Why being bilingual is good for your brain | BBC Ideas

I speak 6 languages but I still can’t remember where I left my keys.

During my childhood we spoke two languages simultaneously, German and Swedish. (Mother Swedish, Father German) Both parents spoke both languages. Then we four children learned English (actually American) in school. None of us had any problems mixing up the three languages, and if we didn't know a word in one language, we would take it from the two other languages. At the age of four I started to play an instrument...music was another language, very different allbeit. I still speak all three languages (now age 78) and had an international career as a classical concert artist. I feel blessed for all the knowledge I received, free of charge sort of to say...it has made my life rich...for which I am eternally grateful. Bylingual parents, please teach your children your languages and culture, thereby giving them a strong identity in life.

It's insane how the world opens up when you learn new languages. You get to know other cultures, other people and their ways of being. I feel like it makes you more open and tolerant to others! You become more and more a citizen of the world 🌎

Being offended in your first language hurts a lot more than being offended in your second language

The key to learning another language as an adult is to remember that our hearing is very closely tied in with the language part of our brain so don't study the most heavily in books and through thinking only. Study heavily through listening and listen a lot. Let your brain grow used to it, let the brains pattern recognition software figure it out. The more familiar your brain is with hearing the language the more easily new words will stick, especially if you have heard it before or hear it in context. Bonus tip is to associate the words with images instead of words in your previous languages so that if you mentally picture "the red yarn in the basket" and can say it in your new language without translation then speaking will be less effortful down the line. Head translations fatigue you very fast. The last key is to not stop. You'll hit plateaus and the only way through them is just keep going. Fall in love with youtubers, streamers, TV shows and movies and soon you'll find yourself forgetting that you are watching content in this new language. You get the listening practice but learning doesn't have to be boring. Reading, writing, listening, speaking. That's the 4 skills of a language. You can do it. ^^

What I've noticed about being bilingual, not just with myself but with friends who are also bilingual, is that my pitch changes in each language. When I speak Spanish, my pitch is lower than when I speak English. I also feel like my personality is different in each language.

Im 76, speak and write in 4 languages and Im not intelligent. Actually, Im the most stupid member in the family. However, I've learned and experienced 4 ways of doing, thinking from 4 différents cultures. This gave me à great sense of resilience.

Being bilingual is one of the core aspects of who I am. My second language has made possible for me to study abroad on a full scholarship, get all the jobs I've done so far, and meet and interact with people from cultures from across the globe. Being bilingual has changed my life for the better. That's why I have such a high appreciation for my second language.

I speak 3 languages fluently, c, c++, python and am currently learning Scala too

It was crazy to hear that mother tongue is usually more emotional and second language more rational! This is exactly how I feel: when I am dealing with strong emotions, I noticed long ago that expressing them in my second language helped me calm down. These evenings I watch a series in its original language, that is my second language. Watching that series helps me relax at the end of the day and I realized that it was mostly because it is in my second language, which also helps me evade my everyday life.

I speak 6 languages and the best way I can describe the experience is that they all seem like one single language to me in my mind. I cannot separate them apart from each other. I first became bilingual at age 2. I had been exposed to 3 languages by then (Spanish, Flemish and English). By age 6 I was fully bilingual in English and Spanish after my parents migrated to Australia from the Canary Islands when I was 2, and I had lived in Flanders, Belgium for the year prior. At age 15 I learned German in high school and came first in my class, followed by learning French the following year at 16 and also coming first. At age 25 I dated a guy who had recently migrated from Poland so I set to task to teach myself Polish. Then, at age 35 I studied traditional ancient yoga (the philosophy not the poses) and studied Sanskrit. I also have working knowledge of Italian, Portuguese and Russian. My mother's new husband is Portuguese and they live in Portugal so I often Skype them in Portuguese. My parents became bilingual at ages 21 (mother) and 27 (father) in Spanish and English. My mother learned Portuguese at age 69. I know for a fact that I am very open minded thanks to the many languages that I speak. My high school German teacher wrote in my report card that I had a gift for languages and should major in linguistics. I never formally studied it, but I have taught myself somewhat over the years with the help of the internet. I tell people that speaking more than one language opens your mind to other possibilities, other ways of seeing & doing things, other ways of thinking about things. In other words, it makes one more open minded 😁

Everyone can learn foreign languages. The important thing is finding a good method and a routine. Repetition and making connections with the words you learn are also very important. The language you're learning must be part of your life. You should start thinking in that language. The same is true with computer programming languages and coding. Everyone can learn them. ❤

My native language is Spanish, but now I am studying English and Mandarin Chinese. I hope that one day I will be able to learn these languages completely. I like learning very much, especially languages.

The best thing in learning languages is having the ability to see your first language as an outsider. On my journey of acquiring languages I'm most grateful for the nuances I successfully realised about my own language. Great vid though!

The most exciting thing for me to learn was the fact that we react in our mother tongue more emotionally than in the second language. I never thought about it before. The idea why it's so never came to my mind. I come from Russia and I struggle with learning English as my second language. I've been learning it for years already. But I still have some difficulties with speaking and full understanding of this language. Anyway, I believe that learning English itself has contributed to my brain's development.

The good thing about being multilingual is that NONE can take that away from you. It's all yours. You can go homeless, naked, no money in the bank etc, yet no one can it steal it from you.

As a native English speaker who is lucky to travel to Europe professionally, I must confess to significant feelings of inadequacy in this sense. To overcome this I have revived my interest in French (and now teach this language in my community), and via long-term professional collaborations in The Netherlands, I am now an enthusiastic Dutch speaker / student. I say that I speak 3.5 languages - the two mentioned above, English and my Australian dialect (mainly with family and day-to-day with friends ...). To all English-speaking monoglots, make the effort - the benefits are immeasurable (o:

Bilingualism is a definitely a gift, and has its benefits both socially and physiologically

It's absolutely true, probably to way more extent than everyone thinks. I've learned my 2nd language later in life, starting at 14. I can safely say that it changes everything, even your personality a bit. The way you approach problem solving, the way you interact with people and your creativity improve massively. Even the way you understand life. I'm sure it actually raises your IQ by quite a bit. I'm now half way through learning my 3rd language, Spanish.

I am trilingual, English, French and Spanish. English is my native language and I have an emotional connection with the words. At 20, I moved to Geneva, Switzerland, and learned French. This was my first culture shock as well. After a few years people could not immediately tell I was American. At 25, I moved to Mexico, my second culture shock. I found that my linguistic skills weren't the same and I never gained the level I enjoyed in Geneva. Age definitely matters.