking: Say what sounds go with which letters of the Arabic alphabet.
• Speaking: Sing several versions of the Arabic alphabet song.

arabic alphabet (أبجدية عربية‎, abjadiyyah ‘arabiyyah, arabic abjad) (Photo credit: oceandesetoiles)

These are the resources I have used so far:

• Rosetta Stone Arabic
• Learn Arabic With Maha
• Arabic alphabet videos on YouTube
• Arabic alphabet coloring sheets
• Various Arabic learning resources recommended by other bloggers and tweeps.
• Flashcards I made myself
• Pimsleur Arabic One
• Arabic SurvivalPhrases podcasts

 

My biggest frustration this month: Not being able to write with Arabic characters yet. I wish I could make a list of the words I know in Arabic, but I’m not comfortable writing them yet.  I need to practice a lot with a pen and paper and then learn the Arabic keyboard to be able to type them as well.

My proudest accomplishment this month:  I can sing the Arabic alphabet song all the way through. The formerly mysterious Arabic characters are starting to come to life.

Biggest confusion this month: Differentiating between all the different verbs and their endings. I tried to learn a lot more verbs than the four listed above. Those four were the only ones that stuck.

Goal for the next four weeks: Find a language partner to practice basic conversation.

Find out how I decided to learn Arabic and how it all got started:

• How to learn to speak Arabic in just one year (In which I think I am *not* getting working knowledge of Arabic for Christmas.)
• My first Arabic lesson EVER (I stop procrastinating, crack out the Rosetta Stone and get started.)
• A true beginner’s first language lesson (Video proof of my [atrocious?] accent.)
• Learning the Arabic alphabet (Because you have to start with the basics.)
• Looking for an Arabic alphabet song (Not as simple as you would think.)
• Week three: Arabic breakthroughs (How I learned to stop worrying and trust the teacher.)
• Arabic salad (Language learning through food.)

Today is National Puzzle Day – celebrate with games

Can you solve the puzzle?

January 29th is National Puzzle Day! It is an obscure holiday celebrated faithfully every year by puzzle makers and puzzle fans alike. To get into the National Puzzle Day spirit, try these puzzles for English class.

Word searches: Try these word search worksheets organized by topic and by level of difficulty.  If you want to play online, try these flash word searches organized by topic.  You have to hold down the shift key while you click on letters to highlight a word.

Bingo: Try printing this bingo board and filling it in with vocabulary words or pictures.

Fortune teller: Want to predict the future? Try playing MASH!  Or print this fortune-teller (“cootie catcher”) template and follow the instructions to make your own paper fortune teller.

Simple board games: Here is a game where you write a question in each square. You can only advance to the next square if you get the question correct.  Print the template, fill in the questions, and find a friend to play with.

You know tag questions, don’t you?  Try this simple tag question board game.

Need to practice grammar? These online flash games will have you shooting hoops, sword fighting, and building a catapoult to “fling the teacher” while you practice comparatives, prefixes, suffixes, and other grammar structures.

Crosswords: If you want to try online crossword puzzles, this site has many of them sorted by topic and difficulty.

Trivia: Free rice is a great site to answer trivia questions and, supposedly, donate food to starving people around the world. You start with easy questions, and as you get more correct answers, the questions get harder.

Partially completed puzzle.

Jigsaw puzzles: Here’s a puzzle about National Puzzle Day. Piece it together to find out the ways you can celebrate. A jigsaw about National Puzzle Day: now that’s meta.

Take a look at the photo here for hints about how to solve this jigsaw puzzle.

If you want to create your own jigsaw puzzles, try Jigzone. Members are allowed to upload their own pictures and play online.

What kind of game do you like best?

Related articles

• Doing a Jigsaw Puzzle Can Make You More Money (prfire.co.uk)
• Games for language class