Hind Louali: Bilingualism and Its Many Advantages

Communicating in multiple languages is a skill that can open up a world of opportunities. Bilingualism has become increasingly valuable in today’s globalized society. It can enhance one’s career prospects, making individuals more competitive in the job market.

Being bilingual also has immense academic benefits, as studies have shown that bilinguals have better cognitive skills and mental flexibility. Beyond that, communicating with people from different cultures can enrich one’s social life and broaden one’s horizons. As scientists continue to study the advantages of being bilingual, it is a skill worth pursuing.

Today, Hind Louali touches on this topic.

Speaking and writing in multiple languages can make learning even more languages easier. If you can already communicate in two languages, you’re pretty adept at learning languages. According to Hind Louali, those who speak two languages find it much easier to learn a third language or even more.

Even if you discount other factors, such as differences in IQ or reading abilities, or other cognitive aspects, speaking or writing in more than one language can be considered a major factor in increasing the chances and rate of being able to learn another language quickly.

The second advantage of being bilingual is that it makes you multitask better. Hind Louali mentions that bilinguals have been noticed to often be in a state of linguistic multitasking. It means that they have to function in a world outside their first or native language. They must switch, shift, and process several languages in real-time.

One recent study found that bilinguals are also better at non-linguistic multitasking. In said study, children do two tasks. First, they had to match animal sounds to the correct picture. Then, they had to match letters to a musical instrument. When bilingual and monolingual children did the tasks individually, they all did roughly as well. However, when they had to do the tasks together as a multitasking activity, it was discovered that bilingual children were considerably better.

Finally, learning multiple languages makes you more empathetic, which means you can relate to someone else. You are also able to see things as they do. Again, research shows that bilinguals are better at it.

What are the other benefits of being bilingual? What languages can you communicate in? What languages would you want to take up?

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