Many of us are well aware of some advantages that the learning new languages Most of these strengths, however, are related to the application of the linguistic skills that have been acquired during this process.
Advantages of speaking several languages (being polylingual is good!)
Despite this, some scientific studies suggest that a large part of these advantages of bilingualism could be found beyond the realm of languages. Specifically, it seems that the simple exercise of learning and speaking several languages makes our brains more functional, useful or skilled in some aspects. These are four reasons why it is good to master more than one language:
1. Promotes creativity
On the one hand, there is scientific evidence that could indicate that Bilingualism positively affects the development of a creative mind. This could be explained because the fact of thinking from two or more ways of encoding our mental representations favors the appearance of a type of non-linear, that is, creative, thinking. This type of “lateral” thinking is characterized by making leaps beyond a single cognitive scheme; scheme that allows our perception of the world but also makes it more hermetic and closed in on itself.
2. Improves attentional control
At the same time, another study indicates that Bilingualism helps shape a brain with a greater ability to pay attention to what is important and inhibit distractions, just as it allows you to switch relatively easily from one object of attention to another. This can also translate into greater ease in reaching a good level of performance in any voluntary activity, especially if it is carried out in a complex and changing environment. It is possible that this improvement in attentional management is due to the continuous “filtering” exercise that bilingual people have to do when they can convey an idea with a very broad repertoire of words in several languages.
There is also data that supports the ability of the bilingual body to delay and alleviate the symptoms of dementia Although dementia involves the degradation of brain tissue, the fact of having mastered several languages creates alternative neural circuits that, in the absence of the connections that have been disappearing due to dementia, can help maintain a level of adaptation to the outside world for longer. .
4. Improves control of executive tasks
Finally, there is evidence about better control over novel tasks that need to be solved through reasoning Bilinguals have an easier time dealing with problems that can only be solved by applying new rules, that is, to carry out activities that are not familiar enough for our brain to have automated them. In this particular study, bilinguals showed greater performance solving mathematical problems with which they were unfamiliar.
