Respond to the Readings
After reading both "Are Bilinguals Smarter?" and "Bilinguals are Smarter" I'm still in the same space of agreeing with my first reactional 'yes' to the titles of the articles. I've grown up in the US being told that knowing more than one language is a great benefit to one's life. Although, it wasn't so much in a context of a higher "executive function" ability nor "an effect of bilingualism on the twilight years" but more of a reward for future possibilities in the workforce. The articles talk about the more intrinisic value of bilingualism while I've always considered bilingualism as an extrinsic value to maybe turning into intrinsic value depending on the likeness of the language. So that's one thing which really interested me, the difference of valuing languages. I do agree on both articles, that knowing and learning more than one language works the brain in different ways and people who do so engage in life differently. I guess it was a nice reminder that there's more to languages than just another job opening. The long-term benefits, especially in a place such as the US, where I am told to "brush up on my English" when I have an accent or am confused, vary in different ways and it's nice to see some mind and body positive results to knowing more than one language.
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