5 incredible things that happen when you become bilingual
If you’ve been in the Na’atik family for some time, you’re probably already experiencing some of the positive effects that learning a new language can have on your life. Numerous studies show that knowing one or more languages can increase our opportunities, improve our relationships, and expand our perspective. We can earn more money, travel more confidently and even look smarter to our peers. Besides these experiential and material benefits, there are some strange and interesting things that can happen when we learn a new language. It can change us in ways that we could not anticipate.
You increase the neuroplasticity of your brain
The popular view that there is a “critical period” to learn a language, particularly during childhood, has been repeatedly challenged by studies on neuroplasticity in relation to second language acquisition. That’s right, you don’t need a time machine to zap you back to age seven in order for you to learn a language, because your brain continues to change even after you've passed the optimal age for language learning.
Neuroplasticity describes changes that occur in the brain as a result of environmental stimuli, and studies of this phenomenon demonstrate that those who learn a second language undergo positive changes in the brain well into adulthood and even old age. Neuroplasticity studies use fMRI scans to observe the effect of second language acquisition on the brain and have noted a change in the volume and density of grey matter in the brain after intensive study. Grey matter consists of neuronal cell bodies, synapses, glial cells and capillaries resting primarily in the prefrontal cortex; it influences the part of the brain that is responsible for memory, sensory perception, decision-making and self-control. Bilinguals generally have more grey matter than monolinguals and are observed to exhibit more cognitive control as a result.
While those who start a second language at an earlier age exhibit greater amounts of gray matter on average, age should not be a limiting factor in the development of gray matter and thus increased cognitive abilities. Training for at least 15 minutes a day for at least two weeks has been said to change the volume of gray matter in the brain!
2. You delay the potential for diseases like Alzheimer's
Learning a second language can strengthen neural networks in older learners and delay diseases such as Alzheimer’s. While learning a second language won’t necessarily stop such diseases, it has been observed that bilinguals suffer Alzheimer's at least four years later than those who are monolingual. Studies also show that learning a foreign language has a more profound effect on the brain than tasks such as crossword puzzles, and can be just as affective as activities such as learning to play a musical instrument and strategic games like chess. Ultimately, learning a second language helps develop your brain's cognitive reserve and can compensate for diseased parts of the brain (1).
3. You can develop a different personality
Personalities at Na’atik
Bilingual and multilingual people often report changes in their personality as they move from one language to the other. Na’atik teacher, Erick Santos, reports feeling different in each of his three languages: “In English I feel powerful and confident because it was the language that brought me out of my shell as a very shy kid. When I speak Spanish, I feel very energetic. In Maya I am very serious, but I think that’s because everyone I speak Maya with is much older than I am!”
Fejiro Odibo, Marketing and Communication Coordinator at Na'atik has also experienced a change in personality: “In Spanish I feel loud and vibrant, like I’m enjoying the taste of all the sounds coming out of my mouth, and in French, I feel cheeky, like I’m in on a secret or inside joke.”
The Big Five
Research suggests that we do undergo a personality change, along with a re-prioritization of our values when we speak different languages. In Do Bilinguals have Two Personalities by Ramirez-Ezparzal et.al (2), bilingual Mexican-Americans completed a Big Five Personality Test in both English and Spanish. The personality test, measures five core personality traits: Introversion, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. The study found that the same individual scored differently in each test, often scoring higher in agreeableness and conscientiousness when they took the English version of the test. When the participants talked about themselves in Spanish, they emphasized their families and communities, while in English they talked more about their accomplishments and daily activities.
The Cultural Frame Switching Effect
Officially this phenomenon is called the Cultural Frame Switching Effect where individuals shift values and attributions based on culturally relevant stimuli. Bilinguals accommodate or favor the culture of the language they are using in the moment, which affects how they behave in that particular time. These changes are based on the qualities that we project on ourselves as we speak the language, as a result of what we think we know about the cultures that speak those languages.
4. You enter a different world of expression
Attaining the unattainable
Some scholars say that languages shape what we think and not just how we think: "language allows you to have ideas otherwise un-haveable, and that by extension, people who own different words live in a different conceptual world" (3). This is apparent when we come across words and concepts that are not directly translatable or do not exist in one language to another. For example, the word sobremesa expresses the practice of chatting at the table after a meal which is common in Hispanic cultures.
In English there is no word for sobremesa. Could the lack of a name be a result of the lack of its practice in Anglophone cultures? Possibly. Anglophone cultures are typically seen as more hurried, more strict and less festive. Or maybe we simply have not got around to it: We still haven’t got around to naming straightforward concepts like the-day-after-tomorrow. We borrow German words like schadenfreude because we do not have a word for the concept of taking pleasure from someone else’s misfortune. Likewise in Spanish, there is no distinction between fingers and toes—but on second thought, how much importance does distinguishing fingers and toes carry in your life? It remains that opening yourself to another language may not only offer a window into another world, but offer a tighter expression for a concept or feeling that would otherwise sound cumbersome in your own language.
5. You increase your ability to empathize
Understanding another language can increase your ability to empathize with people who share the language. Studies have shown that children who speak other languages are better able to perceive differences in perspective than monolingual children (4), which is a foundation for empathy. Languages, along with other aspects of our identity, shape who we are and those who speak only one language are limited to that perspective. Learning another language opens doors to other perspectives and allows us to experience life as others do.
Every language is a door towards a potentially different kind of self-expression than what we are used to, and as we enter a new world that would be otherwise closed to us, we expand ourselves and gain empathy for those in that culture.
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The best way to experience the Mexican lifestyle is in person, with a Na’atik Immersion experience. Not only do you live with a local Mexican-Maya family, sharing home-cooked meals and free time, but also receive expert instruction in your chosen language at our school. Best of all, every immersion experience helps fund our subsidized and free local education program, helping local students to access opportunities and make their own futures.
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