People’s brain was divided into two halves, or hemispheres. Within each half, particular regions control certain functions. The two side of people’s brains look very much alike, but there is a huge difference in how they process information. I heard of a theory that people are either left-brained or right-brained, meaning that one side of their brain is dominant. People who are mostly analytical and methodical are said to be left-brained. And people who tend to be more creative and artistic are thought to be right-brained.
What will happen to brain if people are learning a second language? Understanding language is one of the most hardest things people’s brain does. According to some researches, learning a second language is one of the most effective and practical ways to increase intelligence, and buffer brains against aging. It is hard to believe that raising children in a bilingual home was frowned upon. Some studies suggest that children who are multilingual experience brain benefits surprisingly early. They receive a boost in overall cognitive development, do better on standardized tests, and have better self-esteem and sense of achievement.
Moreover, in our daily conversations, brain plays the most crucial role as well, such as speech production and speech comprehension. There are several areas of brain involved in daily conversations. Both the left and right hemisphere are instrumental in this effort. To be more specific, in D. Crystal’s articles, I learnt that the Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area are responsible for speech production and speech comprehension. My mother language is Chinese, in order to conceptualize and process the meaning of other foreign languages, I think I always translate them to Chinese first and then I read to write. No matter what language I learn, Japanese, English or Korean, it seems easier to learn if I translate them to Chinese first. However, sometimes it is not the case. For example, I have been in Japan for about two months the summer. Everyday I did anything in Japanese, watching films, chatting and writing. When the program finished and I was back to China, I started to realized that when my families talked to me in Chinese, I sometimes replied to them by Japanese unconsciously, but this did not last long. So I guess if you learn a language in a deep degree, you brain might skip the step hat translates it to your mother tongue.
Comments
Great post, Ruofan. Yes, there are manifold benefits to learning foreign languages. The brain, like any muscle, needs exercise! When we get to our unit on bilingualism, we'll read about how learning other foreign languages has been shown in studies to delay or decrease the risk of Alzheimers, coincides with musical aptitude, and overall improves both short-term and long-term memory.
Your comments about language, the brain, and translation are fascinating. The unit on bilingualism will also introduce some crucial distinctions between the terms, mother tongue and native language. When you were studying in Japan this summer, did you start to think, or better yet, dream in Japanese? Does your brain sometimes attempt to merge the two languages into a hybrid form of communication?
The language of consciousness is a curious thing, and there have been some interesting studies of late to suggest that while linguistic communication plays an important role in the formation and recognition of new emotions, stimuli, and idea, the brain may engage non-linguistic sign systems, e.g. pictures, colors, music, feelings, even more prominently than thoughts and utterances conveyed in words. While this is a challenging question to address in a short post, how would you describe your inner voice of thoughts?