Journal #9- 105

[Abigail Sohkhlet]

Frankly, these readings were surprising because I do not go through the same “bilingual experience” as the articles discussed and I am a bilingual speaker. However, I should add that I am not a professional in either language, that is, English and Khasi. Apart from these studies mentioned in the two articles, there was another study done that showed children who are bilingual are more likely to be empathetic than children who know only one language. This is because children must learn the context in which specific terms are allowed and such. The study mentioned in the article by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, discussed the ability to track changes in the environment which made me wonder if being bilingual increases one’s ability to multitask. I do not know if this would make one smarter or more intelligent but it would definitely improve daily functioning.