21/09/30
Category: B1+ and up / Tag: , , , , , , , ,  / Add Comment

The benefits of a bilingual brain

It’s obvious that knowing more than one language can make certain things easier — like traveling or watching movies without subtitles. But are there other advantages to having a bilingual (or multilingual) brain? Educator Mia Nacamulli details the three types of bilingual brains and shows how knowing more than one language keeps your brain healthy, complex and actively engaged. 

 

 

 

 

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Watch:

Glossary

  • glimpse – an occasion when you see someone or something for a moment only
  • bias – a particular tendency, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is  unreasoned or unfair
  • flawed – having a defect or imperfection
  • leap – a big change, increase, or improvement

 

 

Answer the questions:

  • What are some of the benefits of being bilingual or multilingual?
  • What types of bilinguals are there?
  • Why do children learn languages more easily?
  • The onset of which diseases can bilingualism delay and for how long?
  • Why was bilingualism once considered a handicap slowing a child`s development?
  • Does learning a second language make sense when you are advanced in years?

 

 

Practice Makes Perfect

Read: the article: Brain Science Explains Why Every Company Should Have More Bilingual Employees (https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/brain-science-explains-why-every-company-should-have-more-bilingual-employees.html) and then match the words/phrases 1 – 8 to their definitions a – h.

 

1. crank up sth

2. notch

3. angle

4. to pile up –

5. earth-shattering

6. to pique

7. malleable

8. to boil down to

  • a) to increase a lot
  • b) plastic, workable
  • c) to increase sth or make it more intense
  • d) (informal) a step, degree, or grade
  • e) to excite (interest, curiosity, etc.)
  • f) to be the main reason for sth
  • g) a particular way of approaching or considering a problem
  • h) shocking

 

 

Key: 1c) 2d) 3g) 4a) 5h) 6e) 7b) 8f)

 

 

Use the words from the previous exercise to complete the sentences:

  1. I’m afraid the problem ….. to one thing – lack of money.
  2. It was an ………….. discovery!
  3. As the work was ………, I decided to go to the office at the weekend.
  4. How about looking at the problem from another ……… ?
  5. Tin is a …………… metal.

 

 

Key: 1. boils down; 2. earth-shattering; 3. piling up; 4. Angle; 5. malleable

 

 

Explore it more to create your own teaching-learning experience!

Speaking a Second Language May Give Low-Income Kids a Boost

 

Read:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/speaking-a-second-language-may-give-low-income-kids-a-boost/

 

 

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