Being bilingual is good for the brain

[poli]

Segun este artículo por lo menos:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/op...R_AP_LO_MST_FB

[Perikles]

I saw this article some days ago, and have been discussing it with my (bilingual) children. This is an irresponsible statement:

Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter.

What they have established is a correlation, not necessarily a causation. Journalists don't seem to know the difference. There may be several sociological reasons for the correlation, but I don't think they have demonstrated a causation. And I just hate that word smart.

[Don José]

Journalists don't seem to know the difference.

Journalists don't seem to know a lot of things.

I was also surprised when reading the word "smarter". I thought it was due to my poor knowledge of English...

[aleCcowaN]

Supongo que al comparar la "esmartez" de un grupo que maneja diestramente dos idiomas con un grupo de personas que a duras penas maneja uno solo, debe dar una diferencia a favor del grupo bilingüe que no debe tener nada que ver con los idiomas.

Se me ocurre que las personas que hablan tres idiomas, pintan, tocan dos instrumentos, resuelven problemas numéricos, componen poesía y diseñan ropa deben ser más piolas que los que hablan solo 1000 palabras de su lengua materna y viven por sus manos. El secreto será seguramente la pintura. O no; la capacidad para rimar.

[poli]

Creo que aprender un idioma nuevo después de niñez es una proeza grande. El aprendizaje obliga el estudiante entender la gramática, memorizar y utilizar lo que memoriza en un modo practical. No sé si hace el estudiante más inteligente, pero para mi, el hecho de aprender una idioma bien muestra un tipo de inteligencia.

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm patting myself on the shoulder. BTW, how do you say pat youself on the shoulder in Spanish?

[Rusty]

To pat oneself on the back/shoulder =
No tener abuela

[aleCcowaN]

Formalmente, un caso leve de "ensalzarse a uno mismo" (kinda "toot one's own horn"). Se suelen usar construcciones como, por ejemplo, "felicitarse a uno mismo" o "auto-felicitarse" que cambian con la región y el nivel de lenguaje.

[micho]

Originally Posted by Rusty

To pat oneself on the back/shoulder =
No tener abuela

.

cierto.
Yo creo que también es autocomplacerse y felicitarse. ¡Todos nos autocomplacemos a veces!.
"Darse golpecitos en la espalda uno mismo" no me suena haberlo oido en español. Si lo he oido con respecto a otros, queriendo decir "felicitar" o "animar" o incluso "hacer la pelota" a alguien.
También he escuchado en alguna ocasión "Me doy besos, todas las mañanas, ante el espejo, de lo mucho que me quiero".

Con respecto a los idiomas, creo que cuando se aprende un idioma de niño pequeño (tal vez hasta los 7-8 años), se hace sin esfuerzo. El cerebro se desarrolla a la par que el aprendizaje del significado y el uso de las palabras. No creo que estos niños sean mas listos, pero sí tienen mas conocimientos (de idiomas) y tal vez mas facilidad para aprender otros idiomas en el futuro. Sin embargo no creo que esta habilidad influya en la capacidad memorística, o para las matemáticas, o para la música ....

[luis magistrado]

i would say any that learning any skill, including foreign languages is good for the brain.

[iamcliff]

Originally Posted by luis magistrado

i would say any that learning any skill, including foreign languages is good for the brain.

Estoy de acuerdo contigo. Creo que cualquier actividad que te obliga a ejercitar el cerebro de una manera profunda tendrá efectos positivos en tus poderes mentales más tarde en la vida.

Por favor, corríjanme si hay errores. Estoy aprendiendo.

[BoBoy1]

Es la verdadera de decir que hablar dos lenguas es bueno para el cerebro, pero me pregunté el diferencia que puede tener el hecho de hablar 3 lenguas en lugar de 2 por ejemplo. Lei que aprender nuevos lenguas pueden alzar algunas capacidades del cerebro, tal las partidos del cerebro cuya la fonction son sobre el control. Sabemos que aprender una lengua y la practicar necesito de hacer attention sobre lo que digamos..

PS: by the way don't hesitate to correct me if i do any mistakes. I've started learning spanish.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by BoBoy1

Es verdad decir que hablar dos lenguas es bueno para el cerebro, pero me pregunté la diferencia que puede tener el hecho de hablar tres lenguas en lugar de dos, por ejemplo. Leí que aprender nuevas lenguas puede aumentar algunas capacidades del cerebro, como la parte del cerebro cuya la función es sobre el control involuntario de los músculos y órganos del cuerpo. Sabemos que aprender una lengua y la practicarla nos exige prestar atención a lo que decimos.

P.S. By the way, don't hesitate to correct me if I've made any mistakes. I've just started learning Spanish.

Te he corregido el texto. Espero haberte ayudado.

[BoBoy1]

Gracias por el correction

[jeff]

Research has shown that bilinguals develop a greater ability to solve problems. It is believed that this benefit is a result of the problem of interference of the second language, since two language systems are both active in the brain at the same time. While being bilingual by itself does not make one smarter, it creates a scenario in which the brain is forced to increase cognitive activity in order to use language. Bilinguals are faced with having to cognitively differentiate between two distinct language systems stored in the brain simultaneously. This is said to be like a mental muscle flexing which causes the problem-solving area of the brain to grow stronger. This essentially makes the individual appear to be smarter because he is bilingual; however, an average person can intentionally increase cognitive activity in problem solving by regular mental exercises and usually can achieve the same effect. Practice makes perfect applies to the brain, too.

Update: I just realized that this is basically what the article in the posted URL says.

[poli]

Measuring intelligence is complicated matter, but I know quite a few bilinguals who seem stupid. When we are very young languages come very naturally with no study at all. Perhaps taking up a language later in life is the intellectual exercise that the research you write about refers to.

[jeff]

Many of those who learn multiple languages at a young age usually end up code-switching. Code-switching is what generally occurs when two or more languages are stored in the brain and there is no attempt to follow the rules of grammar or vocabulary of one given language during a given conversation. These individuals may change from one language to the other during the conversation or even in mid-sentence. This is normally not a problem because children who grow up speaking two or more languages are many times around other people who speak those same languages, and who may also be code-switching. The downside is that by code-switching there is less use of cognitive activity to determine which language vocabulary and rules should be used at any given time. Therefore, in these individuals, it would seem logical that the brain is not undergoing sufficient cognitive exercise related to language usage to cause a higher level of problem solving ability.

This does not mean that everyone who code-switches does not possess increased problem-solving ability; it just means that there is less cognitive activity produced by language usage and, therefore, less cognitive exercise during language usage when one code-switches. The increase in problem-solving ability that I mentioned in a previous post is claimed to be a result of increased cognitive activity which becomes necessary in order to separate the two distinct languages stored in the brain. No separation of the languages by code-switching results in less brain activity than when the languages are are kept separate in a given conversation.