There are more than 6,500 languages around the world. Since we cannot control where we are going to be born, we cannot choose which particular form of communication we are going to speak as our "mother" language. However, if you were raised around two languages, consider yourself very lucky. Coming from a bilingual family, I take pride in my nationality and my heritage. It makes me the person I am today and I’m thankful for being brought up in a home that spoke not one but two languages without barriers. Understanding and speaking two languages has paved many opportunities without systematical use in an organic fashion.
Growing up:
‘Nature vs. nurture’ plays a significant role in an upbringing. With the right amount of nurture, bilingualism is an effective way to develop identity and overall character.
Also, there are many cognitive and social-emotional benefits of being bilingual.
1) Research indicates that individuals who are bilingual switch between two different language systems (Zelasko and Antunez, 2000). The brain of individuals who are bilingual are very active and flexible. Bilingualism molds an array of cognitive understanding such as solving math concepts easier, knowing a variation of larger thinking skills and a better orientation of logical components. In addition, research indicates that bilingualism may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (Dreifus, 2011).
2) Bilingualism supports children to maintain strong ties with their entire family, culture, and community. Bilingual children are also able to make new friends and create strong relationships in their second language- an important personal skill in our increasingly diverse society. Research has also found that children raised in bilingual households show better self-control (Kovács and Mehler, 2009), which is a key indicator of school success.
Adulthood:
1) One-half to two-thirds of adults around the world speak at least two languages (Zelasko and Antunez, 2000). In our global society, they have many advantages. Bilingual adults have more job opportunities around the world than monolingual adults (Zelasko and Antunez, 2000). Research shows that they also earn an average of $7,000 more per year than their monolingual peers (Fradd, 2000).
2) Having cultural experience also creates greater tolerance and open-mindedness. The most obvious advantage of being bilingual is that an individual has the opportunity to engage and be a part of two different and diverse communities without feeling excluded.
Conclusion:
No individual should ever doubt the power of language. It is the glue that holds us together, linguistically. The deep imprint it leaves is measurable on an intellectual level. Next time you feel ashamed for speaking another language and having somebody look at you like you have two heads, realize that you are smarter. You have the power to take words and sentences and make them far greater than a one-sided configuration.
