Multilingual Benefits

“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn… and change.”

Carl Rogers

Early introduction to bi-lingual education has been proven to be immensely helpful in supercharging children’s learning and even changing the structure of the human brain. Many studies have shown that there is a significant advantage for those who have had the opportunity to learn a second language from childhood. Several studies have suggested that bi-linguals show certain advantages when it comes to social understanding.

These include:

  • Increased cognitive development
  • Make travelling more enjoyable
  • Cross-cultural appreciation
  • Better academic achievement
  • Increased economic opportunities
  • Improved memory
  • Resistance to dementia
  • Improvements in the executive function of the brain.
Girls Read

In some ways, this is not surprising, as bi-linguals must navigate a complex social world where different people have different language knowledge. For example, bi-lingual pre-schoolers seem to have somewhat better skills than mono-linguals in understanding others’ perspectives, thoughts, desires, and intentions. Young bi-lingual children also have enhanced sensitivity to certain features of communication such as tone of voice Bi-linguals also show some cognitive advantages. In particular, bi-linguals appear to perform better than mono-linguals on tasks that involve switching between activities and inhibiting previously learned responses.

EYFS