Did you know that there are over 7,000 spoken languages in the world? That surely does seem like a gargantuan number and feels a little embarrassing for those of us who are only fluent in one language. Millions of people from different regions over the world speak two or more languages and an even higher number are trying to learn a new tongue. There are a number of benefits of being bilingual and in this blog, we will even discuss the benefits of a bilingual brain.
The Benefits Of Being Bilingual
Being fluent in a language is the primary way to communicate your thoughts and feelings to fellow people efficiently and effortlessly. Other than just knowing a secondary language, this skill comes with a whole host of benefits.
Below discussed are the prime benefits of being bilingual.
- Children can perform better. Being bilingual is shown to improve a child’s academic prowess. Several studies have shown that children who speak more than one language are able to perform better at school as compared to children who speak only one language. Apart from gaining an academic advantage, there are several other benefits of being bilingual for children. It not only boosts their educational development but also helps improve their social skills, and cognitive abilities and even positively impacts their emotional intelligence for years to come.
- Boosts brainpower. One of the benefits of being bilingual is that being fluent in another language acts as a sort of brain food for your grey matter. Studies from over the world have shown that people who are bilingual have better functioning brains than their counterparts who only speak one language. Some of the benefits of a bilingual brain are being better at multitasking, promoting a stronger memory, improve creativity and problem-solving. Bilingual people are known to have better divergent thinking too.
- More attractive job prospects. Fresh graduates have come to understand that proficiency in more than one language makes their resumes look more attractive and makes them better candidates in the job market. Certain jobs with operations in different countries overseas usually have this as a primary requirement. Being bilingual helps you communicate effectively in other languages and thus, makes you a strong asset to the organisation.
- Remain mentally strong over the years. One of the benefits of being bilingual that have been studied in a medical capacity is that it helps the brain retain its strength and power even in one’s old age. Bilingual brains are known to age slower as opposed to their counterparts. It even delays the onset of certain neurological diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s in many cases.
- Better appreciate other cultures. We just learnt that there are more than 7,000 spoken languages around the globe. This indicates varied different cultures that have given rise to these languages. A language is a window to a culture and learning a language helps you better understand the culture it comes from. This, in turn, educates you and makes you appreciate cultures from different corners of the world.
- Travel is more fun. Who doesn’t like to show off a bit in a foreign country by conversing in their tongue? All in all, one of the enjoyable benefits of being bilingual is that travelling is made more fun. On a more serious note, it even makes your trip easier if you are visiting a country that does not heavily speak a global language. This makes asking for directions, ordering food at a restaurant, hailing a taxi and other such necessities in a foreign country very simple.
- It makes learning a third language easier. Looking to learn a third or fourth language? It’s easier when you are already bilingual. Being fluent in two languages helps gain a better understanding of how languages work and your brain becomes more adept at picking up another tongue. Bilingual people find it easier to learn another language while monolingual people find it a bit challenging to do the same.
- Helps include diversity in your social groups. Bilinguals find it easier to socialise with people from different places and backgrounds. For one, they can make friends with people who speak the same language as them and that opens up a whole new possibility of having a diverse group of people in your social circle. This is among the great advantages of being multilingual especially when you are looking to build your social group in a place where you are new.
- Makes it easier for your children to be bilingual. Parents who converse in more than one language are highly likely to pass on those tongues to their children in their formative years which helps their children easily pick up those languages.
Most Spoken Languages Around The World | Benefits Of Being Bilingual
Following are ten languages in no particular order that have the highest number of speakers in the world.
- English
- Chinese
- Spanish
- Hindi
- Arabic
- Portuguese
- Bengali
- Japanese
- Russia
- Western Punjabi (Lahnda)
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I have done Bachelor’s in Culinary Arts from India and completed my graduation in the year 2022 .I am 22 years old. After graduation, I have done 1 year paid internship from USA .Now, I would like to take occupational experience and learn culinary skills and also do masters in Culinary arts.How can I find the college n best course / country where I can persue studying further