Bilingualism as a Life Experience

We found an interesting article that gives insight about the way bilingualism influences someone's life and what we can learn about the long lasting cognitive effects of speaking two languages.

In the past bilingualism was often seen with a lot of skeptic. There wasn't much evidence about what it does to children and people often thought it would be confusing and cause cognitive delay in children. Today the notion of bilingualism is changing and it is rather seen as an brain-sharpening benefit. Countries are becoming more and more multicultural and in order for people to live together and communicate, language barriers need to be overcome. Nowadays English is seen as the "world language" and offers people from all around the world the opportunity to find success in an international career.

According to Professor Gigi Luk there are many ways to be bilingual. She says, that "bilingualism is a complex and multi faceted life experience. It's an interactional experience, that happens within, and in response to, a broader social context".

The article gives a more in depth insight into the topics: bilingualism an executive function, bilingualism and the aging brain, the question who is bilingual and language diversity in schools.

If you would like to read the full article, please click here.