Bilingual Advantage

Dr. Robert M. Kurtz, speech-language pathologist states the following: Growing up bilingual can be a tremendous blessing. In addition to the obvious benefit (i.e., the ability to speak and understand more than one language), recent research has revealed a number of cognitive advantages to bilingualism. Bilingual children have been shown to have:

  1. Better metalinguistic awareness (ability to identify and describe characteristics and features of language).

  2. Better classification skills.

  3. Better concept formation.

  4. Better analogical reasoning.

  5. Better visual-spatial skills.

  6. Better storytelling skills.

  7. Better semantic development.

From the Center for Applied Linguistics, learning a second language at an early age...

  • Has a positive effect on intellectual growth.

  • Enriches and enhances a child's mental development.

  • Leaves students with more flexibility in thinking, greater sensitivity to language, and a better ear for listening.

  • Improves a child's understanding of his or her native language.

  • Gives a child the ability to communicate with people he or she would otherwise not have had the chance to know.

  • Opens the door to other cultures and helps the child understand and appreciate people from other countries.

  • Gives the child a head start in language requirements for college.

  • Increases job opportunities in many careers in which knowing another language is a real asset.