¿Hablas español? Parlez-vous français? 你会说中文吗? If you answered, "sí," "oui," or "会" and you're watching this in English, chances are you belong to the world's bilingual and multilingual majority. And besides having an easier time traveling or watching movies without subtitles, knowing two or more languages means that your brain may actually look and work differently than those of your monolingual friends. So what does it really mean to know a language? Language ability is typically measured in two active parts, speaking and writing, and two passive parts, listening and reading. While a balanced bilingual has near equal abilities across the board in two languages, most bilinguals around the world know and use their languages in varying proportions. And depending on their situation and how they acquired each language, they can be classified into three general types. For example, let's take Gabriella, whose family immigrates to the US from Peru when she's two-years old. As a compound bilingual, Gabriella develops two linguistic codes simultaneously, with a single set of concepts, learning both English and Spanish as she begins to process the world around her. Her teenage brother, on the other hand, might be a coordinate bilingual, working with two sets of concepts, learning English in school, while continuing to speak Spanish at home and with friends. Finally, Gabriella's parents are likely to be subordinate bilinguals who learn a secondary language by filtering it through their primary language. Because all types of bilingual people can become fully proficient in a language regardless of accent or pronunciation, the difference may not be apparent to a casual observer. But recent advances in brain imaging technology have given neurolinguists a glimpse into how specific aspects of language learning affect the bilingual brain. It's well known that the brain's left hemisphere is more dominant and analytical in logical processes, while the right hemisphere is more active in emotional and social ones, though this is a matter of degree, not an absolute split. The fact that language involves both types of functions while lateralization develops gradually with age, has lead to the critical period hypothesis. According to this theory, children learn languages more easily because the plasticity of their developing brains lets them use both hemispheres in language acquisition, while in most adults, language is lateralized to one hemisphere, usually the left. If this is true, learning a language in childhood may give you a more holistic grasp of its social and emotional contexts. Conversely, recent research showed that people who learned a second language in adulthood exhibit less emotional bias and a more rational approach when confronting problems in the second language than in their native one. But regardless of when you acquire additional languages, being multilingual gives your brain some remarkable advantages. Some of these are even visible, such as higher density of the grey matter that contains most of your brain's neurons and synapses, and more activity in certain regions when engaging a second language. The heightened workout a bilingual brain receives throughout its life can also help delay the onset of diseases, like Alzheimer's and dementia by as much as five years. The idea of major cognitive benefits to bilingualism may seem intuitive now, but it would have surprised earlier experts. Before the 1960s, bilingualism was considered a handicap that slowed a child's development by forcing them to spend too much energy distinguishing between languages, a view based largely on flawed studies. And while a more recent study did show that reaction times and errors increase for some bilingual students in cross-language tests, it also showed that the effort and attention needed to switch between languages triggered more activity in, and potentially strengthened, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the brain that plays a large role in executive function, problem solving, switching between tasks, and focusing while filtering out irrelevant information. So, while bilingualism may not necessarily make you smarter, it does make your brain more healthy, complex and actively engaged, and even if you didn't have the good fortune of learning a second language as a child, it's never too late to do yourself a favor and make the linguistic leap from, "Hello," to, "Hola," "Bonjour" or "你好’s" because when it comes to our brains a little exercise can go a long way.
