Being bilingual has several advantages that are usually obvious, for example being able to communicate with new cultures, travel, acquire information that is not available in Spanish, but there are more benefits behind it and today we are talking about this topic.
Among the skills that a bilingual person develops are cognitive and social. In the case of cognitive ones, one of the greatest advantages obtained is that of being able to better process the information between its content and context.
This means, for example, that problem solving becomes a simpler exercise, since there is adequate reasoning to scrutinize a problem and understand it from both parts, context and content.
Questions are generated in the mind: What does my interlocutor want to say? What is he thinking? What are you not observing?
Execution also benefits, since the brain is trained to give answers and especially to act. This is a behavior that develops at the brain level while more than one language is being recorded.
In the case of social skills, communication undoubtedly tops the list, this because someone who has learned two or more languages has inevitably spent a greater amount of time holding complex and varied conversations, but there is more than that.
Another acquired aptitude is to have the facility to adopt the perspective of the other person, generating the possibility of analyzing the panorama and being able to give solutions clearly and in less time.
There is no doubt that being bilingual gives you opportunities for both social and personal development, perhaps the main question when approaching this topic is knowing that it is not easy for everyone to learn new languages, but dedication and practice are the keys to achieve these goals.
Remember that English is one of the best options for us Latinos, since directly or indirectly, it is a language with which we are in constant contact, be it via the media or through social interactions.
How to Retain What You Learned in a Language Over Time
How do you make sure that your new knowledge acquired in another country will not fade over time? Here are some tips to avoid losing what you have acquired during your stay at another school or during a trip abroad.
READ, READ AND READ MORE
An easy way to retain what you have learned is to read. Thanks to the Internet, we have all kinds of multilingual content at our fingertips and we can choose from a wide variety of foreign newspapers, books and magazines.
SING A SONG
Although song lyrics don’t always make sense, and the magic of the song may wear off once you listen to the lyrics carefully, actively listening to music is a good way to practice a language. You can sing to practice your pronunciation and learn a lot of new words.
MOVIE NIGHTS
One of the best ways to learn and retain a language is to watch movies or television entertainment in another language.
TALK WITH FRIENDS
Learning and / or reinforcing languages is more fun with friends and it is also a good way not to forget what you have learned. Choose one of your friends and practice: You can send emails, chat and even make a free Skype call.
If you want to be an expert speaking English and want to apply to a university in the USA, Register here for our TOEFL course.