What Are the Benefits of Bilingual Education?

Bilingual children have better communication skills than those who are monolingual.

This is because they learn how to use two languages in their everyday lives, which helps them understand how each language works and how it relates to others.

A child who speaks a second language may also be able to communicate more effectively when using that other language because they’ll know what’s important and what isn’t when speaking with someone from another culture.

Developing a child’s communication skills early helps them do many things, including making friends, being confident in themselves, performing better in school and at work, and many other things.

Studies have shown that students who are educated in a bilingual program tend to score higher on standardized tests than students who are educated in a monolingual program.

They also tend to perform better on the SATs and ACTs.

This is because bilingual education better prepares students to learn how to think about language in a more complex way.

This can help them become better writers and readers since they are able to understand the nuances of different languages.

A study published by the American Psychological Association found that bilingual children develop better executive function skills than children who only speak one language.

This means bilingual students can better focus on tasks at hand and delay gratification, leading to greater success in school and later in life.

The study also found that bilingual children were better at problem-solving and planning, leading to higher achievement in school.

A second study published by Psychological Science found that bilingual children scored higher on intelligence tests than those who only spoke one language.

If that wasn’t enough, there’s also the fact that bilingual children have been proven to develop better executive brain function than monolingual children.

Executive brain function refers to being able to focus on something, multitasking efficiently, and inhibiting distractions and impulses.

These children also have the advantage of developing a heightened attention span, which helps both in a classroom setting and in professional settings.

How young do they start developing these superior brain functions?

As young as just four years old!

That means if you sign your child up for learning a new language while they’re still in the phase where they can soak up anything, you will be helping them be their best selves in a world that demands nothing else.

Because bilingual students have been exposed to two languages at an early age, they have developed an awareness of differences between languages, cultures, and traditions of different groups of people around them.

This can help them understand other cultures and people from different backgrounds.

A study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that bilingual children showed more empathy than monolingual kids when hearing about the pain of others.

That means if you choose bilingual education for your child, it will contribute directly to making them an overall better human being.

Bilingualism can be beneficial for the job market.

Bilingual employees are more readily employable in industries that require communication with workers who speak other languages, such as translation and customer service jobs.

In addition, bilingual students may have a head start on their career paths due to their ability to work in teams with people from different cultural backgrounds.

This can be especially beneficial if you’re looking to work in an international company or travel abroad.

Bilingualism has been shown to affect the brain’s cognitive functioning positively.

According to a study by the University of Edinburgh, people who speak two or more languages are less likely to develop dementia and other conditions that affect memory.

The study suggests that being bilingual may help slow down the onset of such conditions as Alzheimer’s disease by up to five years.

Bilingualism helps you develop social skills and easily integrate into a new culture.

It’s been shown that children who speak two languages communicate better with others and have an easier time making friends than monolingual kids.

This is because they can communicate with a broader range of people, which helps them build their social network.

In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that bilingualism can boost your ability to empathize with others and consider other people’s perspectives.

Bilingualism is also an asset in today’s globalized world.

More and more companies are looking for employees who speak multiple languages, especially working with clients from different countries.

This makes it easier to communicate and collaborate with them—especially important when working on international projects requiring high communication and trust between teams.

This advantage also translates into a smaller scale.

Since they have better communication skills and can work in teams better, bilinguals perform better in a team-based setting.

This way, they can easily integrate themselves into things like work groups or project groups.

Monolinguals are at a significant disadvantage in a world that’s rapidly coming closer by the day.

This is because the Communications sector, one of the fastest-growing parts of the IT industry, clearly prefers monolinguals able to communicate with customers and clients from all over the world.

For example, if somebody knows English and French, that’s more than 10 English-speaking countries they can find a job in, plus French-speaking places like Louisiana, Canada, France, etc.

Even if the position you’re applying to doesn’t require a second language, just knowing one can significantly boost your resume.

The best part is you don’t even have to speak it masterfully.

Just learning it to a degree of fluency counts!

Plus, if you’re applying to a prestigious college or a postgraduate degree, your bilingualism might be what gets you chosen instead of somebody with the same qualifications.