4 Cognitive Benefits That Distinguish Bilinguals from Monolinguals

Bonjour, Hello, Ola, Szia, Gamarjoba!

In how many languages can you greet people? If you speak at least one more language besides your mother tongue, you are bilingual!

I was born speaking Russian and Ukrainian. Later, I learned English and German. These days, I am fluent in all these languages, which opens up plenty of opportunities. However, it often turns out to be a challenge for me.

I often mix several languages in my speech since my brain no longer sees a difference between them. I sometimes believe my brain assigns roles to every language I speak. For instance, English is used for business purposes most of the time, while Ukrainian is for general purposes, such as talking to my family.

It’s a strange feeling when your brain can instantly switch between different languages in your head.

Gigi Luk, an associate professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, put it well:

“Bilingualism is an experience that shapes your brain for a lifetime.”

According to the research studies, roughly 43% of the global population is bilingual. While Washingtonpost states only 20% of Americans can converse in two or more languages than 56% of Europeans.

There is nothing wrong if you only speak your mother tongue. Multilingualism is proved to have some social, psychological, and lifestyle advantages.

However, various studies have shown that bilinguals outperform monolinguals in a range of cognitive and social tasks.

1. Greater Empathy

Over the past centuries, humans have mastered the art of emotional intelligence, which helps us understand others' feelings.

You have a high level of empathy if you can imagine yourself in others' shoes; if you show compassion; if you feel what others must be feeling.

Empathy is not granted at birth. It is a skill that human beings develop over time by interacting with others.

Bilinguals are thought to possess a greater empathy level because they better manage their attention and easily focus on someone else’s pain. That’s one scientific explanation. However, there is another one, a quite surprising reason, I personally can relate to:

“Bilinguals feel like a different person when they speak the other language.” -Susan M. Ervin-Tripp, an American psycholinguist.

Indeed! As an individual speaking four languages, I often feel like an impostor in different countries, among new people. It seems I pretend to be one of them because I look similar and speak their language.

Locals often refer to me as “you are one of us” because we get along well, discuss the most profound thoughts and support each other in need.

Being able to integrate into a new society easily makes me forget my own identity, origin, and roots since I have to adapt to a new environment.

Bilingualism creates different mindsets that are continually in conflict. It happens because your brain has to choose which language to use.

Nevertheless, languages can help you view conventional places in a new way, establish a long-lasting friendship with people and become more open to the world.

2. Higher Commitment

English is a lingua-franca these days, and it’s barely possible to survive without it. Ambitious people don’t care about what’s fair and unfair in life. They create their future despite anything. If a new language separates them from the world full of opportunities, they will master it!

People who know and study new languages show a higher passion for life, hard-working skills, and a higher dedication to work. They know why they do it and understand the consequences of being isolated from the rest of the world.

Rubén Rumbaut, an American psychologist, discovered that bilinguals are more likely to complete higher education than kids who grown up speaking English only. He also found that bilingualism has a direct positive impact on earnings.

If you are fluent in any foreign language despite your own — you are already more advantageous than 40% of monolinguals worldwide.

You can express yourself in a foreign language, and you will be understood. Meanwhile, you preserve your culture and mother tongue. This combination makes you unique and valuable on the job market.

3. Attention and Focus

The ability to speak multiple languages often comes with an enhanced concentration and attention. But how are these two connected?

According to science, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex brain area is responsible for language switching. It also helps manage executive functions like problem-solving, task management, attention, and focus.

In other words, you unconsciously employ the same brain areas to switch between languages and do deep work.

Panos Athanasopoulos, a Greek professor of applied linguistics at the University of Lancaster, conducted several cognitive psychology experiments. He aimed to understand if there is a difference between how bilinguals and monolinguals perform executive and cognitive tasks. Here is what he stated in his research:

“Bilinguals perform tasks much better than monolinguals — they are faster and more accurate. And that suggests their executive systems are different from monolinguals.”

If you wonder how foreign-language speaking can enhance your attention and focus, here are some observations of mine.

When your brain is fresh, you can work on various tasks despite their level of difficulty. However, what happens by the end of the day? You run out of energy, and it takes more effort to make any decision.

It’s way more challenging for me to switch between languages in the evening. My brain slows down and puts double effort into making my speech coherent. However, if you do it continuously, the cognitive pressure on your brain will drop, and the speed of conversation will increase.

In time, your brain won’t require deep concentration to switch between languages; you’ll do it quickly, saving mental energy for other tasks.

Don’t treat language learning as a part of your career only! It contributes to your personal growth, making you special.

4. Keeps Mentally Fit

A greater concentration, problem-solving skills as well as an in-depth focus, are no doubt essential nowadays. However, bilingualism has other, perhaps even more exciting benefits, occurring when people become older.

Bilingualism can protect you against dementia!

Ellen Bialystok, a Canadian psycholinguist, conducted a research study to verify this statement. Her study drew a surprising conclusion:

It was possible that bilingualism protected the brain and people didn’t get Alzheimer’s disease as soon, but I never thought that.

We did a second study with 20 monolinguals and 20 bilinguals, all about 75 years old. They had all been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and they were at exactly the same cognitive level.

But when we looked at their brains, we found that the bilinguals had significantly more damage than the monolinguals. They had more advanced Alzheimer’s but they were functioning at the same level.

That’s the advantage: they could cope with the disease better.

When I was learning foreign languages, I only had pragmatic goals in my mind. I believe most people do it for the same reasons. However, it turns out bilingual brains function better and recover faster from dementia.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn languages but kept delaying it, start now! Something will always steal your time from yourself. There is no and won’t be a better moment than now. Your future self will thank you!

Now It Is Your Turn

It is never too late to learn new languages. As you might have already realized, it can be rewarding.

Being bilingual (or even multilingual) could help you keep your mind working longer and better even in the elderly life; enhance your verbal and nonverbal communication; understand what others feel and why they behave in a certain way.

New languages open up new opportunities, new cultures, new world for you. You never know what awaits you in the future until you take a step forward towards new adventures.

“I am too tired,” I am too old,” “Not now” — leave it behind. As Daniel G. Amen, a double board-certified psychiatrist, once put it well:

“Your brain is very powerful and brings to life what you visualize. Your self-talk and words are the movie script your brain plays out. If you think you are old and slow, you will feel old and slow.”

When you stop learning, your brain starts dying! You don’t have to live an ordinary life; you deserve to see its full spectrum of colors.