As stated by the US researchers from Northwestern University in "Being bilingual 'boost brain power'", experience bilingualism influences significantly the brain - reacting simultaneously to the sound of second language spoken. The study indicates that the brain's nerve cells of bilingual and English monolingual students gave a similar feedback for a lab test which was conducted in peaceful laboratory. However, under noisy environments, the two-language speakers group were much more better in their brain functioning abilities - to perceive, recognize and understand the speaker's sounds and messages. Moreover, a wonderful advantage of bilingualism is to help us keep away from the onset of dementia.
I can call myself as a bilingual speaker. My mother tongue is Thai and a Chinese dialect "Tae Chew" is used to speak among the members of my family. I am a third generation and might be the last one who can comuunicate verbally in "Tae Chew", as my triplet nephews are too young and no one speaks with them. I often talked to my grandparents about Chinese cultures and social events. With my mother, brothers and sisters, I exchange gossip about friends and relatives when we are in public place and we do not want the third party to know our issues. We also gossip about our nephews in front of them in "Tae Chew" and they do not know what we are talking about them. After reading the article refered in this blog, I have been wondering this study can be applied to me. Perhaps, it is applicable to many talks with my grandparents when I had occasionally opportunities meeting them. Especially, my grandfather he knows a lot of information about Chinese history, its famous heros and its properous future. I could feel that my brain was working - thinking and having imaginations during his talking in "Tae Chew". Another case is given to a recent situation in car yesterday, on the way back to my hometown, the benefit of bilingualism help me response my brother's "Tae Chew" speaking promtly when he asked about something he did not want an outsider who joined this trip to catch our words. These can be some evidences of my brain efficiency towards being bilingual.
Taking such the benefits into consideration, I would prefer to have English as another second language. For me, I have studied English for over 30 years, but my brainstem does not seem to function efficiently. However, I will keep learning English until I can prove my brain becomes smarter with English as my second language acquisition. As we know in this modern world, most people speak at least two languages. Thai children in the new generation are encouraged by their parents to learn English as their second language. If it is said becomes true story, can we claim that Thai children are smarter by being biligual with English, but they are so poor in speaking their mother tongue "Thai".
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ReferencesBeing bilingual 'boosts brain power'. (2012, 1 May). BBC News. Retrieved May 5, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17892521
Thank you Lek,
ReplyDeleteWhen I make a series of careless mistakes in rapid sequence, I worry that dementia is starting to set in. I'm glad my family history is largely free of it, although as I've noted in other comments, my family seems prone to strokes. On the whole, I worry more about dementia than strokes: I would rather die quickly and completely than lose my mind and have a vegetable body continue living. One of my aunts suffered from Alzheimer's for a couple of years before her death, and it terrified me to see her. She was an aunt by adoption, which might be good for me, but it's still seems to me a horrifying thing to lose your mind and cease to be a person.
On a more cheerful note, I've had an opportunity to learn a couple of languages other than English. I have to confess that I found Thai really difficult. I suspect this might be for the same sort of reasons that make English so very difficult: it isn't a "pure" language, but a hodge-podge of different language all forced into one by historical accidents. English is a largely Germanic language, with a strong French overlay as a result of the Norman conquest of England, but at the same time, Latin was always the prestige language and contributes so much so that even today words with Latin roots, rather than traditional Germanic, give your writing a more academic style, as do the large number of words with Greek roots.
And this rich mix of sources make English grammar, and even spelling, a real mess.
The only solution to writing well is to ...
Thank you for your comment, Ajarn Peter. The only solution to writing well is to practice it in everyday daily. And this can help me be far away from Alzheimer's desease. You don't have to worry as this desease is not inherited from the family's members.
DeleteI've just read an article from Thai health magazine about how to protect you from Alzheimer's. It's very interesting; one way we have already known from this blog, other ways are to try to do new things in daily life such as close your eyes while taking a bath or watching TV. By doing this, our brain gets training through thinking what to do things we have never done before.