hablas espanol?parlez-vous français? Go hûn bêjin ''sî'' û ''oui'' xuyaye hûn bi îngîlîzî temaşe dikin. Belkî bexte we heye hûn ji wek geleka bi duzimanî bin Li nik bi hesanî gerandina dine û bê binnivîs temaşekirina filma, duzimanî û pirzimanî tê wateya ku mêjiye te ji miroven yekziman cudatir xuya dike û dişixule. Aya bi rastî wateya zanîna zimanekî çi ye? Zîrekiya ziman bi du hêle aktîf, peyivandin-nivîsandin û bi du hêle pasîf guhdarkirin-xwendin tê pivan Harmonîya di navbera du zimane de zîrekîya di çûn û hatina di navbera her du zimane de ye. Zanîn û bikaranîna zimanen gelek duzimaniya ji hev cuda ye. Giredayî rewşa wa û çawa hînî her zimanî bûna. Di be sê cur e. Wek mînak em li Gabriella meze kin. Hê du salî malbata wê ji Peru koçî amerika kir. Wek duziamniya pêkhatî Gabriella bi hev re bi du zimana mezin bû, bi têne konseptekê re, hînî spanyolî û îngilîzî bû, û dinyaya dora xwe nas kir. Birayê we deh salî dibe ku duzimaniya wî bi koordine be, bi du konseptî şixulî. Li dibistanê hînî îngilizî bû di heman demê de li malê bi spanyolî peyivî. Di dawiye de dê û bavên gabriella duzimaniya wan behtir giredayî ye. Lewra wan zimanê duyemîn bi reya zimanê zikmakî hîn bûn. Heye ev her sê cure duzimanî karin terî wan bikin ji xeynî devoka wan. Belkî yekî ji rêzê fem neke cudahiye. Xebatên zanistî li ser mêjî, hinek nîşan dan xuya kirin ku çawa duzimanî bandore li ser mêjî dike. Baş tê zanîn ku nîvê mêjî ye çepê serdest e di mantik û analîtîke de. Nîvê rastê jî bo hest û civakî serdesttir e. Ev veqetandin ne tam misoger ê. Wexta ku mirov mezin dibin bi wext re alîbûn jî peş dikeve. Ji vir hîpotezêk girîng derdikeve. Li gor vê teorîye zarok pir hesantir hînî ziman dibin. Lewra guherîbûn di mêjîye wan de dihele ku her du alî mêjîyê xwe bo ziman bi kar bînin. Halbûkî mêjîye mezina,alîyek têne bo ziman dişixule, bi giştî alîye çep e. Ku ev rast be,hînbûna ziman di zarokîtiye de hest û cîvakî jî dide mirov. Xebatên dawî nîşan dikin mirovên kû mezinahîya xwe de hînî zimanê duyemîn bûyî, hindiktir hestîyarî û behtir mantiqî nezîkî mijarê di zimanê xwe ye duyemîn dibin, li gorî zimanê zikmakî. Ji bilî ku hûn kengî hînî zimanê duyemîn bûne pirzimanî guhertinên girîng çê dike di mêjî de. Hinek ji wan eşkere ne, mînak behtir alava grî ku tê de behtîrîn noron û sînapsê mêjî hene û mêjî behtir aktîf e, dema ku zimanê duyemîn dişuxile. Tiştekî din bo mirovên duzimanî jî, nexweşiye wek alzheimer û demans 5 sal dereng dibînin. Fikra ku hişmendî ji duzimaniya sûd digire behtir texmîn e. Lê li gor pîsorê kevin ne wisa bû. Berî 1960'î dihat gotin duzimanî peşkeftina zarokan hedika dike û nebaş e. Çunkî zarok dijwarî dikişînin di navbera du zimanan de. ew fikir jî texmîn bû. Lê xebatên dawî nîşan dikin di nav zarokên duzimanî de hinek xeletî behtir in, di azmûnê zimanî de. Lê da xuya kirin pedivîbûna çûn û hatina nav zimanan de vê herema mêjî xurttir dike. Ev herema mêjî karê wek çareserkirina pirsgireka, guhertina peywiran û wexta bal vêdanê de zanyarîye din qut dike. Belkî duzimanî mejî zîrektir neke, lê tenduristîye,aktîfbûna mejî zede dike. Zarokîya xwe de hûn ne pirzimanî bin jî tu carî ne derenge ku hînî zimanekî din bibin. Hûn he jî dikarin hînî ''hello,hola,bonjour'' bibin. Çunkî mijar mêjî be, hindik xebat gelek rê dimeşe.