Researchers have identified the evolutionary changes to our larynx that enables humans to produce the complex sounds necessary for the development of speech, while our primate relatives are unable to do so, despite having similar physical vocal structures. Paradoxically, the changes that occurred didn’t involve an increase in the complexityread more
If you speak two or more languages, it’s not just handy for traveling, it actually makes you smarter.
In the March 18th edition of the New York Times, Yudhijit Battacharjee writes: "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. But this interference, researchers are finding out, isn’t so much a handicap as a blessing in disguise. It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles."
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Researchers find that students who know two languages have an easier time gaining command of a third language than students who are fluent in only one language. For those of us who are just trying to become bilingual, this seems unfair! However, it turns out that this is because languages reinforce one another, and applying language skills from one language to another makes it easier for an individual to go through the learning process successfully.
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