¿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 español? Parlez-vous français? 你会说中文吗? 如果你回答 "si" "oui" 或"会" 而且用英文观看这视频 你很可能是属於 这世上双语或多语的大多数之一 除了旅行的时候比较容易 或是看电影不用字幕 会两种以上的语言,意谓你的大脑 运作的方式和你单语的朋友不同 怎样才叫真的会一种语言? 语言能力通常以说和写二个主动部分 和听和读二个被动部分衡量 平衡双语的人 两种语言的掌握能力是接近的 世上大多数的双语者 以不同的比例 了解和使用他们的语言 根据他们的状况和每个语言不同的掌握 双语者可以分成三种类型 让我们以 Gabriella 为例 她两岁的时候,家里从秘鲁移民到美国 作为一个复合双语者 Gabriella 对一个概念的两种语言码 是同时发展的 她同时学习英语和西班牙语 来理解身边的世界 他十几岁的哥哥,从另一方面来说 算是协调双语者 用两组概念理解世界 在学校学习英语 在家还有跟朋友是说西班牙语 Gabriella 的父母可能最后一种,从属双语者 通过他们的母语 来学习第二者语言 除了口音和发音之外,所有类型的双语者 最终都能透过学习流利使用语言 因此如果只是随意观察 他们的差别并不明显 但是最新的大脑成像技术 让神经语言学家得以窥见 学习语言对双言者的大脑有哪些影响 众所周知,大脑的左半部 擅於逻辑进程的分析 右脑则是对於情绪和社交较於活跃 不过这是程度上的问题 不是绝对的划分 事实上语言和左右脑两边的功能都有关连 随著年纪增长,大脑发展会侧重一边 这是关键期假说的来由 根据关键期假说理论 小孩学语言比较容易 因为他们发展中的大脑较有弹性 让他们同时运用左右脑学习语言 大部分的成人的语言学习 是侧重於左脑 如果这是事实,在小时候学习语言 更能掌握社会和情感脉络 相反地,最近的研究显示 在长大这学习第二语言的人 在第二语言上面临问题时 会采用更理性的方式 相对於母语 比较不会有情绪偏见 不过不论你何时学习语言 多语能力都能给予大脑相当好的益处 有些甚至看得见 像是大脑中的灰质呈现较高的密度 包含脑中的神经元和突触 投入第二语言时 大脑的特定区域也会更活跃 而双语者大脑终生受到的锻炼 可延缓一些疾病的发生 像是阿尔茨海默氏症和痴呆症 达五年之久 对於双语好处的认知 现在看来直观 稍早却会让专家们感到讶异 六十年代以前 人们认为双语会阻碍孩童的发展 因为强迫孩童花太多精力在区别两种语言 但是这是基於有缺陷的研究 愈来愈多的近期研究指出 在跨语言的测试中 有些双语学生的反应时间和错误都增多 同时也指出 转换语言需要更多的心力和注意力 将触发大脑更多的活动 并有可能加强背外侧前额叶皮层 这是大脑用来执行功能、 解决问题、在不同任务间转换 和专注在过滤不相干资讯 的主要部位 因此,双语可能不必然让你更聪明 但确实会让你的大脑更健康、健全和更能专注 即使你小时候未能 学习第二种语言 帮助自己永远不迟 跨语言,就从 "Hello" 开始 到 "Hola"、"Bonjour" 或 "你好" 这让我们的大脑做一些小小的运动 从而带给我们长远的帮助