Benefits of Bilingual Brain

Hi, Salut, Annyeong Haseyo, If any of you who are reading this article answered in the native language of those simple greetings that I used, you guys are probably capable of speaking at least bi or multi-languages which makes your brain a bilingual one.

Before bombarding you guys with the benefits of a bilingual brain, I want to start off by simply introducing the 3 kinds of bilingual brain: Compound bilingual, Coordinate bilingual, and lastly Subordinate bilingual.

First, Compound bilingual can be applied to children who have yet made a perception of this world. They develop their language ability simultaneously as he/she begins to process the world around them.

On the other hand, coordinate bilingual are people who work with 2 sets of concepts.

A student native to the US who transferred to Spain is a great example of this. He/she would speak Spanish in school while the student would continuously use English as a form of communication with his/her family and friends.

Lastly, Subordinate bilinguals are people who learn their secondary language by filtering it through their primary language. Regardless of whether someone is considered a Compound, Coordinate or a Subordinate bilingual, one's adeptness in their secondary language is dependent solely on the individual.

Now, let's talk about the benefits of having a bilingual brain. Some of these are even visible, such as higher density of the grey matter in the brain which contains the brain's neurons and synapses and more activity in some parts of the brain. Through having a more active brain, diseases such as Alzheimer and dementia can be delayed up to 5 years. Moreover, Research showed that the ability to switch between languages potentially strengthened the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex responsible in executive function, problem solving, switching between tasks and focusing.

Although some people might think that it is now too late for them to start learning a second language, why not give it a try? since life is full of new things and learning can be never stopped.