Are Bilinguals Really Smarter?
One of the NYT articles I read had an interesting statement saying: "There is ample evidence that in a bilingual’s brain both language systems are active even when he is using only one language, thus creating situations in which one system obstructs the other." I agree with some of the ideas that Bilingual people may be mentally more capable of learning other subjects or solving puzzles, but I also think that these cases are very individual. I have met bilingual people who had much worse mental abilities than my monolingual American friends and vice versa, therefore one claim may apply to a portion of people but not necessarily to all. The second article I read said: " Bilingual brains differ in their use of executive function- a system that helps the brain access particular regions or memories when prompted, like a neurological Dewey Decimal System." Another question that was raised was whether later language learners are also considered bilingual and smarter. Some claim that multilingualism gives a person "a heightened ability to monitor the environment." They also say that multilinguals are more resistant to dementia and other Alzheimer's symptoms. Others still claim that teaching another language to a child does nothing but complicate their thoughts. I personally think that whether bilingualism makes someone smarter or not is very individual. However, the fact of being able to understand different mindsets, cultures and viewpoints is undeniably one ramification of multilingualism and more and more people value languages these days, although a portion of them believes digital technologies will replace the difficult process of language learning.
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