Should Everyone Learn at Least One Other Language?

by Lana Cooper

Many people speak English as their first language, including me, and many people learn it as a second language so they can communicate with us English speakers. With the globalization of English, is it worth it to learn to speak a second language anymore? I believe that yes, everyone should try to learn another language. Being bilingual can increase your cognitive abilities, it can protect you from Alzheimer's disease later in life, you can gain unique experiences from it, and you can connect with people you otherwise would not have been able to.

One benefit of bilingualism is the higher level of executive function, a set of cognitive processes that allows people to plan, focus their attention, remember instructions, and multi-task. Multiple studies have found that “the advantage [of bilingualism] might be one of enhanced selective attention, involving the ability to inhibit irrelevant or unwanted information and the complementary ability to concentrate on relevant aspects” (Bialystok et al.) This is a very useful skill to have, since we often have to tune out irrelevant information in every day life. Even just in school, you need to be able to focus on your work instead of the people having side conversations around you, and bilingualism can make that easier.

This increased executive function provides a great advantage later in life as well. Studies have discovered that bilingual people have a resistance against the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. One study found that “the disease was more advanced in bilingual patients than monolinguals, but they managed to maintain cognitive function at a higher level than that predicted by their disease severity” (Bialystok). This means that speaking two languages fluently lessens the severity of the disease and allows one to maintain mind better than those that only speak one language. While not everybody will get Alzheimer's disease, the possibility is still there, and having less severe symptoms is a great advantage to those that are bilingual.

I personally am bilingual, speaking both English and Russian fluently, and I think there is a benefit to bilingualism besides the cognitive benefits. I have encountered many unique experiences because of my bilingualism. Speaking Russian also allows me to connect more with my culture and with other people. Once, when I was at a summer camp in another country that did not speak English or Russian, I was struggling to find people my age that could speak English well enough to converse with me. However, the people that cooked and cleaned at the camp were Ukrainian and spoke Russian, so I had people that I could communicate with, making me less lonely. This helped me feel less homesick, since I could actually talk to people and it provided a reminder of home, since I speak Russian at home. If I did not speak Russian, I likely would have felt more lonely at the camp. Bilingualism provides not only benefits in the mind, but in life experiences as well.

Works Cited

Bialystok, Ellen. “Reshaping the mind: the benefits of bilingualism.” Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 65, no. 4, 2011, pp. 229–235, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025406. 

Bialystok, Ellen, et al. “Bilingual Minds.” Psychological Science in the Public Interest, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 Dec. 2009, https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100610387084.