Why Learning Two Languages is Good
What do you find hard about learning another language?
How can we learn another language?
It seems that the benefits outweigh the costs for getting your brain, or your child’s brain to learn two languages at the same time. Research from York University seems to show that those in old age are on average about 5 years mentally younger who are bilingual. Why is this so? One theory is that learning two languages works in the same way as doing puzzles and games do. Even though when we are middle aged it is harder to learn another language fluently, it seems that every little bit helps in stopping cognitive decline. Another thing; it seems that bilinguals are better at multi-tasking than monolinguals and this is because someone who can think in two languages is better at prioritizing; that is they can throw away irrelevant information while they are talking, essentially they can focus better. And besides all this, learning another language makes us more international and better able to be patient with differences and means we can experience making new friends and this means we could be better at thinking outside of the box.
Guessing meaning from context
Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. The answers are below the table.
benefits outweigh the costs |
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Able to speak two languages as a native speaker of both |
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Able to do more than one thing at the same time |
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Deciding what things are most important to do first |
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The good things are better than the bad things |
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Only able to speak one language |
thinking outside of the box |
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Over time our brain loses its ability |
A=5, B=1, C=8, D=2, E=7, F=3, G=4, H=6
Some example sentences using the new words to help you to better understand their meaning.
1. It is expensive to live in another country to study, so you have to think whether the benefits outweigh the costs.
2. Korean children who grow up in another country and culture usually become bilingual and those that stay in Korea are usually monolingual.
3. As we get older we experience cognitive decline, for example we find it harder to remember things.
4. Women seem to be better than men at multi-tasking, that is they can do two things at one time.
5. Good managers are able to prioritize things, what is most important to be done first and last.
6. When I was young my father told me not to learn French because it was irrelevant to where we lived, but he was wrong because I now know that learning any language is useful.
7. If you want to work at Google then you have to be able to think outside the box everyday, that means you need to be very creative everyday.
Some discussion questions using the new words to help you better understand the word meaning and how to use them correctly. Try to use the words in your answer.
1. Learning English in Korea is very hard work, so do you think that the benefits outweigh the costs?
2. Why do you think children who live outside their home country become bilingual so easily?
3. From the reading, how can we stop cognitive decline?
4. Do you agree that bilingual children are better at multi-tasking that monolingual children? Why ?
5. How important is it for you to prioritize in your work or daily life?
6. What things do you do that are irrelevant? For example you could talk about things that waste time.
7. Why do you think people who learn other languages could be better at thinking outside the box?
ECK Education
