How can you talk to your patients in Basque while typing their medical records in Spanish?
A fellow nurse recently asked me this, between amazed and admired. It's not strange for me, I've been doing it for a long time. It's now second nature, so much so that it's not at all surprising. We are immersed in the Euskaraldia, a social initiative to promote the use of Basque.
I take this opportunity to write a series of essays on the topic.
9 benefits of being bilingual/multilingual
Before the 1960s, learning more than one language was considered a handicap that slowed a child's development, by forcing them to distinguish between them. More recent neuroscientific studies point in a different direction. Being multilingual has additional advantages to being able to communicate in several languages:
It helps memory and attention, helping complete cognitive and psychologiclal tasks faster than monolingual counterparts.
They are better at multitasking.
Seamlessly switching between languages (code switching) may also help bilingual people juggle multiple complex tasks at once and keep their brains active.
It helps paying attention to relevant sounds while disregarding others, filtering out what is necessary.
They can focus more easily than their monolingual counterparts
Multilingual speakers keep a higher density of grey matter.
It helps maintain brain structure and prevents cognitive decline.
More activity in concrete regions when engaging in a 2nd language.
It gives kids a greater perspective of the world.
However, monolingual people have a huge advantage:
They don't have to deal with linguistic stress.
Stay tuned to learn about linguistic stress and how Euskaraldia pretends to face it.
In the meantime, remember that being multilingual may not make you smarter, but it does make your brain more healthy, complex and actively engaged.
One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way. Frank Smith.