I found the readings this week especially interesting because I am bilingual. It felt like these readings offered a little speak at my own brain. I mostly consider my bilingualism between English and Croatian since I speak in those languages more than I speak in German or Korean. While I agreed with many of the points that the articles brought up, especially the points regarding focus, there were many that I disagreed with. For example, one researcher stated that bilingual speakers can completely block one language when speaking in another. I think this is pretty incorrect. Of course, there is the basic ability to suppress the other language but I still slip and use the wrong language. This is especially true when I am just starting speaking after being stopped for a while. In the flow of a conversation, my brain is able to "warm up" in the same way a car does so that I can easily flow in one language. But often in the beginning or when having sudden bursts of speech, the ability to suppress is much lower.
I think the greatest benefits for speaking two (or more) languages are increased focus and a framework for other languages. Since bilingual people have to constantly make a choice between languages, there is a much higher level of focus. I have seen these in between my friends. I feel that my bilingual friends tend to pay more attention and engage more than my monolingual friends. Furthermore, all the languages I've learned have made it easier to experience and learn new languages. My biggest benefit has not be in grammar but in pronunciation. Since I usually use a wide variety of sounds, my accent tends to not be strong when learning new languages because I am more accustomed to the sounds they may use.
Comments